The contest was stubborn and But there was a hail of musketry The rebels fought with desper

line thus exposed, to destroy the army before it could concentrate its strength upon any field of battle. About three o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy again, in great force, emerged from the forest, and made a desperate attack upon our left centre. bloody. Artillery could not be used. almost unsurpassed in the annals of war. ation. The patriots, taken at disadvantage, and conscious that the loss of the battle might prove the ruin of the campaign, maintained their ground, regardless of wounds and death. Hancock, Birney, Barlow, Gibbons, Ilays, Wadsworth, Robinson, the noble commanders of men worthy of their command, rolled back the surges of the rebel flood hour after hour, until far into the night. It was a sublime spectacle in that forest, when the gloom of night enveloped it, to witness the flash of scores of thousands of guns, as invisible combatants hurled the leaden storm against each other. The volleys were so regular and incessant, that they echoed through the Wilderness like pealing thunder. The line along which the battle raged was not more than half a mile in length. The rebels, in a column twenty thousand strong, had hurled themselves with almost superhuman ferocity upon our thin line of march.

General Alexander Hays, who, with General Birney, was bearing the brunt of this tremendous onset, sent back an imploring cry for reënforcements. Hancock replied, "I will send him a brigade in twenty minutes. Tell him to hold his ground. He can do it. I know him to be a powerful man." As fresh troops were poured in, hundreds of wounded, bleeding men were staggering back, to get beyond the reach of the deadly fire. Stretchers were passing in all directions with their ghastly burdens. The stretchers went back for fresh victims, laden with boxes of cartridges to supply the failing ammunition. The result of the battle was a splendid repulse of the rebels. They felt sure of being able to break through our line, which that night extended about six miles. But they were completely and bloodily foiled. The loss on both sides was heavy. That of the rebels is not known, for their bulletins were seldom entitled to any credit. According to their reports, almost every battle was a rebel victory, in which the "cowardly Yankees" were repulsed with fearful slaughter. The unintelligent, semi-barbarian people of the South were easily deluded by such fables. Our own loss, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was between two and three thousand. The respective losses were probably equal. During the day, General Burnside, with his force of about thirty thousand, advancing from Alexandria, joined General Meade's army.

Friday morning, May 6th, dawned brightly. Cloudless skies sublimely curtained the luxuriant forest. Flowers bloomed everywhere in wild profusion. Bird-songs filled the air. And beneath those sunny skies, and surrounded by the bloom and the melody of May, one hundred thousand rebels again emerged from their lairs in another deadly onset. During all of Thursday night both parties had been preparing for the renewal of the struggle.

Before five o'clock, the rebels, in great force, commenced their attack upon General Sedgwick. Rapidly the roar and the carnage of battle

spread. Assault after assault was made by the rebels, now upon this point, now upon that. Though the fortunes of battle were variable, the Stars and the Stripes gradually gained ground upon the infuriated foe. General Hancock drove a portion of the rebels more than two miles before him, taking many prisoners. The lines swayed to and fro in the terrific. fight, and the entangling thickets were filled with the wounded and dead. In one of the fierce assaults, Brigadier-General Wadsworth, of New York, was struck by a bullet in the head and fell senseless, mortally wounded. America has many noble names to inscribe upon her roll of honor. But there is no one deserving a higher position than that of James S. Wadsworth. His princely fortune, his rich mental culture, his courage which knew not fear, his high-toned character as a gentleman, and all the endearments of the sweetest domestic relations, he cheerfully laid upon the altar of his country's service. It is hardly too much to say that a wail of grief burst from our whole land, when the tidings went forth that he was dead; and more intense execrations glowed in the bosoms of all patriots in view of that accursed rebellion which was thus robbing our country of her noblest sons. At night, General Hancock, against whose division the most impetuous assaults of the enemy had been made, held the position he had occupied in the morning. The rebels had again been foiled, and they had received terrific blows in exchange for the terrific blows which they had given.

Throughout the day, the battle had been a series of impetuous assaults by the rebels and by the patriots. At times our peril was imminent. The rebels were perfectly familiar with the country. The dense forest was peculiarly favorable for the massing of their forces in perfect concealment. It was not possible to bring artillery into action to check their onset. The Sixth Corps at one time came near being overwhelmed. Generals Sedgwick and Wright made truly sublime displays of energy and of valor. The carnage on both sides was dreadful. The patriot loss, in the two days' battle, in killed, wounded, and missing, was estimated at fifteen thousand. The rebel loss could not have been less. The battle closed on a disputed field. Both parties claimed the victory; for each could state with truth that he "had repelled the fierce attack of the enemy."

