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f $ YOL L _____ General Pleasanton, too, succeeded in turning back a dozen pieces takou from the flying corps, and planting them in a favorable position, while he drew up his little brigade of cavalry, consisting of squadrons of the Sixth New York, Eighth Pennsylvania, and Seventeenth Pennsylvania, with drawn sabres to protect the guns, (a novel sight in battle.) Directing the j ieces to be double shotted with canister, he swept the position occupied by the enemy with a murderous fire. The traccessful check of the advancing foe is in no small degree owing to the indomitable energy of this gallant soldier. While this is going on the panic-stricken Dutchmen are sweeping past ns, and V t 1 L _ ll.A 1 round, oy neaaquarwirs, xuto iur roau leading to United States Ford. Many members of the staff of General Hooker, ! and other general officers, placed themselves in the road, and with drawn sabres smote and slashed the cowardly retreating rascals. It was all in vain, however. The road for two or three miles down toward United States Ford is now crowded with their shattered fragments. Gen. Hooker has, however, sent Sykes' regulars after hem. As to the loss sustained by this c*orps, either in killed or captured, it could not have been great; they ran too fast for that. I have the mortification tc add that they allowed twelve pieces of cannon to Call into the h nds of the enemy. "What makes this retreat not only dis* graceful, but well-nigh disastrous, is that it completely foiled a splendid manoeuvre which Gen. Sickles with his corps was enrn in gaged in executing. He had gone in on a branch road leading off from the main pike, pierced the enemy's centre, penetrated for a mile, cut them in two, and would have secured the key to victory, when the turning of Howard's position compelled him to make good his retreat, though he brought out with him four hundred rebel prisoners! The artillery combat was prolonged' till onrl tli? Vtiiniti'nrr r\f fliii ?ihnw#?r illium^ 11 ifj tauu uijlu uuiottuy^ v* ??*v ' of shells thrown by our batteries into the ^ rebels made a spectacle that beggars all description. < During the whole crisis Gen. Honker was under the severest fire, and his swiff,, made up of young braves, performed fyo. digies of valor. \ ? The task to be accomplished by,the commanding general during those uight' watches is one to tax his best energies. The enemy has completely turned our - right, is now in our rear, and will, unless prevented, turn their immense advantage to account with the first dawn of to-morrow's light. He will, doubtless, draw in . his line, bringing his right down perhaps to the neighborhood of Ely's Ford. He ,' will replace the cowardly corps that has fled by Meade's corps, than which there is none better in the army, and reinforce it ? by that of Reynolds, which is coming up from the feft, and is now within a couple . of hours, march of here. If the enemy resume the attack in the morning, as there ' is every probability that he will, I predict . a reception that he is not prepared for. 1 The conduct of the commanding gen oral during the whole operations, and especially the amazing fertility of resources . displayed in first checking what was wellnigh being a crushing*disaster, and then making such an arrangement of his line will render it stronger even than before, give him claims in rank as a first-alass captain. He certainly shows powers and qualities that have been displayed by no general who has yet commanded this . army. I have seen the cold pedantry of _jt McClellan's mind, and tlia.feeble. wellmeaumGrnesB of Burnside : but here is a man who, while dashing in the extreme, has resources that are inexhaustible ; who has, in an eminent degree, that highest quality of a general?that of promptly changing his plans in the midst of battle; who holds the thunderbolts of war in his hand and wields them at his will. THH GREAT BATTLE OF SUNDAY. Hi AUDITA 5TM8 15 THi FIWD. I Mzab Chajcoiclorville, Va., Sunday, May 3, 1833./ Another bloody day has been added to the calendar of this rebellion. Another terrible battle has been fought, and more fields crimsoned with human blood. A few more such days as this will rind no Armies left on either side to fight battles, j My last letter brought up the situation i to Saturday morning. It*was then certainly expected that the enemy would begin the attack as soon as it was day, and our dispositions were made accordingly. iiat tlie attack diu not oegin. Events ! proved that the enemy did not design to attack, but he chose to make that attack in a manner and at a point different from vrhat had oeen anticipated by us on Saturday morning. Daylight grew broader, and yet no guns. Finally about 6 o'clock a brass Napoleon, looking d<fwn the