GENERAL LEE IN THE WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN.
243
Esridan, whom lie had followed up from Spot-sylvania and boldly attacked with greatly in-en °r numbers near Biokmond. Stuart’s loss was§reatly mourned by General Lee , 4 who prized himUglily both as a skillful soldier of splendid cour-and energy and a hearty, joyous, lovingU'lend.
On the 12tli, before dawn, came Hancock’samous assault on a weak salient in Ewell’sout — the go j e appreciable success in attack ofl the hard fighting by the Federal troops sincee y crossed the liapidan. The threatening at-ude of Hancock’s attacking column, as indi-. te d by the noise of the preparations going on^ front of the salient during the night, had noteu communicated to General Lee . The au-unceinent of the disaster was the first newsjj °1* came to him of this movement of the enemy.6 galloped forward in the darkness of the morningn ^; ear hed the extent of it from those engaged infyiug the remnants of Edward Johnson’s divisionu ill making arrangements to check Hancock.0 j®°ccasion aroused all the combative energiese , ais soldier nature, and he rode forward with hisumns toward the captured angle. His generalsg ^f >0s fulated with him, and his men cried him back***** their promises to retake the lines. Thev aiice of Hancock’s troops, after his successfule ^lt, was checked by the brigades of Hill’sri Early, which held the lines on the
left ^ le sa H eii f> and *>y Ewell’s troops on the
of battle was fonned making the baselet * r * ari S'l e °f the salient, and the work on thejjenchment (which had been begun the day be-|.^ le as a new line to remedy this weak point in theQ.^ es ) was pushed rapidly forward. During the daybatl 61 ' 8 ^ ^ ,ee 8en f three brigades and a number ofop er ^ es °f artillery to reenforce ltodes’s division,ch fell the main task of holding the enemy in
% 0 . an d recovering, if practicable, the salient andlav ^Eteen pieces of Confederate artillery whichtalent between the opposing lines (having arrivedin the morning for effective use against
jj ""-e in the morning 101
au cock’s assault). I11 the
oiisoaruiuy. x 11 Liitit narrow spaco of the. ®ht captured before dawn raged the fiercest bat-^ear t' war. Lee ’s position during the day wasy Early's lines, where lie observed, from time to°f H ^ le raove,nen f s °f the Federal troops in aidEar) ^ U00e E’s attack, and counter-movements ofit h ^ 8 ^ 100 P S - H e was with the artillery whentati ° Ce ® urn side’s assault. Lee was present dic-^ S notes and orders in the midst of his guns.%i° 116 ^ me lle rode at ^ le h ea <l °f Harris’s Missis-dow ! 31aga< f e ! "Which by his orders I was guidinghiei * co ^ mnn to the assistance of Bodes. TheLeJ lnaro ^ le d steadily on until they noticed thatby Lieir head was riding across a space sweptr 6ll 6 artillery fire of the enemy. Then were(J e Ye< * tbe same protesting shouts of “Go back,d ut ral Lee, ” and the same promises to do theirDot " r ''* le firing in the battle of the salient didEeen° eaSe far into the night. Haucock hadcompelled to retire behind the lines which
he had captured, holding them as breastworksfor the protection of his troops. The Confederatefront at the close covered four of the eighteenpieces of artillery. Lee ’s retrenchment in rear ofour battle-line (which rendered the salient a use-less capture) had been completed. The weariedand worn Confederate battalions were withdrawnto this line late at night, but the four recoveredguns, after being dragged off, were left hopelesslystuck in a swamp outside of the new lines, andbecame Hancock’s trophies after all. GeneralGrant did not leave Hancock unaided in this fight,having sent the Sixth andFifth corps to his support.He expected much from Burnside also, but Early’scounter-movements in part prevented the realiza-tion of these hopes. I have gone into some detailin this brief sketch of the battle of the salient, be-cause, as perhaps the fiercest struggle of the war, itis illustrative of the valor of the troops on both sides.
O 11 the 18th an attack was made on Early’s leftand easily repulsed, though some of the assailantsreached the breastworks. On the 19th Ewell wassent to the north side of the Ny to threatenGrant’s communications. He met some Federalreenforcements, and, being without artillery (find-ing the ground impracticable for it), he regainedhis position on the south side of that stream withsome loss. Hampton’s cavalry brigade and batteryof horse artillery proved of great assistance in hiswithdrawal from his hazardous position.
The battles of Spotsylvania Court House closedwith the 19th of May. It gives a clearer idea ofthe nature of this tremendous contest to group by
MAJOlt-GENEIiAL EDWAKI) JOIIXSON, C. S. A.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.
days and count its various combats from the be-ginning of the campaign : On May 5th, three; onMay Gtli, four; on May 8th, two; on May 10th,five; on May 12th, repeated assaults during twenty