Newspapers / North Carolina Argus (Wadesboro, … / May 21, 1863, edition 1 / Page 1
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r -'..-, ". . . : , '' V'' ; ? .- ' - V ' '." - ' ' .. - ' , . , . . . . -' V . V ... , 'If - ' , , .'! :.. ft V. !.!. f y. f mm irirf;f NEff'SERIES VOtl-V NO.' W. WADESBOROUGH, N. C., THOIISDAY, MAY 21, 1863; : LMOXE NO. 231.; -. 1 ft I I II T I X 1 TROXX TinQIfff A. PARTICULARS' OP TOS LATE MATTIES ! , JTHB.1MQST PESPEBATB nOHTINO AND THE MOST BRILLIANT VICTOar OF fliZ TAE 1 1: We gi Vfl details from tho RichraoncJ papers of the Uto bittli ti Virginia tM ,far i re reived. The following details by th"cor tespondVpt W ' Wf ife intcreiting ;anu instructive : , ''.'"T "; ff'v v ? " The battle seems to be overund from all 1 can gather H'glorioui Tictorr has crowned the (Wederiit arqit V 6t Vavjng; seen a Richmond paper for three dajrs pastel am at a loss to know whether my daily dispatch s have reached .'yi or, tna reasott I propose ? to ive you a history oC the whole fighf, becinning with the crossing be low town on Wednesday morning last and bringing it down to the brilliant charge of Monday erening, .when, the enemy were tlrivenift confusion across the river, their midnishrcry being rJternrtif'Bankt' Ford:: . , :,v' : ' The first movement of the enemy, i. e., the crossing below town,rcan hardly be said to liaffrbeen a feint :V It. would be perhaps more prop r to speak of it as a movement designed to co-opeTtte with the main attack at ChancellorfvilleorMtis possible that this force was left in front of Fredericksburg to prevent a rear movement on our part. "which If successful and the river-once crossed by our troor, at a point near town, their access to the railway could have been cut off and their base of supplies rendered uscllss to them. To guard his ; rear and protect his base, the fofce, which alter wards operated oQensively, was at first intended to act defensively, In all probability. How it aHerwards acted 6n the offensive and succeeded in carrying by storm "Ma rye's Heights," Venn probably be explained ?y4lue iact mm uwwr nu wiu pressed and whipped in tho Caht of Satur day nod Rundav morning at Chancellorsville ntid madn thisln order to create a diversion and enable him to cover his retreat , , Chancellorsville having; been the real point of battle it will be most fitting to treat of it first.-vi.r; v V , On Thursday evening Gen. Anderson, who was holding a position in front of the United Stales Mine Ford, twelve miles above Fred- " ericksburg, ascertaining that the Yankees, numbering five army corps, with at least . citrhty thousad men. crossed the Rapid Ann t KeUcy Via nddGer previously crossed tne iiappaaannocs;ni Eley'a Ford, in Culpepper county, and were advancing down ihe plank road. Gen. An derson at once fell ack to Chancellorsville, undtook up a line of battle in front of the plank road, nnd extending to the ri ver, and "reaching over towards the old Catharine Furnace. Gen. Anderson, however, having too small a force to hold, the enemy at this point fell back to a position some four miles "K)owCbaocellorsville;and fronting the old mine road. On Friday morning Gen. An derson was reinforced on the right Gen. Mc lUws, and on the left by Gen. A P. Hill. At this-period Gen. Jackson look command " and ordered an advarice, himself leading jt, and succeeded during the day in driving the enemy back, they making but slight re sistance. On Friday night pur forces rested fully two miles beyond the gfound occupied by the Yankee forces on thfe previous even ing. The forces principally engaged thus far in this quarter, belonged to SemmeS bri rgade, of Mc Laws' division, and Mahone s 'brigade, of Anderson s division. wno stoutly neld their ground, until near 1 they were of little avail; Jaclcson turned their day; and at early dawn of the boly of flank and fell upon their rear. Aild Jackson's holies, the fight beean on both ends of the boys did their work with all their might and line, and by eleven o'clock the firing had ceased. On the upper . end of the line, near Chancellorsville, the Yankees were whipped, and were in full, retreat towards the rlvef. 