from Jacinto, between 2 and 4 P. M. next day. force, under Col. Mower, having satisfied Rosecrans that the Rebel army under Gen. Price now occupied Iuka, Rosecrans moved accordingly, at he so advised Gen. Grant; who there- 3 A. M," in light marching order, upon resolved on a combined attack, duly advising Gen. Grant; and was sending down Gen. Ord, with some within 7 miles of Iuka at noon, hav5,000 men, to Burnsville, seven miles ing been driving in the enemy's skir west of Iuka, and following from mishers for the last two miles. DisBolivar with such troops as could be appointed in hearing no guns from spared to rëenforce him. Ord was Ord's column, he did not choose to to move on Iuka from the north; push his four brigades against the while Rosecrans, with Stanley's, was more numerous army in their front to rejoin his remaining division, un-on separate roads, which precluded der Hamilton, at Jacinto, nine miles their reciprocal support, but advanced south of Burnsville, thence advancing slowly-Hamilton's division in front on Price from the south. This con--up to a point two miles from Iuka, centration was duly effected;" and where a cross-road connected that Gen. Grant, who had now reached from Jacinto, on which he was movBurnsville, was advised that Rose-ing, with the road leading south-eastcrans would attack Iuka, 19 miles ward from Iuka to Fulton; where, Sept. 19. Sept. 18. 31 attempt to turn our left. Col. Boomer fell, severely wounded, and darkness at length closed the battle: our men lying down on their arms, expecting to renew the struggle next morning; Gen. Stanley himself being at the front, along with Brig.-Gen. Sullivan and Col. J. B. Sanborn, who had bravely and skillfully directed the movements of Hamilton's two brigades; but not a regiment of Stanley's division, save the 11th Missouri, had been enabled to participate in the action; and not a shot had been fired from the direction whence Ord's advance had been confidently expected the excuse for this being that Ord had only expected to attack after hearing the sound of Rosecrans's guns; and these a high wind from the north-west prevented his hearing at all. at 4 P. M., the Rebels were found drawn up in force, holding a strong position along a deep ravine crossing the main road, and behind the crest of a hill. Here our skirmishers were driven back on the head of the column in advance, which was suddenly saluted with a heavy fire of musketry, grape, canister, and shell, under which the 11th Ohio battery was with difficulty brought into position, with the 5th Iowa, Col. Matthias, and 26th Missouri, Col. Boomer, supporting it; the 48th Indiana, Col. Eddy, posted a little in advance of the battery, on the left of the road, holding their ground under a terrible fire; while the 4th Minnesota, Capt. Le Gro, and 16th Iowa, Col. Chambers, were hurried up to their support. The nature of the ground forbidding any extension of our front, the battle was thus maintained by a single brigade, Ord had been watching a Rebel against at least three times their demonstration from the south and numbers, until Col. Eddy was killed; west upon Corinth-which proved a when the remnant of his regiment mere feint-but had returned to was hurled back in disorder and our Burnsville at 4 P. M.," when he was advanced battery clutched by the directed by Grant to move his entire Rebels; but not till its every horse force-which had been swelled by had been disabled and every officer the arrival of Ross's division-to killed or wounded. A charge was within four miles of Iuka, and there instantly made to recover it, and the await the sound of Rosecrans's guns. guns were repeatedly taken and re- Ross, in his advance, reported to him taken; but they were finally dragged a dense smoke arising from the direcoff the field by the Rebels, only to be tion of Iuka; whence he inferred abandoned in their flight from Iuka. that Price was burning his stores Stanley's division had meantime and preparing to retreat. Next come up, pushing forward the 11th morning, hearing guns in his front, Missouri to the front; where, uniting Ord moved rapidly into Iuka, but with the 5th Iowa and 26th Missouri, found no enemy there; Price having it first checked the Rebel advance retreated on the Fulton road during and then drove it back to the shelter the night. Ord, leaving Crocker's of the ravine; while Col. Perczel, brigade to garrison Iuka, returned with the 10th Iowa and a section of directly, by order, to Corinth; while Immell's