THE GREAT REBEL DEFEAT.
When.the last brigade of the rebel army crossed
the Potomac near Williamsport on the27th of .June,
the Army of the Fotomac crossed about the same
time and occupied a position covering Washington
and Baltimore. Gen. Lee advanced cautiously
into Pennsylvania with his main army, Chambersburg,
Carlisle and other places having been previonslv
occnniedbv the advance under Gen. Ewell.
" **WV 4" "
On Sunday, the 28th of June, when Gen. Hook-er
was relieved, his headquarters were at Frederick,
and Gen. I.ee's at Hagerstown, about 40 miles
northwest. General Lee pushed forward in the
direction of Harri burg and the Susquehannah, but
as he progressed, hi? communications became more
exposed, and he was evidently disconcerted at the
failure of Gen. Hooker, and subsequently Gen.
Meade to atack him. When the latter assumed
command, he immed:ate.y put his troops in motion,
but avoided a buttle.
On Tuesdav, June 30. a cavalry fight occurred
near Hanover, a few miles from Gettysburg, and
Gen. Stuart was defeated by Pleasanton, with great
loss. On Tuesday evening, and Wednesday morning,
July 1st, the two main armies approached each
other near Gettysburg, where Gen. Lee succeeded
in engaging, with his whole army, our hirst and
eleventh army corps before the main body came
up. In this fight our troops fought with undaunted
courage, and by their noble resistance gained
time for the remainder of the army to come up.
?ien. Reynolds was killed, and we lost a great minibt.r
of officers and men, and though the enemy succeeded
in driving us back a little from Gettysburg,
the object of the battle was gained by the timely
arrival of the 'third Army corps, under Gen. Sickels.
who pressed forward with the utmost prompttitude.
During the night, the I irst, Eleventh and
'third corps fell back to the li c of the Tarry town
road, where, after hastily throwing up slight fortifications
in front of the batteries, they rested for
the night, the Twelfth corps holding a splendid
position on the hill near the Cemetery, which is
located at the eastern end of the town; to the left
of this were the Eleventh, next the First, and then
the Ihird Corps. Two advantages were gained.
The enemy was obliged to exhibit his strength and
to commit Ifimself to a position; and tho commanding
\ osiiions were seized and held by the National
IIVU^O*
During the night Gen. Meade and staff came up
to the front. The Commanding General carefully
examined the surrounding country, and after considering
the locations and positions in all their
strategical and tactical bearing, he approved of the
position taken by Gen. Howard, and so disposed
his forces on the several hills, or '?round tops"
and ridges, as to construct a battle-line in the form
of a crescent, with the <yntrc to the southward !
from the cemetery.
The enemy was ifca valley, or on, hills at a distance
too great to be of use for shelter. The roads
on which the enemy would desire to march were
commanded by Meade's guns, and hence Lee must j
light with the hills against him. For once, then, J
in the history of the Army of the Potomac, the
enemy had been compelled to give battle at a disadvantage.
On Wednesday night all the troops
but the Sixth Corps, commanded by General Sedgwick,
arrived on the field. Numerically, commencing
with the right, the line was formed of the
12th, 11th, 2d, 1st, 3d, and 5th Corpse. This was
essentially the position during Ihursday, and Friday,
though Gen. Meade did not fight his army by
corps. As the battle raged more fiercely here or
diitanSmtfnfc aV dii-ieinn Ar Iiri<r9/1/>A trprp
sent to support, and would remain till wanted
elsewhere. All the heights and. every advantageous
position along the entire line where artillery
could be massed or battery planted, frowned down
on the enemy through brows of brass and iron.
There was unconceivable advance of approach that
could not be raked and crossed with the artillery.
The reserve artillery and all the essentials to in-"
sure victory were in passion at the right time.
The immense cavalry force, too. was present covaring
both hanks of the army aud continually harcssing
the enemy. This was a new and an encouraging
feature that gave confidence to the men and
security to the trains.
Skirmishing commenced at early dawn on
Thursday morning and continued without intermis*inn
hut without ajiv armreeiable results until
about 4 P. M., when the enemy opened a terrific
fire on Cemetery HiH, a Presbyterian burying
ground, a little to the north of Gettysburg, occur
pied by the Eleventh and Second army corps.
Our artillery returned the fire, and for two hours
the contest continued, the smoke and roar of can*
non almost rending the heavens. Presently a heavy
compact mass, was seen approaching, and tlen.
Sickles was ordered forward. The black columns
came ont of the wood and suddenly the thunder
of artillery ceased, and, with cheers and yells, tho
roar of musketry and flash of bayonet, fulj. 60,000
men from Longstrcet's and Hill's corps, came
lushing against our lines. 1 he ThrnlCorps stood
firm for a while, but afterwards gave way beneath
ti>o TTAirriit th? nttnr.kinff column: and on they
taav - ? o ? . ,
came ten-fold more furious than before.
