Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 8.
Frank Moore, Ed.

[543] thousand strong, and the batteries above mentioned, were the forces in advance of the wagon-train. These forces fought desperately for a while, but gave way under superior numbers of the rebels, and retreated in great precipitation. The scene of this retreat beggars all description. General Franklin said of it, that “Bull run was not a circumstance in comparison.” General Ransom was wounded in the knee, but rode off the field before he was compelled, by loss of blood, to dismount. Captain Dickey, of General Ransom's staff, was shot through the head and killed instantly. His body was left on the field. The position of the wagon-train in the narrow road, was the great blunder of the affair. The rear was completely blocked up, rendering the retreat very difficult, and in fact, almost impossible. Cavalry horses were dashing at full speed through the roads, endangering infantry and other pedestrians more than rebel musketry, the retreat having become so precipitate that all attempts to make a stand, for a while seemed impossible.

The immense baggage and supply train of General Lee's cavalry, consisting of two hundred and sixty-nine wagons, nearly all fell into the hands of the enemy, together with the mules attached thereto.

The Third division, Thirteenth army corps, mustering about eighteen thousand men, under command of General Cameron, were sent forward, and endeavored to make a stand. But the effort was futile. The rebels pressed so hard upon General Cameron that he could not resist them. After suffering terribly, he fell in with the retreating column. The Thirteenth army corps, numbering, in all, four thousand six hundred men when the fight began, sustained a loss in proportion to the number engaged, which is perhaps without a parallel in the history of this terrible war. The One Hundred and Thirtieth Illinois, commanded by Major Reed, attached to the Fourth division, could only find fifty-eight men after the battle. So precipitate was the retreat of the Fourth division of this corps, that the men only brought off six hundred and forty stand of small-arms, hundreds of them throwing away their guns to facilitate their movements. At least one half of the Thirteenth corps were killed, wounded, or captured. General Lee's cavalry lost heavily, but some time must elapse before correct estimates can be obtained.

The retreating column fell back some four or five miles, when the Nineteenth army corps, under General Ewing, came up and succeeded in making a stand. The rebels charged upon General Ewing's forces, but were checked and repulsed with considerable loss. Night came on, and thus ended the battle of Mansfield.

The stand was made by the Nineteenth army corps, which remained on the field until midnight, when it fell back to Pleasant Hill, a distance of about twelve miles, arriving there about daylight Saturday morning. General Lee's cavalry and the Thirteenth army corps continued their precipitate retreat from the battle-field to Pleasant Hill.

Saturday morning General Banks ordered a retreat of the whole army to Grand Ecore. The wagon-trains and the heavy artillery, guarded by the negro regiments, took the advance, leaving Pleasant Hill early in the morning. It required nearly all day to get the immense train in motion, the advance being at least fifteen miles distant before the rear got fairly started.

About five o'clock P. M., just as the wagontrain of General Banks's army had all got in motion, the rebels attacked our army in great force. Our forces were posted so as to effectually cover our retreat; the right resting about half a mile north-west of the town of Pleasant Hill, the centre about a half-mile to the west, and the left still further west, about a half-mile in the woods. The Sixteenth army corps, commanded by General A. J. Smith, occupied the right up to the centre, and the Nineteenth army corps, under General Franklin, the left up to the centre. The reserves were posted about a half-mile in the rear. The forces supporting the Sixteenth army corps were the Forty-ninth Illinois, commanded by Major Thomas W. Morgan; One Hundred and Seventy-eighth New-York, commanded by Colonel Waler; Eighty-ninth Indiana, commanded by Colonel Murray, and the Fifty-eighth Illinois. I have no list of the regiments supporting the Nineteenth army corps. The rebels under Kirby Smith attacked our whole front in great force, and after a half-hour of terrible fighting, with musketry and field artillery, our forces fell back on the reserve line, a distance of about a half-mile. The enemy pursued with great rapidity, fighting all the way, and doing considerable damage. For a time all seemed lost, but the presence of the Western troops inspired confidence in the whole army. When the rebels approached the line of the reserve forces, our army was brought into excellent position, and the fighting again became terrific. The Western boys threw their hats in the air, and raised a yell which was heard above the roar of artillery and the rattle of musketry. That tremendous yell was more terrible to the rebels than the thundering peals of cannon. One of the prisoners afterward remarked, that when they heard that shout, the word passed round: “There are the Western boys — we will catch h — I now.” In a short time their column began to waver. General A. J. Smith ordered a charge along the whole line. The order was quickly obeyed. Another shout was raised from our boys. General Mower advanced to the front, and led the charge in person, riding through the thickest of the fight, cheering his men on. The rebels could stand no longer. They broke and ran in great confusion, throwing away their guns, and giving up the day. They were hotly pursued by our forces, who pressed them closely, and inflicted terrible blows upon them. The repulse of the rebels was crushing, and attended with immense loss. Whole columns were mowed down, under the galling fire from the Western