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THE ELEVENTH CORPS AT CHANCELLORSVILLE.

ful charge, “ the command moved forward at the double-quick to assaultthe enemy, who had taken up a strong position on the crest of a hill inthe open field.” This position was the one on Hawkins’s farm whereDevens’s and Schurz’s reserves began their fight. But wave after wave otConfederate infantry came upon them, and even, their left flank was unpro-tected the instant the runaways had passed it. To our sorrow, we, whohad eagei’ly observed their bravery, saw these reserves also give way, andthe hill and crest on Hawkins’s farm were quickly in the hands of the menin gray. ☆

Doles, who must have been a cool man to see so clearly amid the screech-ing shells and all the hot excitement of battle, says again: “ He ” (meaningour forces from Sehimmelfennig’s and Buschbeck’s brigades, and perhapspart of McLean’s, who had faced about and had not yet given way) “ made astubborn resistance from behind a wattling fence on a hill covered thicklywith pines.”

Among the stubborn fighters at this place was Major Jeremiah Williams-The enemy was drawing near him. His men fired with coolness and delib-eration. His right rested among scrubby bushes and saplings, while his leftwas in comparatively open ground. The fire of the approaching enemy wasmurderous, and almost whole platoons of our men were falling; yet they heldtheir ground. Williams waited, rapidly firing, till not more than thirty pacesintervened, and then ordered the retreat. Out of 333 men and 10 commis-sioned officers in the regiment (the 25tli Ohio ), 130, including 5 officers, werekilled or wounded. Major Williams brought a part of the living to the breast-works near me; the remainder, he says, were carried off to the rear by anotherregimental commander.

During the delays we had thus far caused to the first division of ourenemy, all his rear lines had closed up, and the broad mass began toappear even below me on my left front to the south of Steinwehr’s knoll-Then it was, after we had been fighting an hour, that Sickles’s and Pleas-onton’s guns began to be heard, for they had faced about at Hazel Droveobliquely toward the north-west, and were hurrying artillery, cavalry, andinfantry into position to do what they could against the attack now reach-ing them.

I had come to my last practicable stand. The Confederates were slowlyadvancing, firing as they came. The twelve guns of Scliirmer, the corpschief of artillery, increased by a part of Dilger’s battery, fired, at first withrapidity; but the battery men kept falling from death and wounds. Sud-denly, as if by an order, when a sheet of the enemy’s fire reached them, alarge number of the men in the supporting trenches vacated their positionsand went off.

No officers ever made more strenuous exertions than those that my sta#and myself put forth to stem the tide of retreat and refill those trenches,

☆ In justice to the men of Devens’s division who first resisted Doles it should ho stated that thecial report of the latter shows that his column was engaged at the outset by Union skirmishers, aB“subjected to a heavy musketry fire, with grape, canister, and shell.”— Editors.