have become acquainted with valuable facts, of which we were before ignorant. And in addition to the terrible punishment that was inflicted on the rebels at Droop Mountatn, we captured two hundred horses, three hundred cattle, five hundred sheep, brought out to freedom a number of contrabands, some of them waiters at the Springs; we have created a wholesome dread of "Averill and his Yankees," and caused the country to rejoice over our brilliant success. General Averill has proved himself to be an earnest, energetic, and skilful general. Although we were in the saddle seventeen days, travelled three hundred miles, and suffered from the exposure of the cold winds of the mountains, yet I have not heard a word of complaint, nor was there a single case of sickness that occurred during the march that I heard of, and our horses, on the average, are in better condition than when we left Beverly. RICHMOND WHIG ACCOUNT. IRWIN. RICHMOND, November 14, 1863. A correspondent, to whom we hope to be similarly indebted again, has furnished us with the clearest and most satisfactory particulars of the fight in Green Brier we have yet seen: The line defended by the Army of Western Virginia extended from Pocahontas County to the Tennessee line. Colonel William L. Jackson, with a small force of cavalry and a section of artillery, occupied the extreme right at or beyond Mill Point, in Pocahontas County-a point about forty miles from Lewisburgh, where was stationed the First brigade, commanded by BrigadierGeneral Echols, and Chapman's battery, with two regiments of Jackson's cavalry brigade and two pieces of Jackson's battery. On the night of the fourth instant, General Echols received a despatch from Colonel Johnson, stating that the enemy was advancing in force. It was determined to reenforce him at once, and the First brigade, with Chapman's battery, with one regiment of cavalry, (the Fourteenth Virginia,) and the two pieces of Jackson's battery, started at once for that purpose. The Sixteenth Virginia cavalry was left to scout and guard the roads leading from the Kanawha Valley. The command reached a point about fourteen miles from Lewisburgh, on the fifth instant. There it was learned that Colonel Jackson had retired before the superior force of the enemy, and held a position on the top of Droop Mountain, twenty-eight miles from Lewisburgh. Early on the morning of the sixth the march was resumed, and Colonel Jackson's position reached about ten A.M. The enemy were making preparations for the attack. The country was so densely covered with forests that it was impossible to ascertain the force of the enemy. Our position in many respects was a very strong one, but, as the enemy could easily get in our rear by taking a road on our right flank, it was necessary to detach the Twenty-sixth battalion to blockade it. The battle was joined about eleven o'clock by our artillery firing at the enemy's battery as it came into position. This was soon ended, as he was driven away by our well-directed shots. The enemy now massed his whole force on our left and centre, consisting of about four thousand cavalry under Averill, and three thousand infantry under Kelley. To oppose this force, we had eleven hundred, of which eight hundred were cavalry. For four hours we contended against these overwhelming odds. The enemy, moving his forces beyond our left, wheeled his men, and thus obtained an enfilading fire. Just at this time, our centre, which had been much weakened to reenforce the left, was attacked by a largely superior force and pressed back. General Echols, seeing it was useless to contend longer, gave orders to retreat. The enemy, badly cut up, made only a feeble pursuit. Our loss was necessarily very heavy, especially in killed and wounded. Major R. A. Bailey, of the Twenty-second Virginia regiment, was woundded (reported mortally) and captured. Of ten officers in three companies of this same regiment that fought on our left, but two escaped unhurt. The Twenty-third battalion suffered severely, but as reports have not been handed in, no accurate information can yet be obtained. The retreat had continued but a short time, when General Echols received information that the Yankees, several thousand strong, were marching on Lewisburgh, by the Kanawha road, to cut him off. It was now all-important to get our teams and artillery by Lewisburgh and across the Green Brier River, before the new force could come up. This was done, and the enemy baffled, with the loss of one wagon and one piece of artillery, which was abandoned because the carriage broke down. General Echols crossed the river early on the morning of the seventh instant, and after resting a few hours continued the march toward Union, Monroe County. The Yankees, no doubt, supposed we would be easily caught, but after marching fourteen miles, and fighting four times his own number for several hours, he retreated, bringing off his trains and artillery. Men and horses are, of course, very much exhausted, but in a few days all will be again ready to meet the enemy. No troops ever displayed more endurance and courage. The long list of killed and wounded will attest how desperately they fought, and the failure of the enemy to follow them closely, how terribly he suffered. Doc. 10. FIGHTS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. IN THE FIELD, November 9. AFTER the fight at Bristoe we followed on