BURNSIDE'S MINE EXPLOSION-BARLOW'S ASSAULT. 591 of the enemy, for the instant advance in force of our column of assault. of unresisted slaughter. The Black charge, feeble as it was, had given us a few prisoners; but now our men could no more retreat than advance; the enemy's guns sweeping the ground between the chasm and our front. A first Rebel assault on our unfortunates was repulsed in sheer desperation; and thousands, of course, took the risk of darting out of the death-trap and racing at top speed to our lines; but our loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners was 4,400; while that of the enemy, including 300 blown up in the fort, was barely 1,000. Undismayed by the disastrous re The explosion had occurred; the Rebel fort had been hoisted 200 feet, and had fallen in fragments; our guns had opened all along the front, eliciting a far feebler and ineffective response; but several minutes passed-precious, fatal minutes !-before Ledlie's division, clearing with difficulty the obstacles in its path-went forward into the chasm, and there stopped, though the enemy at that point were still paralyzed and the deciding crest completely at our mercy. Then parts of Burnside's two remaining White divisions (Potter's and Wilcox's) followed; but, once in the crater, Ledlie's men bar-sult of "this [needlessly] miserable red the way to a farther advance, and all huddled together, losing their formation and becoming mixed up; Gen. Potter finally extricating himself, and charging toward the crest; but with so slender a following that he was soon obliged to fall back. Two hours were thus shamefully squandered, while the Rebels, recovering their self-possession, were planting batteries on either side, and mustering their infantry in an adjacent ravine; and now-when more men in the crater could only render the confusion more hopeless and magnify the disaster-Burnside threw in his Black division; which, passing beyond and rather to the right of the crater, charged toward the crest, but were met by a fire of artillery and musketry which speedily hurled them back into the crater, where all order was lost, all idea of aught beyond personal safety abandoned, while the enemy's shells and balls poured into it like hail, rendering it an arena 72 affair," as he fitly characterizes it, Grant paused scarcely a fortnight before he resumed the offensive; returning to successive operations on both flanks. Once more, Hancock was impelled" against the front of the Rebel left, facing Deep Bottom; his depleted corps being strengthened by the 10th, now led by Birney, and by Gregg's division of cavalry. Again pushing out to the right, Hancock attempted to flank the Rebel defenses across Bailey's creek: Barlow, with two divisions, being sent around to assault in flank and rear; while Mott's division menaced their eastern front, and Birney's corps assailed them next the river. Birney gained some advantage, taking 4 guns; but Barlow's assault was delivered by a single brigade, and came to nothing. In fact, Hancock had been delayed in landing his men, so that Lee, forewarned, had begun to reenforce this flank; as he did more fully next day: so that, when our troops again adAug. 12. vanced to the assault"-Terry's division having meantime been moved to the left of Barlow-though Terry at first carried the Rebel intrenchment, taking over 200 prisoners-he was soon driven out of it, and the enemy was seen to be in such force that a further assault was deemed impracticable. Meantime, Gen. Gregg's cavalry, supported by Miles's infantry brigade, advanced on the Charles City road, driving the enemy before him with considerable loss on their part -Gen. Chambliss being among their killed. Still, the movement, on the whole, had no decided success; and an attempt to draw out the enemy, to leave his lines and attack ours, by the ruse of seeming to send off most of our men on steamboats, proved wholly abortive. A night attack by the Rebels on the 18th was repulsed. Hancock was soon withdrawn in earnest our total losses in the movement having been about 5,000; that of the enemy probably less, but still heavy: Gen. Gherardie being killed. 74 Lee was probably aware that this demonstration on Richmond covered an advance on the other end of his attenuated line; but he was obliged to strengthen his lieutenant north of the James or risk the fall of Richmond. No sooner had he done this, however, than Warren struck out" from our left at the long coveted Weldon railroad, barely three miles distant from our flank; reaching it unresisted before noon. Leaving here Griffin's division, he advanced, with Crawford's and Ayres's, a mile toward Petersburg, where he found the enemy awaiting him. After a pause, he moved on; and was soon struck Aug. 20. 73 Aug. 16. 74 on his left flank-the enemy advancing by a road wholly unknown to our officers-and 200 of the Maryland brigade captured. The brigade falling back under the wing of the 15th N. Y. Heavy Artillery (now serving as infantry), that regiment stood its ground, and, by rapid and deadly volleys, repelled the enemy. Our movement was here arrestedour loss during the day having been 1,000-but Warren held his ground, fortified it; and the Weldon road was lost to the enemy. Yet, though Warren's position was good, it was unconnected with our lines, still on the Jerusalem plankroad; Brig.-Gen. Bragg, who had been ordered to fill the gap, having neglected promptly to do so. Warren, perceiving the fault, reiterated his order; but, before it could now be executed, Hill pushed a considerable force into the vacant space, and, striking Crawford's division impetuously in flank and rear, rolled it up; taking 2,500 prisoners, including Brig.-Gen. Hays. But now, the brigades of Wilcox and White, of Burnside's corps, came up, and the enemy made off in a hurry with his spoils; enabling Warren to recover the lost ground and reestablish his lines. Warren was well aware that his position astride the Weldon road was not adapted to tranquillity, and governed himself accordingly. Hardly three days had elapsed, when he was suddenly saluted" by 30 Rebel guns; and, after an hour's lively practice, an assaulting column advanced on his front, while another attempted to reach and turn his left flank. But Warren was prepared for this ma76 Aug. 21. 