Sickles fell severely wounded in the leg, and ;
his cQrps was literally cut to pieces. The hecond j
Corps was thrown.in the breach from the right and
the Fifth from the left. The Second suffered severely.
Hancock received a painful flesh wound
in the thigh, but refused to be led from the held
while the engagement continued. Here, too, Gen.
Gibbon was wounded in the shoulder. The terrible
charge and fierce battle raged with unabated
fury. The Fifth Corps, including the Regulars !
and the Pennsylvania Reserves, struggled in the
herculean labor with the determination of men
born to conquer in battle. The aid of the 12th
Corps, from the extreme right, was called for, and
a division was ordered up, and about the same
time Sedgwick came up with the 6th Corps, after
a march of 86 consecutive hours. The men were
footsore, many without shoes, hungry and weary,
ready to drop on the road from exhaustion. But
the situation was imminent, and the soldiers discerned
at a glance the magnitude of the danger.
When the order to charge was given, forgetting
their weariness, thojr rushed on the en&my like an
avalanche. The rebel column staggered and reeled,
and then fell back in confusion, leaving their dead ;
lying against and across each other in this field of
slaughter. The sun went down, and as the western
hills eclipsed his rays tno Dame carnage ceaseu uu j
the left. The failure to turn our left inspired Gen. j
Lee with a desperate determination to gather up
his broken columns and hurl them on our right, in
order to gain the valley roads* The attack on Slccura
was furious even to madness. The 1st and
6th Corps came up promptly to the support of the
12th Corps. From dark until 9.] o'clock the battle
raged with unabated fury The lines moved to |
and fro, each in turn advancing and falling back
At this hour on the night the enemy made his
final charge on the left of the right wing, held by
Gen. Geary's division. lie was repulsed with terrible
slaughter, and refused to renew the attack.
At 10 o'clock t ie battle ceased, and dur ng the
night all was quiet. *
During the night, Gen. Meade made suitable
preparations to dislodge the rebel Gen. Ewell from
the position taken from Gen. Slocum in Wednesday's
battle. The men knew well the work that
lay before them on the ensuing day, and cheered
each other for the coming strife. At four o clock
on Friday morning the battle opened with a ter
rifle firo from Gen. Slocum's men on Eweirs posi-1
tion. The rebels responded with a furious charge.
For six hours they hurled their solid masses
against our lines with a contempt of death
worthy a nobler cause. The National troops stood
like a wall of fire, whose flaAing toja^ ues enwrapped
in death whatever came near, whose foundation
were firm as the primal rock on which it rested.
About ten o'clock the battle slackened, and
the rebels began to retire to their original position.
The lull continued until two o clock, when Gen.
Lee opened a line of artillery fire from 150 guns,
which were concentrated directly against Cemetery
, IIill, and the position held by the Second and First
j Corps. The fire was returned, and for three
hours was maintained with great energy. The
sight and sound were awfully sublime. The hills
trembled beneath the percussion. The sound
filled the heavens, and nature, as it were, stood 1
still to contemplate the scene. Horses were shot j
down by scores, gun-carriages wer? demolished, |
pieces dismounted, caissons exploded, whole bat-!
1 " * S J ./E
teries were swept away, ana cannomers ajiu umccio.
| killed and wounded in numbers almost incredible.
No less than fifeen caissons were exploded on the
heights and two regular batteries on the right of
the cemetery were completely demolished. The
silent abode of the dead was made the theatre of
deadly conflict. Tombstones and beautiful monuments
were demolished. Great holes were torn in
the earth by the explosion of shells and the sur^ J
face checkered with furrows. About tour o'clock
tire rebel artillery fire ceased, and a dense column
of infantry, under Gtn. Armistead, emerged from
the centre, evidently with a view of penetrating an
open space between the First and Second Corps*
that bad been left vacant during the fierce cannonade,
when our men were ordered to return under
cover. Our brave soldiers, however, were instantly
in their places, and delivered a steady fire
that caused the enemy to recoil. They then advanced,
but with less fury, wbea Gen.. "Webb
1 called out to bis brigade, "charge, tne enemy is
ours," and charge they did* \?ith so much succes
that Gen. Armistcad, with 3,500. m*n, were cap-,
tur^d by the simply closing in of the two army
corps. The remainder of the enemy was then
driven back over the fields with great slaughtor,
when they retired within their lines and the battle
ceased The next morning, a brigade drove the
rebel sharpshooters out of Gettysburg., ribe
slaugter on both sides has been terrible. 15,000
will scarcely cover the casualties in killed and
wounded in the National army. The rebels must
have suffered a loss of 25,000 in killed, wounded,
and prisoners.
GETTRSBrito, July 5.?The rebels have retreated
towards the Potomac.