Lee's retreating army pretty briskly, but soon found they had too rapidly fallen back, and had the First and Twentieth Indiana, the Third and Fifth Michigan, and the One Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania, but the brunt of the fight fell on the Sharp-shooters. We captured Colonel Cleason, of the Twelfth Virginia, who was in command; one surgeon, one major, two captains, several lieutenants, and nearly five hundred privates. They mostly belonged to the Twelfth Virginia, Thirteenth North-Carolina, and Ninth Alabama, and were skirmishers selected from Ewell's corps. We lost in killed and wound thrown too many obstacles in our way for us to overtake them. The troops were then encamped in a kind of semi-circle, extending from Warrenton via Auburn, to the line of railway near Catlett's Station. On the evening of the ninth instant, a General Order indicating the line of forts was issued to the corps commanders, and early on the morning of the seventh-Saturday-the troops fell back into column in the following order the Sixth corps moved from Warrenton to Rappahannock Station; the Second, Third, and Fifth corps marched by Warrenton Junctioned about thirty-five; the enemy I should think along the line of railroad by way of Bealton, where the First corps brought up our extreme left. I should have stated that our cavalry was out some days on a reconnoissance, and had ascertained that the enemy occupied the forts at Rappahannock Station, and were also in force to the south of Kelly's Ford. From Bealton the Fifth corps continued in direct line of march to form a junction with the Sixth, while the Second and Third deployed for Kelly's Ford. THE FIGHT AT KELLY'S FORD. The Third corps was in the advance, and as they neared the ford, they threw out strong lines of skirmishers and sharp-shooters. General Birney, who was in command of the corps, advanced two batteries and placed Randolph on the right, near Mount Holly Church, and the Tenth Massachusetts battery on the left. Though the enemy shelled us all the time while our batteries were getting into position, still we suffered very little. Our position now was a strong one. A range of high hills rises abruptly along the north side of the river, their wooded crest, and the little brick church peeping out of the foliage giving them a picturesque appearance. At their base runs the Rappahannock, while a little way up on the south side of the river are the mill and extensive concerns of Mr. Kelly, whose son is now enjoying free quarters in the Old Capitol. Our battery now occupied a sweeping range of the extensive plateau on the south side. Under shelter of the guns, which were vomiting forth shot and shell on them and forcing them back from the river, the working parties advanced to lay the pontoons. The First division, commanded by General Ward, was now massed, and the Third brigade ordered to lead the attack. They were commanded by Colonel de Trobriand, native of Britanny, France, who has displayed the chivalrous daring of his race. The pontoons were now laid, the enemy's guns were silenced, and the attacking party rapidly advanced across the bridge. The First United States Sharp-shooters, known as Berdan's Sharp-shooters, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Trappe, were in front. Having gained the opposite bank, the Sharp-shooters, armed with Sharpe's rifles, deployed and charged the enemy's rifle-pits, and after a brisk fire of musketry, the enemy, finding themselves surrounded on all sides, threw down their arms and surrendered. Our regiments engaged were the First United States Sharp-shooters, the Fortieth New-York, VOL. VIII.-Doc. 11 the same. As Captain Maynard, Commissary of Subsistence, was giving a drink to a wounded rebel, he was hit by a stray ball, and died next morning. This and the fight at Rappahannock Station must have a disheartening and demoralizing effect on the enemy. One thing is certain: they did not fight with their accustomed desperate bravery, and numbers of them openly expressed their joy at being captured. Some of the officers even stated that the "rascals did not fight, and only wanted the opportunity of deserting us." This tells enough for the war feeling of the South. It was also certain that Lee was outmanoeuvred this time, for they were taken by suprise, both at Kelleyville and at Rappahannock Station. Just before we attacked the forts on the north side of the river, General Lee was over with Colonel Godwin, who was in command, and gave him his instructions. He had the pleasure of seeing from the other side his troops captured, without the possibility of assisting them. THE FIGHT AT RAPPAHANNOCK STATION. The Rappahannock Station is protected by several strong forts. On the north side is a strong fort, two redoubts, and several rifle-pits. These were protected by a force of nearly two thousand men, and a battery of guns, in command of Colonel Godwin, of the Fifty-fourth North-Carolina. They were part of Ewell's corps, Early's division. It was about three o'clock when the head of the column neared the station. A heavy line of skirmishers and sharp-shooters was thrown out to cover the advance of our batteries. There is a commanding position to the rear of the forts, and here Martin's and the First reserve artillery of heavy guns got into position and opened on the foe. Just before dark the storming partiesRussell's and Upton's