75 Aug. 18. HANCOCK'S FIGHT AT REAMS'S STATION. 593 noeuver, and easily baffled it, flank- | 8,000) men, and 5 guns. Hill's loss was also heavy, but considerably smaller. ing the flanking column and routing it, with a net loss of 302 on our part, and at least 1,200 to the enemy, of whose dead he buried 211, while he took 500 prisoners. He had lost in this entire movement 4,455 menmost of them prisoners-while the enemy had lost scarcely half that number; but he had lost and we had gained the Weldon road. Hancock, returned from the north of the James, had moved rapidly to the Weldon road in the rear of Warren. Striking" it at Reams's station, he had been busily tearing it up for two or three days; when his cavalry gave warning that the enemy in force were at hand. Their first blow fell on Miles's division, on our right, and was promptly repulsed; but Hill ordered Heth, under a heavy fire of artillery, to try again, and at all events carry the position; which he ultimately did at the fourth charge, capturing three batteries. Hancock ordered Gibbon's division to retake it; but they failed to do so. Miles, rallying a part of his scattered division, and fighting it admirably, recovered part of his lost ground and one of his captured batteries. Gibbon's division, assailed by a force of dismounted cavalry, was easily driven from its breastworks; but the enemy, attempting to follow up his success, was checked and repelled by a heavy flank fire from our dismounted cavalry, posted on the left. Though but four miles from Warren's position, no rëenforcements, owing to various blunders, reached Hancock till after he had been forced to retreat, abandoning Reams's station, after a total loss of 2,400 (out 77 Aug. 21. VOL. II.-38 of Warren's hold on the road had become too strong to be shaken, and there ensued a pause of over a month; during which the Rebels planned and executed a smart raid on our cattleyard at Coggin's Point on the James; running off 2,500 beeves at no cost but that of fatigue. The calm was broken at last by Grant, who ordered an advance by Warren on the left, to cover one more determined by Butler on the right. Gen. Warren pushed westward 78 with two divisions of his own corps and two of the 9th, under Parke, with Gregg's cavalry in advance; reaching the Squirrel Level road, and carrying two or three small works at different points. There was fighting along our new front throughout this and the following day; we holding the newly gained ground and intrenching on it; our losses in the movement having been 2,500; those of the enemy probably less, including Gen. Dunnovan, killed. The ground thus taken was promptly joined by proper works to Warren's former position across the railroad. Gen. Butler, in his turn, crossing the James, advanced with the 10th corps, now commanded by Birney, and the 18th, now under Ord, and struck" the enemy's outpost below Chapin's farm, known as Fort Harrison, which he assaulted and took, with 15 guns, and a considerable portion of the enemy's intrenchments. He attempted to follow up his blow with the capture of Fort Gilmer, which was next in order; but was repulsed by Maj.-Gen. Field, 29 Sept. 29. 8 Oct. 1. HANCOCK ADVANCES TO HATCHER'S RUN. 595 with a loss of 800. On our side, Gen. | Charles City and Williamsburg roads Ord was wounded, and Brig.-Gen. on our left, the Army of the PoBurnham killed. tomae, leaving only men enough to hold its works before Petersburg, and Fort Harrison was so important to Richmond, that Field resolved to re-taking three days' rations, marched ** suddenly by the lett against the enemy's works covering Hatcher's run and the Boydton plank-road. In other words, Meade's army was here pushed forward to find and turn the right flank of the enemy. take it, but deferred the assault till next morning, when he hurled three brigades against it on one side, while Gen. Hoke charged on the other. These assaults failed to be made simultaneously, and of course were both repulsed with slaughter; as they probably would have been at any rate. But, a few days thereafter, the Rebels surprised at dawn our right, held by Kautz's cavalry, which had been pushed up the Charles City road, to within 4 or 5 miles of Richmond, and drove it; capturing 9 guns and perhaps 500 prisoners. A desperate fight ensued, in which the Rebel Gen. Gregg, of Texas, was killed. Both sides claimed a clear advantage, but neither obtained much, save in the capture of Fort Harrison; while the losses of each had been quite heavy, Butler pushed forward a strong reconnoissance on the 13th, and as-road, and pushed up to strike the saulted some new works that the enemy had constructed on a part of their front; but they were firmly held, and the attack was not long persisted in. Starting before dawn, the 9th corps, under Parke, on the right, with the 5th, under Warren, on its left, struck, at 9 A. M., the right of the Rebel intrenchments, which rested on the east bank of Hatcher's run; assaulting, but failing to carry them. Warren thereupon undertook, as had been arranged, to come in on its flank by a turning movement; while Hancock, who had simultaneously advanced still farther to our left, and had found but a small force to dispute his passage of Hatcher's run where he struck it, moved north-westward by Dabney's mill, gained the Boydton plank Lynchburg railroad in the enemy's rear. Gregg, with his cavalry division, was thrown out on Hancock's lett. Hancock had reached, with little opposition, the Boydton plank-road, After a considerable pause, spiced and was pushing farther, when, at 1 only by cannonading and picket- P. M., he was halted by an order from firing along the intrenched front of Meade. Warren, upon the failure of both armies, and some sanguinary Parke to carry the intrenchment in encounters around Fort Sedgwick his front, had pushed Crawford's di(nicknamed by our soldiers Fort vision, strengthened by Ayres's brig Hell') covering the Jerusalem plank- ade, across the run, with orders to road, Gen. Grant again sounded a move down the north bank of that general advance. While Gen. Butler demonstrated in force on our extreme right-the 18th corps moving on the Richmond defenses by both the stream, so as to turn the Rebel defenses. Hancock, hitherto several miles distant, it was intended to connect with by this movement. Oct. 27. |