General Lee yesterday paroled about two thousand
Federal prisoners. They were received by
General Couch. They failed to parole Gen. Barlow,
who is now within our lines seriously wounded.
Lee sent a flag of truce threatening to shell
the city if we advanced. Gen. Meade, thereupon,
immediately ordered the removal of tlie wounded.
Tleasanton has captured a rebel baggage train. Our
dead have all been buried, but the rebel dead are
strewed over tee ncia ny tnotisanas.
There was a cavalry fight to-day lour miles south
of Gettysburg, between our forces and the rear of
Lee's army, which is now on the retreat to Hagerstown.
Our cavalry continue to bring in large
numbers of rebel prisoners.
Minima the Rebel "Works at Vicksburo.? A
Vicksburg correspondent of the Cleveland Herald
gives the following interesting description oi the
operations of General Grant before \ iekhburg :
Let us climb the parapet and sec the siege by
moonlight. In front ol us bovond the enemy's
works, bnt hidden from us, lies the city of Ykksburg.
Look carefully, and you can distinguish
the court house, and the spires of two or three
churches. The rebels had a signal station on the
former when we came, but our shells made it ton
warm for them, and they withdrew. The mortars*
arc playing to night, and they are well worth seeing.
We watch a moment, and in the direction of ^
Young's l'oint, beyond the city, suddenly up
shoots a Hash of light, and in a moment the ponderous
shell, with its fuse glowing and sparkling,
rises slowly from behind the blutfs > up, up it goes,
as though mounting to the zenith; over it cornea
towards us. down through its flight trajectory intothe
city, and explodes with a shock that jars the
ground for miles. There are women and tender
children where those shells fall, but war is war.
Sherman's eight inch monsters are grumbling
fax away on the right. Nearer, Mcl herson's loo
are placing. We can even see the cannoneers
beside them at every flash. Ours will open tt
midnight; then will be music to our heart s content.
Meanwhile let us go to the front. A hundred
yards to the right of where we now are we
enter a deep trench. Following this, as it winds
down around the hill, we reach the opening of a
cave or mine. The air within is damp aud close,
like that of a vault. Candles are burning dimly at
intervals, and we hear ahem of voices tar w.thin
and out of sight. We proceed, and presently
meet two men carrying a barrow of earth, for our
boys^arc at work night and day. This is the main
appebaeh on this part of the line. Finally wo
reach the moonlight again and emerge into a wide,
deep trench, cut across the lino of th|- covered way.
This is open and filled with troops, who protoct
the working party. A heavy parapet of cotton
bales and carih is built on the side towards the encmv,and
we must mount the berm to look over.
?~ ^,1,^.
H C are now Wliuiu swibvic uioiau\,v V< ??jvr
chivaJry,. Those men lying on the ground twenty
or thirty yards from us, are our boys, our advance
pickets; but that gray fellow, with the bright mus- *
ket which glistens so, a few steps beyond, is la
"reb,'' long haired and hot blooded, one of Wall s
famous Terras Legion?a bul-dog to tight, yon
may bo sure.
Now, jump down and enter the mouth of the
other mine, which leads forward toward the salient
of the enemy's woite. Stumbling along we reach
i tho end where the men are digging. The candle
burns very dimly?the air iaaknost stifling. Never
mind, let us watch tliein. See that slender, bright
looking fellow swinging that pick. Great beaded
drops of perspiration trickled down his face; thereis
not a dry thread in hia coarse gray shirt, but no.
matter; the pick swings and each stroke slices
down six inches of the tough subsoil of Mississippi.
That fellow was "Jim, 'once a tender handed
"* * * -i.tl.
smooth-faced mcoyoung man, wnosc jivery-siaoiek
biliard and cigar bills were a sore trial to his wori
thy governor.
Jim says that he used to wear gloves and "storo
; clothes," and that girls called him good looking,
but that's played out now ; he is going for Uncle
| Sam. 4
But we return to the fresh, air. Look over the
! parapet again, towards the turreKe, where we saw
| the rebel picket. Do vou see tbe 'little gray
: mounds which cover the Jll-side so tbiekly Men,,
twenty, thirty, you can count on a few square rods.
Ah, my friend, that is sacred ground you are looking
upon. There our gallant boys charged ; they
were slain in heaps; but they pressed on and leaped
into the ditch. They clhned the parapet and;
rolled back into eternity. Others followed them t
their flag was planted, and the/ sprang over to
meet their certain death. An hour passed, and
? ?-1-.? TUA HAflt tttA*A * Jt
one reiurueu. jn? rvav. q.cic uvau.
? The son and heir of a man who hwL risers
from poverty to wealth, begins where his father
left off, and generally leaves off where bis father
began.
iGrhf-/ <V /Ay 6V* ^ *
1 I Taat /<? "\