brigades, led by General Russell in person-were formed. The Fifth corps were now advancing on the centre, and threw out the Fifth division in support of the Sixth corps, and in order to take up a position lower down the river, so as to cover the advance and cut off the enemy's retreat that way. The batteries now opened fiercely and desperately on one another. Shot and shell flew like hail across the river, sweeping through the forts on both sides. The storming party, comprising the Sixth Maine, the Fifth Wisconsin, and the Fourteenth New-York, now rushed on the forts, while a strong party took possession of the pontoon, thus cutting off the enemy's retreat and their chance of succor. Our troops dashed into the than double the men that my own front presentpits and forts on every side, and one of the fierced, but so sudden and unexpected was our moveest hand-to-hand conflicts of the war commenced. The troops poured one fierce volley along the forts. The assailants actually grasped the bayonets of the defenders. As friend and foe were promiscuously mingled together, the batteries on both sides ceased, and the ringing cheers and shouts and death-groans rung above the sound of musketry. Men grappled one another in their death-struggles-some fighting with their clubbed muskets, others with their fists. ment upon them, that the enemy seemed paralyzed. After disarming them, by a rapid movement to the right, we succeeded in capturing nearly the whole force in the pits, who were then ignorant of the fate of those on the left. During the entire charge, my regiment did not fire a gun, carrying all at the point of the bayonet, and the following are the captures made by this regiment alone: One thousand two hundred prisoners, one thou This fierce and savage conflict continued for sand two hundred small arms, one caisson, and about twenty minutes, but our supports were four stands of colors. Of the prisoners, there pouring in from every side, and the enemy, find- were over one hundred commissioned officers, ing longer resistance useless, surrendered. One including five colonels, one lieutenant-colonel, wild cheer, one wild huzza, informed General and one major. Lee that we were successful, and in a few minutes The enemy's force consisted of the First Louthe Stripes and Stars floated above the trampled isiana brigade, and a North-Carolina brigade, palmetto. Our victory was decisive, and no fewer comprising the Sixth, Seventh, and Fifty-fourth than four colonels-two of them commanding regiments. The First Louisiana brigade (most of brigades-one hundred and thirty-two officers, which fell into the hands of my regiment) was and fifteen hundred men fell into our hands, be- the first command ever assigned to the late Gensides four guns, four caissons, and eight battle-eral "Stonewall" Jackson. We occupied the forflags. Lee availed himself of the darkness of the tifications during the night, advancing to near night to effect his escape. Brandy Station yesterday. The affair was a complete and glorious victory. REPORT OF COLONEL EDWARDS. HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MAINE REGIMENT GENERAL: I have the honor respectfully to give the following account of the late movement of this regiment: It affords me the greatest pleasure to report the unwavering bravery of every officer and man in my command, each vying with the other in the execution of various deeds-none flinching, but pressing forward with a determined will to win. Where all so nobly did their whole duty, it is difficult to discriminate between them. The colors captured by this regiment were from the following regiments, and taken by the officers and men whose names I take great satisfaction in reporting: Eighth Louisiana, captured by Lieutenant A. S. Lyon, commanding company K. Sixth North-Carolina, captured by James Littlefield, company I. Seventh North-Carolina, captured by Corporal T. P. Blondell, company D. Fifty-fourth North-Carolina, captured by Corporal T. Shackford, company A. The loss in my regiment in this engagement On the morning of the seventh instant, I received orders to move my regiment from its former encampment near Warrenton, in company with the corps; accordingly we took up our line of march toward the Rappahannock Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. After marching nearly fifteen miles, we discovered the enemy occupying a strong position near the Station, intrenched within redoubts and rifle-pits. At three o'clock P.M., the Twenty-First NewYork volunteers and my regiment were ordered forward to the front, in line of battle. Being upon an open plain, with scarcely any protection, the advance was slow and cautious. During this advance the enemy made but little demonstration upon us, except an occasional shell or shot. Approaching within about five hundred yards of the enemy's rifle-pits, we were ordered to lie down at a point where the crest or small elevation of ground afforded us a little protection, which position we held until nearly seven o'clock P.M., when I received orders to move my regiment forward. The line of battle was Fifth Maine volunteers on the right, and Twenty-First NewYork volunteers on the left, the line consisting of about five hundred and fifty muskets. Under cover of the night, we approached to within twenty-five yards of the enemy in his pits, when I This brigade is composed of the Fifth Wiscongave the order