plank road in front of the Chancellor House, saw a regiment come into the road, in column, and attempt to deploy. One or two doses oi canister caused them to deploy rather Sr*' > . THE FREE'SOUTH, SA1] irregularly, and more like-skirmishers 011 the retreat. Soon after, General Hodker and staff' began an inspection of our lines, which occupied full two hours. Evert* portion was visited, and the'work of the night , was closely inspected. On the extreme left new lines were chosen, and the engineer officers won marked out the line and character of the defences to be erected. When the inspection closed, the intrenchments were pronounced to be of the very nest character, especially those on the right, where the columns of Slocum and Howard were posted. About 3 o'clock the pickets on the right of General Slocum's front reported that from a certain position wagons had been seen moving in a westerly direction nearly all day. It was at once surmised that this might be a retreat, but subsequent, events proved that it was a part of an affair of altogether another nature. To ascertain, however, what it really was, Gen. Sickles, who was still in reserve, was ordered to make a reconnoissance in heavy force in i that direction, who soon found that the " wagon train " which we had seen moving during the day was composed mainly of ordnance wagons and ambulances, and j that Stonewall Jackson and staff were at I the head of a column of troop3 which the I wagons followed. Nothing more was needed to convince I us that this daring opponent was executing another of his sudden movements, and it was at once resolved to checkmate ' him. General Sickles was ordered to push I on, und General Williams' division of i Slotflm's column was ordered to co-opani ate; ' Birney pushed ahead with great vi#i$j and with Randolph's battery soon sent to rear as prisoners of war the entire - remnant of the Twenty-third Georgia regiment, numbering over four hundred offi'.cers and men. But at 5 o'clock a. terrific crash of musketry on our extreme rmht announced that Jackson had commenced his operations. This had been anticipated, but it was supposed that after his column was cut, the .corps of General Howard (formerly General Sigel's) with its supports, would be ? cn i. A. i. l u J X5-.J sumcient 10 resist m? uppruacu, ami aiming that he was himself assailed in the rear he would turn about and retreat to escape capture. But to the disgrace of the Eleventh Corps be it said that the division of Gen. Shurz, which was the first assailed, almost instantly gave way. Threats, entreaties, and orders of commanders were of no avail. Thousands of these cowards threw down their guns, and soon streamed down the road toward headquarters. The enemy pressed his advantage. Gen. Devens' division, dialfected by the demoralization of the forces in front of him, soon followed suit, and the brave general was for the second time severely wounded in the foot, while endeavoring to rally his men. Gen. Howard, with all his daring and resolution and vigor, could not stem the tide of the retreating and cowardly poltroons. The brigades of Cols. Bushbeck and McLeon only remained fighting, and maintained themselves nobly,as long as possible. But they, too, gave way, though in good order, before vastly superior numbers. Gen. Hooker now sent to the aid of General Howard the choicest division of his army, the creation of his own hand, the famous Second Division of the Third Corps, commanded bv Major-General Berry. Captain Best sron moved his batteries on a ridge running across the road, and after a short, but sanguinary contest, the further au7<vaee of tho on ox* je ,was stayed. Of course this disaster compelled the recall of Sickles and Slocum, who had been pursuing their work with remarkable vigor. Gen. Williams' division returned only to find a portion of their works tilled with the enemy. Sickles' division could not communicate with the rest of the army at all by the way they advanced, and only at great risk by any other route. Tiiis was the position at dark, and it did not look ver7 promising. But our energetic commander was more than equal to the emergency. New dispositions to re pair iiii? Uiaa?i/er wcio ab uncc icouatu upon. Communication was at once had with Gens. Birney and Whipple, and a night attack ordered, to restore the connection of the lines. Gen. Ward's brigade, of Gen. Birney's division, made the attack at 11 at night, aided by Capt. Best's guns, massed on the ridge in front of the enemy. Birney's position was on the extreme left of this new line of battle, but Ward's terrific attack was entirely successful, communication was restored, and in a charge made by the brigade, a portion of the artillery lost by Howard was gallantly retaken by Gen. Hobart Ward. This night attack was the most grand and