Both had fought
The rebels had

But neither army had gained any special advantage. with desperation never surpassed on any field of blood. been thwarted in all their plans to break our lines. We had been bloodily driven back from every endeavor to put their solid masses to rout. As night came, calm, peaceful, silent, with its twinkling stars, from whence perhaps angel bands looked sadly upon the demoniac scene, the exhausted hosts threw themselves down, side by side, each sullenly and determinedly holding the ground upon which he had fought during the day. The narrow intervening space was crowded with the dead and the dying of both combatants. The rebels, apparently, this day expended all their strength upon but a portion of our army, and at night, in discouragement and exhaustion, withdrew from the conflict, conscious that they had gained no decisive results.

Having exerted themselves to the utmost on Friday, and having been

thwarted in all their plans, it was difficult to decide, at night, whether they would renew the attack on the next day or retire. The patriot army awoke on Saturday morning, May 7th, exultant over the discomfiture of the foe, and eager to resume the conflict. During the night our lines had been strengthened, and batteries had been planted to protect important points. After a series of brisk skirmishes in jungles where whole armies could hide, it was discovered, about noon, that General Lee was retreating, with his main force, towards Spottsylvania Court-House. The pursuit was immediately commenced and vigorously prosecuted. As the two armies were moving in nearly parallel lines, the march became in reality a race, each eager to gain first the commanding strategic position at Spottsylvania. The rebels, having the advance, gained the point. Again and again during the march there were brief and sanguinary struggles, resulting invariably in the continued retreat of the foe. The battle, the flight, the pursuit, were prosecuted late into the hours of Saturday night.

We were now out of the woods. The three days' battle of the Wilderness, appropriately so called, was closed as the blood-red sun of Saturday night sank behind the dense forests of the Rapidan. Probably never before was there a battle of such magnitude fought amidst the thickets of wild and tangled woods. An eye-witness writes :

"There is something horrible, yet fascinating, in the mystery shrouding this strangest of battles ever fought a battle which no man could see, and whose progress could only be followed by the ear. It is, beyond a doubt, the first time in the history of war that two great armies have met, each with at least two hundred and fifty pieces of artillery, and yet placed in such circumstances as to make this vast enginery totally useless. The combat lasted three days; but it might have been prolonged a fortnight longer, and still left the issue undecided."

We can hardly claim a victory in this conflict. Still, the rebels were foiled in their purpose, were compelled to retreat, and were vigorously pursued. None can therefore deny that the result was a substantial advantage to our arms. The rebels expended their utmost strength in this battle, and fought with desperation. They, with their accustomed tactics, brought forth every disposable man, and their line of battle at times extended along our whole front, overlapping both of our wings.

By the dawn of the Sabbath morning, our troops, having marched fifteen miles, were drawn up in battle-array two and a half miles north of Spottsylvania Court-House. The rebels again stood at bay, presenting a defiant and formidable front. General Grant immediately resumed his onset, with his accustomed vehemence, upon the foe. Through all the hours of the sacred day there was scarcely any cessation of the roar of battle. On both sides the fighting was desperate. The First Michigan -Regiment, which numbered but one hundred men, having been frightfully cut up in the three days' battle of the Wilderness, were caught in a trap, where they lost three-fourths of their number in fifteen minutes. Twenty-five only escaped. General Robinson, who had exhibited great ability and valor, was severely wounded. Gradually the patriot troops crowded the rebels along, taking the first line of breastworks and capturing a large

number of prisoners. Our loss, however, was severe, counting up fifteen hundred. But we sent back through our lines twenty-five hundred rebel prisoners.

Monday morning came. Both parties were thoroughly exhausted. Still, General Grant, with his indomitable energy, harassed the foe with incessant cannonading and skirmishing. But the day brought mourning to our land. Brigadier-General John Sedgwick was struck down in instant death by the bullet of a sharpshooter. He was standing directing the placing of some pieces of artillery, when a ball passed directly through his head, killing him instantly. Hardly another man could be found whose death could create a greater vacancy in the army. His ingenuousness, simplicity, and geniality won all hearts. His imperturbable bravery and commanding ability as a general secured for him universal respect and admiration. His soldiers loved him, and were ready to follow "Uncle John " wherever he might lead.

