THE BATTLE OF I UK A.
735
conflict, the other 2 brigades which had been or-dered up had arrived on the field, making the wholestrength of Little’s division, 18 regiments, readyfor action before a gun had been fired.
On the halting of my troops, the battalion ofskirmishers was pushed rapidly forward in thedirection of Iuka. An advance of four hundredyards brought them in the immediate presence ofthe enemy. I was immediately in rear of the skir-mishers, and taking in the situation at a glancedashed back to the head of the column. If thisshould become enveloped by the enemy, a rout wasinevitable, and our force would be doubled back onitself. I threw the leading regiment, the 5th Iowa,across the road, moving it a short distance to theright, and ordered up the nearest battery, whichwas placed in position on the road, and to the leftof the first regiment in position. Colonel Sanbornwas active in bringing up other regiments, and get-ting them into line. Just as the first regiment wasplaced, the enemy opened one of his batteries withcanister. The charge passed over our heads, doingno damage beyond bringing down a shower of twigsand leaves. The Confederates were in line ready foraction. Why they did not move forward and at-tack us at once is not understood. Their delay,which enabled us to form the nearest three regi-ments in line of battle before the attack began,was our salvation. An earlier attack would haveenveloped the head of the column, and brought adisastrous rout.
Meantime not a moment was lost. A secondregiment, and a third, with all the rapidity thatmen could exercise, were added to our little line;and while the Confederates were moving to thefront, we had managed to get a battle line ofthree regiments into position. It was then thestorm of battle opened. The opposing infantrylines were within close musketry shot. Our bat-tery was handled with energy, and dealt death tothe enemy. The Confederate batteries had ceasedfiring, their line of fire having been covered by theadvance of their infantry. Our own infantry heldtheir ground nobly against the overwhelming forcemoving against them, and we were enabled to addanother regiment to the line of battle. At the firstmusketry fire of the enemy, most of the horses of■our battery were killed, and the pieces could notbe removed from the field. The fight became aninfantry duel. I never saw a hotter or more de-structive engagement. General Price says in hisofficial report, “The fight began, and was wagedwith a severity I have never seen surpassed.”
The regiments of Sanborn’s brigade were in thefront line. Sullivan’s brigade was divided — aregiment thrown to the right flank, and one to theleft—the remaining two being placed in rearof Sanborn’s center as a reenforcement. Thuswas every regiment of my command doing duty onthe field. Stanley’s division seemed long in com-ing up. The Confederate lines had moved for-ward, concentrating their fire on our little front,
i Rosecrans in his official report says: “ A bout this time[referring to a time subsequent to the capture and recov-ery of Sears’s battery] it was deemed prudent to order up
and stretching out their wings to the right andleft, as though we were to be taken in at once.Our men stood their ground bravely, yieldingnothing for a long time; but the pressure beganto grow severe, and I feared we might be drivenfrom our ground. Thinking General Rosecranswas in the rear, where he could hurry up the troopsof Stanley’s division, I dispatched an aide with therequest that General Rosecrans would come for-ward far enough to confer with me. All the whilethe battle waxed hotter and more furious. Thedead lay in lines along the regiments, while someof our troops gave signs of yielding. I dispatchedanother officer, the only one in reach, for GeneralRosecrans. He happened to be one of GeneralRosecrans’s staff, and at my request he started tobear the message to his general. Our troops, asyet, had not given way. The battery under Searswas doing noble service, but had lost nearly halfits men. Sanborn’s brigade was held by him totheir work like Roman veterans, but without helpwe could not much longer hold out. I dispatchedmy adjutant-general, Captain Sawyer, and a shorttime later another aide, Lieutenant Wheeler, withmessages for General Rosecrans, saying that I con-sidered it imperative he should come forward tosee me, and should hurry forward fresh troops. J
Stanley’s division had now reached the vicinityof the battle-field, and General Stanley cameinstantly to the front, directing the division tofollow as rapidly as possible. It was time, for ourline had begun to give way slowly. It had beenformed on the crest of the hill (up which we hadcome, and which sloped to our rear), and in fallingback had been arrested just below the brow ofthe hill, where it maintained the fight. Otherregiments were yielding ground slowly, but werereadily stopped by the united exertions of Stanley,Sanborn, and myself. The falling back of thetroops had exposed the battery, into which theConfederates had entered. A short time later,however, a desperate rally was made, and they weredriven back from the battery ; but returning withrenewed strength, our troops were again forcedbelow the brow of the hill. Here three of Stanley’sregiments reached the field, and were pushed tothe right of the line, where they made good theplaces of troops that had fallen to the rear. Theyfought bravely under Colonels Mower, Boomer, andHolman, but the fire was too deadly, and they inturn were forced back. It was growing dark. Thesmoke of battle added to the coming night, and itwas soon too dark to distinguish the gray from theblue uniform. The storm of battle gradually lulledto entire quiet.
Our troops bivouacked on the slope of the hill.The Confederates, for several hours, were occu-pied with burying their dead and removing theirwounded.
A consultation between General Rosecrans andhis division commanders resulted in a rearrange-ment of the troops early in the night, and every-
the first brigade of Stanley’s division.” This shows thatStanley had reached the vicinity of the battle-field, but forsome reason no one had ordered him to thefront.—C. 8. H.