battery, repulsed a Rebel Rosecrans-having first sent Stan VAN DORN ATTACKS ROSECRANS AT CORINTH. ley's division into Iuka and found it abandoned―turned on the trail of the Rebels, and followed until night; but found they had too much start to be overtaken. Hamilton reports that, in this affair of luka, not more than 2,800 men on our side were actually engaged, against a Rebel force of 11,000, holding a chosen and very strong position. Rosecrans reports our total loss in this battle at 782-144 killed, 598 wounded, and 40 missing; and that we buried on the field 265 Rebels, while 120 more died in hos pital of wounds here received; 342 more were left wounded in hospital by the Rebels, and 361 were made prisoners. He estimates that they carried off 350 more of their less severely wounded; making their total loss 1,438. He states that he captured 1,629 stand of arms, 13,000 rounds of ammunition. beside large quantities of equipments and stores. Pollard says that the Rebel loss" was probably 800 in killed and wounded." Price retreated to Ripley, Miss., where he united with a still stronger Rebel force, under Van Dorn, who had been menacing Corinth during the conflict at Iuka, but had retreated after its close, and who now assumed command, and, marching northward, struck the Memphis Railroad at Pocahontas, considerably westward of Corinth, thence pushing" rapidly down the road to Chewalla, with intent to surprise, or at least storm, Corinth next day. Rosecrans-who had received" his promotion to a Major-Generalship directly after the affair at Iuka-had been left in chief command at Corinth by Grant, who 33 Oct. 2. VOL. II.-15 225 had returned to his own headquarters at Jackson, withdrawing Crd's division to Bolivar. Rosecrans had in and about Corinth not far from 20,000 men too few to man the extensive works constructed around it by Beauregard, when he held that position against Halleck's besieging army. Realizing this, Rosecrans had hastily constructed an inner line of fortifications, covering Corinth, especially toward the west, at distances of a mile or so from the center of the village. Promptly advised by his cavalry of the formidable Rebel movement northward, until it struck the line of his communications with Grant, he supposed its object to be Bolivar or Jackson, and that only a feint would be made on Corinth; but he was prepared for any emergency, having his forces well in hand and thrown out westward, into and beyond Beauregard's fortifications already mentioned. Hamilton held the right. with Davies in the center, and McKean on the left; while three regiments, under Col. Oliver, were thrown out in advance on the Che walla road, down which the Rebels were advancing. "Sept. 20. 33 Van Dorn moved at an early hour, and, forming in order of battle at a distance from our outworks, his right, under Gen. Mansfield Lovell, encountered, at 7 A. M., our left advance, under Col. Oliver, holding a hill which afforded a strong posi tion, and a broad and extensive view of the country beyond it. Ile had orders to hold it pretty firmly, so as to compel the enemy to develop his strength. Rosecrans, still distrusting that this attack was more than a feint, de 3 Oct. 3. signed to cover a movement on Bolivar and Jackson, at 9 o'clock sent Gen. McArthur to the front, who reported widespread but slack skirinishing, and said the hill was of great value to test the strength of our assailants. McArthur, finding himself hotly assailed, called up four more regiments from McKean's division, and continued what by this time had become a serious engagement, until a determined Rebel charge, interposing between his right and the left of Gen. Davies, forced him rapidly back from the hill, with the loss of 2 heavy guns; thus compelling a slight recoil of Davies also. By 1 P. M., it had become evident that the attack was no feint, but meant the capture of Corinth, with its immense stores; and that success was to be struggled for right here. Accordingly, McKean's division, on our left, was drawn back to the ridge next beyond our inner intrenchments, and ordered to close with his right on Davies's left; Hamilton's division was moved down until its left touched Davies's right; while Stanley, moving northward and eastward, was to stand in close échelon with McKean, but nearer Corinth. These dispositions had scarcely been completed, under a most determined pressure on our center by the Rebels, which compelled Davies to give ground and call upon Stanley for aid, when night