During the whole of Monday, though there was no general engagement, the roar of battle was almost incessantly heard from some portion of the widely extended field. On both sides there were impetuous charges and fierce repulses, and, when night came, neither army had materially changed its position.

Tuesday, the 10th of May, dawned upon the belligerent armies, introducing a day of blood and woe such as even this sin-stricken world has seldom witnessed. The antagonistic forces occupied essentially the same positions as on the preceding day. The rebels still occupied Spottsylva nia Court-House. The patriot army faced them in a line, crescent in form, crossing the Po, and extending about six miles. The rebel position was protected along his centre by forest and underbrush, and at other points by breast works hastily thrown up. It was manifestly the design of the rebel General Lee to wear out the Union army by a series of engagements which he would wage from behind his intrenchments, to withdraw gradually upon Richmond, and then, in coöperation with the forces there, to fall with annihilating power upon General Butler. As the patriot troops were steadily pressing the rebels southward, the shrewd leader of the foe was greatly favored in his plans by the broken country and the tangled chapparal through which he was moving. Until to-day the battles had been almost entirely confined to musketry. Now, for the first time in the campaign, our artillery was brought into full use, and a terrific cannonade was opened against the rebel lines. The roar of artillery was almost as fierce, incessant, and deafening as at Gettysburg. The battle continued from morning until night, and darkness alone closed the sanguinary scene.

The awful drama, which had commenced with active skirmishing, advanced to a general engagement as the hours wore on, and waxed hotter and hotter until it culminated in a series of desperate charges. Thus the battle surged, all undecisive, until late in the afternoon. Preparations were then made for a united assault by nearly the whole patriot line, at half-past six o'clock. A general order, in the mean time, had been read to the troops, announcing the great success of General Sherman in Georgia, and General Butler on the James River. These glad tidings roused the army

to the wildest excitement and enthusiasm. In preparation for the grand charge, General Grant and his staff, Generals Meade, Hancock, and Warren, were stationed on eminences within sight of each other. The vast columns of the army rapidly gathered for the terrific struggle. The simultaneous roar of twelve signal-guns put the whole mass in motion. With exultant cheers, echoed back by defiant rebel yells, the whole front advanced, sweeping resistlessly on, against a murderous fire from the foe. The rebels were driven from their position, and sullenly retired, under cover of the darkness, with the loss of two thousand prisoners. Thus ter minated the sixth day of this protracted conflict, to which history can present no parallel. The loss in killed, wounded, and missing was probably about equal, each side not losing less than ten thousand men.

On Wednesday, the 11th, there was active skirmishing all day, but no general engagement. The rebels endeavored to throw up additional earthworks, which the patriots strove to prevent by shelling their lines. Humanity required that the numerous wounded should be cared for. The hospitals presented a fearful spectacle of misery. Long trains of ambulances, dripping with their gory burdens, were continually arriving at the designated spots for field hospitals. Some of the sufferers were pale and silent, the life-blood nearly exhausted; some were mutilated with the most frightful wounds; prayers, sighs, groans were heard on all sides. The surgeons, blood-stained to the elbows, were busy with knife and probe. Piles of arms, legs, hands, feet, and fingers covered the ground. The utmost possible care was taken of the wounded. The dead were reverently buried. The chaplains were indefatigable in their humane and consoling labors, and carefully preserved to be returned to friends every thing which could be treasured as mementoes of the dead.

A tempest of thunder, lightning, and drenching rain swept the camp on. Wednesday night. Taking advantage of the darkness and the storm, General Hancock, unobserved by the rebels, changed his position, and at four o'clock in the morning made a rush upon one of the divisions of the foe. He took them completely by surprise, and captured nearly seven thousand prisoners, with thirty-two cannon. Within an hour after General Hancock had put his columns in motion, he sent the following dispatch to head-quarters:

"I have captured from thirty to forty guns. I have finished up Johnston, and am now going into Early."

The first line of rifle-pits having been carried, the second was stormed, and followed by the commingling roar of the heaviest cannonade. The whole line swept forward to the support of the Second Corps. Burnside came in on the left and Warren on the right. The enemy rallied, and charged with their accustomed impetuosity. Hour after hour the pitiless storm of battle drenched the soil with blood. Again and again the rebel columns dashed against our lines, and were hurled back mangled and bleeding. The combatants were reminded of Gettysburg by the tremendous roar of artillery, which, with deafening peal, reverberated on the hills. All through the morning and noontide and afternoon the carnage continued with varying success. The valor was equal on either side. The