terrific thing of the war. The moon shone bright, and an enemy could be seen at good musket range. The air was very f PTTRDAY, MAY ^3, 1863. | still, and the roar ji ad reverberation of the I 1 I musketry and artillery was p:ist ail concep- j < tion. Malvern HilJ was a skirmish com- I : pared with this, savfc in the degree of < slaughter. But it was successful?the en- ] emy were driven back nearly half a mile, and our tired men once more slept on I i their arms. That night's work was end- J ed. ( Now I come to Sunday. It was perfect- 1 ly evident, from the position of affairs on ] Saturday night, that there must be a < change of our lines, which would throw < the enemy out of our rear and into our < front again. It will be seen by what skill- j '..1 ? - ? 1.1.1 M 41. A /.MAI., W n*Afl ^A,1 rtl, i At, /I ! I llll geuerttiauijj w? ciicuijr noo luugut auu checked on front, and flank, and rear, while this was being done. i Gen. Reynold's First Army Corps arrived at United States Ford on Saturday < afternoon. It was immediately put into I position on our right, which was with- < drawn from the plank road to the Ely's Ford turnpike. This line was immediate- < ly formed by Gem. Reynold's and Meade, the latter's position, on the left, having i been releived by Gen. Howard's Eleventh ; Corp, which, notwithstanding its disor- j gauized condition, was so far reorganized ; ; during the night as to be fit for duty again ! this morning. They were assigned the i position on the left, where it was proba- j ble there would be little or no fighting, j and were protected by the strong works 1 built the day before by Gen. Meade's ' corps. It was very evident at daylight this morning that the day would bring forth, a 1 terrific battle. We knew that the enemy had been reinforcing his line all night, at ; th? expense, undoubtedly, of the strength ' of his force on our left. His intention was, evidently, to fight for the possession I of the plank road, which it was perfectly apparent he must have, as that portion of it which we then held was subject to the j enemy's assaults in front and on both j flanks. But the possession of this road was not ' obtained by the enemy save at our own { time, at his severest cost, and after one of . the most desperate, tenacious and bloody 1 conflicts, for its short duration, of the whole war. Our line of battle was formed with Gen. Berry's gallant division on the right, Gen. Birney next on the left, Gen. Whip- : pie and Gen. Williams supporting. At ! a. m., the advance became engaged in | the ravine, just beyond the fridge where j Capt. .Best's guns iiacl made tneir terrmc i onslaught the night before, and where ' the* still frowned upon the enemy and J threatened his destruction. The rattle of musketry soon became a ! long continued crash, and in a few 'mo- ' rnents, as battalion after battalion became , engaged, the roar surpassed all concep- j tion, and indicated that the fight would i be one of the most terrible nature. Gen. j Berry's division, which had checked the I enemy's advance the night before, engaged j him again, and if it were possible for them to add more laurels to their fame, I then they did it thrice over again. The enemy advanced his infantry in overwhelming numbers, and seemed determined t(^ crush our forces. But the brave men of Sickles and Slocum, who fought their columns with desperate gallantry, held the rebels in check, and inflfbted dreadful slaughter among them. Gen. French's division was sent in on the right flank of our line at about 7 a. m., and in a short time a horde of ragged, streaming rebels running down the road indicated that that portion of the enemy's liljt h?d been crushed. At ? o'clock a. I m., General French sent his compliments I to General Hooker, with the information ' that he had charged the enemy and was 1 driving him before him. Sickles maintained the attack upon his line with great endurance. The enemy seemed determined to crush him with the immensity of his forces, and, as subsequently shown from the statements of prisoner5 five whole divisions of tiie rebel ' army were precipitated upon this portion of the li ie, forUrom these five divisions we took during the day an aggregate of I over t\so thousand prisoners. The exploits of oar gallant troops in I those dark, tangled, gloomy woods may , I never be brought to light ; but they would i till a hundred volumes. It was a deliber- 1 | ate, desperate, hand-to-hand conflict, and . | the carnage was perfectly frightful. Cool ' officers say that the dead and wounded of ] the enemy covered the ground in heaps, and that the rebels seemed utterly regard- j ( ' less of their lives, and literally threw j , j themselves upon the muzzles of our guns. | Many desperattrcharges were made during ] , the tight, particularly by Ferry's division, j