compelled a pause in the engagement; Col. Mower, with one of Stanley's brigades, having just come into the fight; while Hamilton, working his way through an impracticable thicket, was just swinging in on the enemy's left. Van Dorn, supposing Corinth virtually his own, sent off to Richmond an electrifying Stat jast PRICE'S CHARGE AT CORINTII. dispatch, claiming a great victory, rels. 227 shape of a monstrous wedge, and drove forward impetuously toward the heart of Corinth. It was a splendid target for our batteries, and it was soon perforated. Hideous At3 A. M.," the fight was reopened by the fire of a Rebel battery which had been planted during the night in front and but 200 yards distant from Fort Robinett, in our center, covering the road W.N.W. from Corinth to Chewalla. Shell were thrown into Corinth, exploding in streets and houses, and causing a sudden stam-rectly, the wedge opened and spread out gaps were r nt in it, but those massive lines were closed almost as soon as they were torn open. At this period, the skillful management of Gen. Rosecrans began to develop. It was discovered that the enemy had been enticed to attack precisely at the point where the artillery could sweep them with direct, cross, and enfilading fire. He had prepared for such an occasion. Our shell swept through the mass with awful effect; but the brave Rebels pressed onward inflexibly. Di magnificently, right and left, like great pede of teamsters, sutlers, and non- wings, seeming to swoop over the whole combatants generally. No reply was field before them. But there was a fearful march in front. A broad, turfy glacis, slomade by our batteries till fair day-ping upward at an angle of thirty degrees light; when Capt. Williams opened from Fort Williams with his 20-pound Parrotts, and in three minutes silenced the unseasonable disturber; two of whose guns were dragged off, while the third, being deserted, was taken and brought within our lines. By this time, the skirmishers of both sides had wormed their way into the swampy thickets separating the hostile forces; and their shots, at first scattering, came thicker and faster. Occasionally, there would be a lull in this fusillade, swiftly followed by considerable volleys. Batteries on both sides now came into full play, and shells were falling and bursting everywhere; but no Rebel masses, nor even lines of infantry, were visible; until suddenly, about 9 A. M., a vast column of gleaming bayonets flashed out fro:n the woods east of the rail road, and moved sternly up the Boli- to a crest fringed with determined, disciplined soldiers, and clad with terrible batteries, frowned upon them. There were a few obstructions-fallen timber-which disordered their lines a little. But every break ed fire; but the enemy, seemingly insensible was instantly welded. Our whole line opento fear, or infuriated by passion, bent their necks downward and marched steadily to death, with their faces averted like men striving to protect themselves against a driving storm of hail. The Yates and Burgess sharp-shooters, lying snugly behind their rude breastworks, poured in a destructive fire; but it seemed no more effectual than if they had been firing potato-balls, excepting that somebody was killed. The enemy still pressed onward undismayed. At last, they reached the crest of the hill in front and to the right of Fort Richardson, and Gen. Davies's division gave way. It began to fall back in disorder. Gen. Rosecrans, who had been watching the conflict with eagle eye, and who is described as having expressed his delight at the trap into which Gen. Price was blindly plunging, discovered the break, and dashed to the front, inflamed with indignation. He rallied the men by his splendid example in the thickest of the fight. Before the line was demoralized, he succeeded in restoring it, and the men, brave when bravely led, fought again. But it had yielded much space; and the loss of Fort Richardson was certain. Price's right moved swiftly to the headquarters of Gen. Rosecrans, took possession of it, and posted themselves under cover of the portico of the house, and behind its corners, whence they opened fire upon our troops on the opposite side of the public square. Seven Rebels were killed within the little inclosure in Saturday, Oct. 4. "A prodigious mass, with gleaming bayonets, suddenly loomed out, dark and threatening, on the east of the railroad, moving sternly up the Bolivar road in column by divisions. Directly, it opened out in the 36 |