1 On the lower Jine, near Freder icksburc. however, they had succeeded in carying Marrve's Heigths, arid were riot ing in the, wild excess of joj. They had stormed, they said, the Gibraltar of Amer ica, and theif route to Richmond was plain and easy, little remembering that they had hurled a column of fully ten thbuand upon one regiment in front, and thus gaining the rear, of the rest of Barksdale's brigade. " But the best, laid schemes of men and mice gang aft agree," and whilst the Yan kees were faciliating; themselves on their splendid successes, and imagining them elvesto be in the rear of our army,' Gen. Lee was so mancceuvenng as to meet the enemy; who were now throwing themselves forward from the town on the plank road. About four o clock on Sunday evening, Mc mam. They charced lasier over the battle field than they marched into it, and their cheering as they, drove Vthe. 'nerny , before them broke upon the air with fine, inspiring iffecVan told too plainly that our men were terribly inVarnest anderc fighung for home, for womanrmanbood and independ ence : In such a cause it were worse than base not to strike heavy, blows for freedom and;the right ; ';v ; v,; ' - Hooker expected success. ' . Hel had planned well : but General Lee has prqyed himself more than a match;, for him, and his splendid army now lies a part dead on the south side of the Rappahannock, a part wounded on its north bankTand some here, too and a large part of the advance is al ready near your fiilxv,. Hooker had drawn evejry man from the forticaircff5Mce prepared' with eight days' rations hke. eignt days bard tabic ; three days cooked meat and eight days cattle in a herd and eight days' coffee. - Hooker made his men Laws' division, including Wilcox's brigade j a speech, telling them he had advantage of Saturday morning wore away wTthour impoftani feiuiU. i ii erC WSS SOjn? aruiicry 'firibg a'nda litle skirmishing but the engage pient did not become general until about vfive o'clock in the afternoon, iVom which : hour the light Yaged furiously until about eight o'clock,-' Jackson at this time, had 'thrown ft force on their upper flank, and was driving fheni fiercelyxdown upon our ;Trowertine; whicH, in turn, was hurling them back, and tendering futjlo all their efforts - to break through our lower lines and .mak ing k necessary for th'ein to jgive back to- '.'wards thcriver.A;, c--'-;-';'- Therftiwa.Ha.niLntermission jaineunng frdrretiihtVclociciiitUboatJi of Andersons division, met the advance column of the Yankees, under Geor Sedg- wick, ai aaiem uourcn, iour mues oeyona r reuericksburg, on the pJanK road, and our line of battle was formed, at right angles with the nlahk road. The battle here rnged for about two hours, but the Yankees were repulsed with considerable loss, inclu ding some five to six hundred prisoners. Our line on the Telegraph road, meantime, had been formed at Smock's about three and a half miles out from town. . j: " Early on Monday morning Lavvton's old Brigade, now Gen Gordon's, supported by Gen. Smith's and General Havet, all of; Early's Division advanced towards Mary e's Heights, and charged them Without firing a gun, driving the enemy from a position from whichless than twenty.four hours be fore, he had dislodged Barksdale's gallant Mississippians, after a most heroic resist ance, in which the enemy's loss was quite considerable. In this condition matters remained until about five o'clock in the evening, when a general advance" was ordered. At the nriug of a signal gun, Gen. Early moved upon the enemy from the Jright andGens. Anderson and" Mc- Laws from ' the left. The enemy, held a position on the plank road, extend ing up and down, were quickly dislodged and 'driven with great loss from the field. Their resistance was slight The charge was grand. Early's men, nnd especially the ILouisianians, under Hayes, walked over the enemy as giants over pigmies, while from above, the men of Anderson and McLaws who had been constantly. march ing and fighting for five-days, showed jiq signs of relaxation, but marched boldly and fearlessly up to their appointed work. The result was the enemy was "driven in confusion towards' Banks Ford, .across which ho succeeded in making his way during the night, tiotHdweverrwithditrBc ries loss In killed, wounded and prisoners. Gen. Hoke of the North Carolina Brigade, in-Early'sidivisioaiwm charge. " Whilst this tas going on Barks dale's