Mott's brigade ma^e fllteen distinct j charges, and captured seven stands of < ! colors, the Seventh New Jersey, Col. Francine, alone capturing four stands of j ; colors and live hundred prisoners. General Couch's Second Army Corps, i though oniy in part present, did excellent | ' I -1 f _ NO. 2Q. work. It was General French wha harmed and drove the enemy on the flank, md it was the indomitable Hancock who gallantly went to the relief of the hardpressed Sickle*. The engagement lasted without the dighest intermission from 5}* a. m. to d:45 a. m., when there was a temporary cessation on our part, occasioned by getting out of ammunition. We held our position for nearly an hour with the bayonet, and then, being resupphed, an order was given to fall back to the vicinity of the Chancellor House, which wc did in good order. Here the contest was maintain e 1 for an hour or more, not so severely as before, but with great havoc to the enemy, and considerable loss to ourselvea. The vicinity of the Chancellor House j was now the theatre of the fight, and my visits to that spot became less frequent. General Hooker maintained his headquarters there uutil 10 a. m., when it was set on fire by the enemy's shells, and is now ' 0 in ruins. Chancellorville is no longer in , existence, having perished with the flame, N but Chancellorville is in history, never to be effaced. Our new line was now so far established as to render it safe to withdraw all our forces on that front, which was accordingly done, and at 11:30 a. the musketry tiring ceased. The engagement had lasted six hours, but had been the most terrific of the war. Oar artillery had literally slaughtered the enemy, and many of the companies had lost liea\ily in men themselves, but the guns were all saved. The enemy was now no longer in our rear, but had been shoved down directly in our front, and is now director between us and our forces in Frederickstmig, and we were again in an intrenched and formidably fortified position. The enemy has gained some ground, it is true, but at the sacrifice of the flower of his force, five of his seven divisions having been cut t? pieces in the effort, and over 2000 of them have fallen into our hands. Our right wing, under Gens. Reynolds and Meade was not engaged, save the division of General Humphrey's which went into the woods on the enemy's left flank, and fought valiantly under their brilliant leader, until their ammunition was exhausted. During the afternoon the enemy has made several attempts to force our lines, particularly at the apex of our position, near the Chancellor House, but Captain Weed has massed a large quantity o? artillery in such a position as to repulse with great loss everything placed within iU range. The enemy tried several batteriea and regiments at that point, at different times doling the afternoon, and they were literally destroyed by the fire of our terri bleguns. Nothing can live within their range. ' ' . * ^ Onr troops are perfectly cool and confident. They have fought with great % spirit and enthusiasm, and will continue to do so. The rebel prisoners report that Gen. A. P. Hill was killed this forenoon, during the sanguinary conflict his division had with Gen. Berry's division. Gen. Berry wits himself killed, while gallantly fighting his brave men. An old woman was praising, in rather e^husiastic terms, the sermon of a Scotch minister, who had acquired a great name for depth and sublimity. The suspicions of her auditor were a little aroused, and she ventured to propose a question to her: "Wen, Jepuy, do you understand him?" "Understand him!" holding up her hands in astonishment at the question?? " me understand him ! Wad I hae the presumption ?" A good story is told of an irish hostler who was sent to the stable to bring forth a traveler'^ horse. Not knowing which of . . A 1 iL. ii.U. U tile two siraiige nurses in lue sutiu uciuuf;ed to the traveler, and wishing to avoid the appearance of ignorance in his trade, he saddled both animals and brought them both to the door. The traveler pointed out his horse, saying, "That's my nag." "Cerfhinly, your honor. I knew that; but I didn't know which of them was the other ftee gintleman's." A few years ago, a little fellow was taken by his father to a carpenter, to be bound apprentice to him, after the fashion of old times. In settling the business, the master,who was one of the. stiff kind, observed : "Well, my boy, I suppose you can >?at almost anything, ca0t you, I always make my boys live on what they don't 44 f l!bA AfA*n4bi'n/? Knf minfli UTlfl Llht*. X illVC C?C1J MUV AM4.A4W** ipple pith," lisped the boy. Hartford has given the confederates? lemocrats, we me;m?a municipal victory. ? ? S Wanted. 5Q BUSHELS FLN'E SALT to flU balance of a com^ n'20-lt Address P. P.. this offlca.