to " charge." At this moment sin, commanded by Colonel T. S. Allen; the Sixth we received a terrific volley from the enemy's in- Maine, Lieutenant-Colonel B. F. Harris; the Fortyfantry, and the next, our boys had sprung into ninth Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel T. M. Hulthe rifle-pits, sweeping every thing before them.ings, and the One Hundred and Nineteenth PennThese intrenchments were occupied by more sylvania, Colonel P. C. Ellmaker-all volunteer BOSTON JOURNAL ACCOUNT. HEADQUARTERS THIRD BRIGADE, FIRST DIVISION, SIXTH CORPS, November - 1863. } You may welcome a detailed account of the recent action at Rappahanock Ford, in which several New-England regiments took a most prominent and glorious part. regiments. The brigade commander is BrigadierGeneral David A. Russell, of the regular army, formerly well known to Massachusetts as the able colonel of one of her best regiments, the Seventh. The late operations on the seventh instant were conducted on the left, at Kelley's Ford, by the First, Second, and Third corps, under command of Major-General French, and on the right, at Rappahanock Ford, by the Fifth and Sixth corps, under command of Major-General Sedgwick. In this corps, Brigadier-General Wright had command of the corps in Sedgwick's place, while General Russell assumed the command of the First division, vacated by General Wright. The regiments were well dressed, finely equipped, and splendidly armed. Now for our position. Between us and these works lay a hill, which shut them off from our view. Descending this, and passing over several hundred yards of broken country, you come to another hill, from whose crest were visible the enemy's intrenchments and the opposite side of the river. Between this second hill and the enemy lay a distance of half a mile, flat, to be sure, but trying ground for a charge. For, in the first place, right across the path extended a ditch twelve or fourteen feet wide, with steep banks, some six feet deep, and filled with mud and water to an average depth of three feet. Crossing this, the field was broken for some distance with stumps and underbrush, then came a smooth, clear stretch, then a road, then a dry moat, some twelve feet wide and five deep, and above you rose the strong, defying fortifications. It was indeed a position of immense strength, and well justified the rebel belief that they could hold it against our entire army. But they reckoned without General Russell and his gallant brigadea brigade which has been his care and pride, and which he waited but this opportunity to test the metal of. Just before sunset, our skirmish-line, under command of Major Fuller, of the Sixth Maine, lay on the other side of the dry moat above described, connecting on its left with a sister regiment, the Twentieth Maine, belonging to the Fifth corps. The railway at this point deflected slightly to the left, and some of the skirmishers of the Twentieth, commanded by Captain Morrill, found themselves on our side of the railway. At this time General Russell sent word to General Wright that the works in his front could be carried by storm, and that he desired to try it. At daybreak, on the morning of the seventh instant, this corps left its pleasant camps in and around Warrenton, and moved rapidly on toward Rappahanock Station, this division leading the corps, while this brigade had the advance in the division. After marching about six miles, we arrived at Fayetteville, where all the companies but one, of the Forty-ninth Pennsylvania volunteers, were thrown out as flankers and skirmishers. Thus we advanced, unmolested by the enemy, and arrived about noon at Rappahanock Station. Here we halted in the edge of a piece of timber, distant about a mile and a half from the river. We at once formed a line of battle, the left resting on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, and the right of our division line connecting with the left of the Second division of this corps, commanded by Brigadier-General Howe. To our left, on the other side of the railroad, extended the lines of the Fifth corps. The Forty-ninth Pennsylvania, Fifth Wisconsin, and One Hundred and Nineteenth Pennsylvania formed our brigade front. The Sixth Maine were posted about a hundred paces in advance of our centre, and shortly after we had halted, the skirmishers of the Forty-ninth were relieved by five companies of the Sixth Maine, who were rapidly thrown forward to the crest of a hill half a mile to our front. About three o'clock P.M., the skirmish-line was advanced to the foot of a hill rising from the river. This hill is in reality a part of the river-bank, which here rises up so as to command the front for a mile or more, and was further strengthened by an elaborate redoubt, containing two twelve-pound Parrott guns, taken originally from Milroy at the capitulation of Winchester. On the rebel right, and near the railway, was another smaller redoubt, (also containing two three-inch ordnance guns taken from us, the one at Antietam, the other at Chancellorsville,) which crowned a hill but little lower than the one just described, from which it was distant some six hundred feet. To the en-er and larger fort, followed closely up. emy's left of the larger fortification, extended a skirmish-line was advancing, Major Fuller, who long line of formidable, carefully constructed had recognized the Twentieth Maine