men were holdinjhe stone wall, Marye's hill and the heists commanding the plank road, so as to prevent a movement on our rear out from Fredericksburg. Bift this wasrdlyecearrYankee jbr a ceneral advance had been satisfied, and by the nightfall the Yankees had begun to prepare for the third 'and last time Ho evacuate"Fredertcksburg -and-by-ly break our pickets were in the town, which Is once again in the hands of Barksdale's men.,;- . -.. . , - - 'i.. - -r ,. , v Though the enemy at Chancellorsville, did not recross the river at tbe,United States Ford.uniil to-day, there has been no general engagement since Sunday only some oc casional skirmishing and feints of attack to cover up their retreat across, the river. Hooker, though having ihe choicest posi tidn(rdiQracrgffenstyel position and was bound to go forward, and all that he asked of them was to .fight,' -He had summoned every m'an. from the fortifi cations, and. had uncovered VVathinglon, and must have put inttf thle fight, from first to last, not a man under one hundred and fifty.thousand: v. ,:-;vf' f The bra veryV' fortitude and endurance of our men in all of these engagements cannot be too highly praised or too gratefuliy re membered by the count rj;. 7 It would seem invidious to make special allusions where all fought so well, but it is due to candor and truth to say that the troops of McLaws and Anderson were oftener engagpd than other troops, they being engaged in fighting and marching almost without intermission or. refreshments, from Thursday night until Tuesday morning, a period of lour days and nights. While to D. H.-ilill s old division, commanded by Geo. Rhodes, and Trimble's division, l?d by Gen. Golston, Early's di visionJed by Early himself, and A. P. Hill's men, under their favorite leader, the country is indebted. , . ' - T The cavalry, too, claim a share of this glorious work, for while the infantry were thusbeingenjgaged, one brigade under Fitz hugh Lee metthe enemy-near-poilsylva- fioft ee,v were found in jho .Yankee h averv, saekV. '4-W aUocapured some ifreshly slaughtered meats; arid some corn and oats i 4 t I, from nine until long past ru'dnight the but fortified and threw himself on the de sound of artillery and small arms was well fensite, thuforclng csrt inerri to contend niffh deafnincr.: - The exnla.nfltinn . wnfl eiirwt him lWTtii rrhtnfTlstvirsiIv su- - ------o- 1 . 0 " - ft-MTa-viy v y T3 " " f -.i i rc?dyt ,ackson was pressing them with'aj period numbers aMedbvv; breastworks for all of which afe quite valuable, and just the night fight, Qur boys drove the Yankee's Uficliiciilwlj',alI1iorts ofobstaClesTBot articles'we-needed.-- . .v ; , ujjj . r redenc ksburc. on tins occasion, did not . suffer severely as she did before, though the i Tankees managed to tea! a good deal Private bouse?, I lelieve, were in no in t stance entered, where trie lamnies were pre-; sent and the townvas not shelled, nor were" any .citizens arrested or carried off in the - - . i , i c town. -rA,lew were arrested outsiae, dui in every ; Thstanc, rbelieve,tbey were res curd ' by our own soldieryv1- Hnnkr nnmmnnrlprl in nprsnnnt.. Chancellorsville fight, and occupied a posi- v i tion near that place during, .the: ngnt i Hooker has made a gdod fight.. He nan., mancDuvred well, arid done better than any ; otner ranicee vcnera r out iiooKer is noi the equal of our commarider-iii- chief. ' Gen; Lee, during this fight, has displayed 4he' ' highest qualities of an'able and successful' commander. To him the country indebt ed (or the most wonderlul qualities oi ine- soldier and UctiCan v I Je had manoeuvred ; M ', and combined soaa to surround the Yankees' ' ; j. UUU U1ITQ bilbili ViVIV WV J9 Wheii they. sUpppo?ed, on both occasions, that they had gotten into his rear, and were about to surprise him ; whilst Gen. Jackson has outdone himself, and exhibited the high est characteristics of a strategist and a skill ful General, fully confirming all-his best re nown, and adding new laurels to the many already-' won in the service of hicountry. Our losses are fully 5,000, whilst those of the Yankees arc confessed to be fully 25, 000, and about thirty pieces of artillery; We have capured very near 8,000 prisoners, and have lost, 1 suppose, about .1,000 pris oners. These results of the' fight point most conclusively to a most brilliant Confederate victory. Ave. have cptured one Brigadier General and any quantity of field and staff officers. .- .: ; . . ' . Anions the kiiled on our side', are' .Geo. Paxton,' of the Stonewall brigade ; (Jen. Nichols was - wounded in -thei leg, having previously lost an arm atWinchester; Geni McGowan ; was won nded si ightly ; k Gen ; Hoke was wounded in the arm. Generals Slocumb, Howard and O'Neill, of the Yan kee army, are reported killed, and " Fight i ng '2 Joe" s aid ' to be slightl y wounded. There are also many good and true 'officers and .men who' have fallen, but bur re port would .be too lengtjiy to enable us to make "mention of all, so presuming that my report is long enough. I will close. ' .i'u i..i'f..." .: 1.'. 4 ik. i :-f-t, ... a i nia Court House and succeeded in whipping and driving them back-to Chancellorsville, certainly two brigades of cavalry, and, per haps, four," killng the Colonel f the Sixth New York Cavalry and two captains, and taking some sixty prisoners. ' It is with' sincere regret that 1 am unable to speak to the praise of all the artillery engaged but I hear the FiVst Company of Richmond Howitzers and Maney.s Battery highly "commended for the i refiWcti veand steady firing. All that l ean do is to pay tribute to them all by stating that Col. Crutchfield's Battalion and Col. Alexander's, in Jackson's Corps, and Major Richardson's,, in Anderson's Corps, and Col. Cabell's, in McLaw's Division, all acquitted themselves with a skill and bravery that reflects the highest credit upon this arm of the service." r Th6 "battle ML which reaches from-Freik encksbufg" toapoint above Wilderness; some twelve miles up from town, and out to the river,' with the exception of about two miles between Salem and Zoar Churches, LislsIthA.skillfuLaiming and deadly des- truction of our ; artillery. The Yankee aeaa anu wounaea una wrown over mo cu tire country. Yet had it not have been one ofthe mosUhickly wooded sections of land In VirtOhe" Yankee loss ; would have teen far greater. Over this same field of battle are scat tered, in immense quantities.-blankets, can teens, knapsacks, haversacks! cartridge jox es, and any quantity of, rifles, muskets, and variousX other equipments of the soldier. Our boys bowevor found but little oent. The-Yankees had ' well nigh devottrVd the commissariat still, a good quantity of hard. tackwSth-someoooojicdVne tl ' f -if,' h ft J For the present when all is confusion," it is somewhat difficult. to give" anything like an accurate or, connected account of the series of battles vcbich have taken place on the Rappahannock .within the past week, and,haveagain'crowned the arms of ourin- fnt Pnri rlrao . with nnHrinf rrnoAVm Such information as we have been able to . .f j gather, ve lay before the reader this morn- i ing, and think we Jiazard nothing in saying that it approaches nearer to accuracy than any accout yet published of' the grand se ries of , mo vements " which has rolled back once more' the tide of fanatical invasion, and hurled, discomfitted and dismayed, across the Rappahannock.the boasting hosts of the enemy. v: " ,', ,.,,':'.: l ' ' As earl as Thursday of last week infor- maiionWarceeiyed at4ieadquarters:lhatl .-.-. - r- . toe enemy whs crossing m iorce" at oer manna and Bank's ford, when infantry were at once sent up to the vieinjty of Tabernacle church to co-operate with our cavalry in that neighborhood. On fnday, at an ear ' '4- 1 '4 T"' i P ) Jy hour in the morning, it became, apparen ed at tho above fofds, and that his princi pal demonstrations were to be made from that Quarter? Consequently all of our troops with the exception of Early's division and ; i j Barksdale's brigade left -the, Knes in front j. of Fredericksburg and e marched towards v s Tabernacle Church. ' On arriving at the I' plank road the trocpswere halted and par- f tial line of battle.fonped.and reconnoiter : f ing parties and skirmishers sent in advance to ascertain the puaitibnbf the enemy. Pret ty.poon. the guns of the skirmishers wers heard,-ihdicatingthe near presence of the
North Carolina Argus (Wadesboro, N.C.)
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May 21, 1863, edition 1
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