men, said rifle-pits. These redoubts and rifle-pits were lined with troops-in short, Stonewall Jackson's old brigade was there. The famous Louisiana Tigers were here too. There was one entire brigade (five regiments) and three regiments of another brigade, all under command of General Hayes. Permission was given, and General Russell at once moved forward his brigade in two lines of battle, the front line consisting of the remaining five companies of the Sixth Maine on the left and the Fifth Wisconsin on the right, and the rear line of the Forty-ninth Pennsylvania on the left, and the One Hundred and Nineteenth on the right. As senior colonel, Colonel P. C. Ellmaker, of the One Hundred and Nineteenth, was in command of the brigade this day, and well and gallantly did he sustain himself in his new and trying position. The rear line was halted at the foot of the second hill, and the front line moved to its top. On nearing the top, the other five companies of the Sixth Maine were deployed as skirmishers, rapidly spread out, and covered their fellows in the advance, while the Fifth Wisconsin, directing themselves in solid line of battle upon the strongAs the to Captain Morrill, who had formerly been a noncommissioned officer in his own regiment, and who was in command of a skirmish detail of seventy-five men, that the Sixth Maine was on his right, and asked him if he would not charge the fort in front with them. Captain Morrill at once the left of their larger redoubt the rebels are Now ran along the line of his skirmishers. "Boys," said he, the Sixth Maine is on our right; let's go in with them." About fifty men of the Twentieth Maine at once responded to this call, and like true soldiers rushed into the danger with the Sixth. Pressing forward with the skirmish-line went their general; the rear skirmishers scramble through the moat, they are up with the advance, General Russell orders the "charge," and forward, with fixed bayonets, without stopping to fire a shot, dash the gallant fellows. Several shell have been thrown to stay their course, and now from four cannon belches forth a torrent of spherical case, and the air is resonant with the hum of thousands of rifle-bullets. The skirmishers leap the parapet, the right wing passes through the stronger redoubt, and wheels down to aid its left in the fort nearest the railway, leaving the Fifth Wisconsin to complete the work so well begun in the larger fort. Hand to hand they fight with triple their number. Walker, the senior captain of the Fifth Wisconsin, the scarred hero of a score of battles, has fallen, mortally wounded in the head, between the larger redoubt and the rifle-pit on its left. Gallant Captain Ordway, next on the list, of the same to the Second brigade (commanded by Colonel regiment, as he leaps upon the parapet and waves his sword, to stimulate his men, falls dead inside the fort, shot through the heart. Close by Walker lies the stalwart form of the hitherto unhurt Furlong, captain in the Sixth Mainepoor, brave, warm-hearted Furlong! Within the fort, pierced through the body, and with his brains blown out, lies Lieutenant McKinley, of the same regiment. At the foot of the hill, in the road, lies Lieutenant-Colonel Harris, with a shattered hip-Harris, than whom no better or braver officer lives. Half-way up the ascent lies Major Wheeler, of the Fifth Wisconsin, but just recovered from a previous wound, to be again struck down. At the edge of the parapet, urging on the men, Lieutenant Russell, aid-de-camp and near relative to the General, is smitten from his horse with a dangerous wound-a courageous, high-toned soldier. Close by him falls Clark, Adjutant of the Sixth Maine-rebel-hating, rebeldefying, even as he was borne from the field. The General had already sent back for the rest of his brigade; yet during the ten minutes that perhaps passed before they could come up at the "double-quick," sixteen out of twenty-one officers, and a hundred and twenty-three out of three hundred and fifty enlisted men, of the Sixth Maine, had fallen, and of the Fifth Wisconsin, seven officers and fifty-six men were killed and wounded. The moment is a trying one. Captains Packard and Tyler, and Lieutenant Russell, the entire staff of the General commanding the division, have all in succession been sent back to hurry up the remainder of the brigade. But how can men, encumbered with knapsack, gun, equipments, and eight days' rations - -a weight of sixty pounds or more-get over the ground any faster than are the Forty-ninth and One Hundred and Nineteenth coming on? The moment is a trying one, for from the rifle-pit to Emory Upton) to hurry forward two regiments Thus ended one of the most daring and successful exploits of this war-an exploit which was the sole offspring of one man's brain. The hour and occasion were propitious, the troops were reliable, and General Russell seized his opportunity. What are the results? Four guns, four caissons, filled with ammunition, five limbers, one color, five hundred prisoners, several horses, and many hundred stand of small arms, were captured by Russell's brigade alone. Two strong redoubts, the key to the rebel position at this point, were carried by a mere skirmish line. Colonel Upton's brigade, the movements of which were directed by General Russell, took some one thousand one hundred prisoners, the rebel pontoon-bridge, seven colors, and a strong |