Quiner Scrapbooks: Correspondence of the Wisconsin Volunteers, 1861-1865, Volume 8

              tbe eyes ol the nation and the world, to a J
level with the standard of the days when it '
was  led   ti  victory  by the leader whose
heart  may   well leap   within  bim as he
contemplates this last achievement of  his
beloved old time comrades.     Theories of
its  inferiority,  born  of the  mistakes of,, scattered   columns   its advance   through
Pop", Burnside and Hooker, and nurtured Pennsylvania in the direction of Philadel¬ phia and Baltimore. Tho rashness and audacity of this movement Bccme.l to con¬ found the General then in command cf this
men under Ewell, who were raiding like banditti through tho country. The mam rebel army was entirely across the Poto¬ mac below Williamsburg on tbe 26th, moved northward via McConuelaburg and Cbambersbur^,   nnd   began   in partially
terrible di4emma of Wednesday morning, tbey won a knowledge by tboir sacrifice wortb all the world to us thereafter. The corps marched in tbe follnifing order : 1st division under Geo. ^Vad8Worlh ; 3rd di¬ vision under Gen. Doubleday ; five full battories under. Col. Wainwrigbt ; 4th diviaion under Gen. Robinson. -*• A portion of our artillery took position half a mile south of the seminary. The enemy opened fire upon it with auch fierceness as forced tbe batteries to reVire.
by tbe contrast of its  failures   with   tbe
recent  victories  of Western troops,  are,
ellectually shattered.     It is shown to tke "
public—it bas  always been   evident   to i army.    Every mile over which Lee now, - .,
military judges—that this army bas tbe   marched lengthened bis lines  of conimu-'] which j.hey commenceil doing lO good or-
capacity for fight, the endurance, tbe ff/rtM,' nication in sucb a degree as would  have
aud the energy to render  it invincible in . imperilled   it  beyond  peradventure  had
Hooker seen fit to improve his advantage.
Forty   thousand   troops   and a hundred
tbe bands ot a cool and skillful General. Tbo first movement towards  the   inva¬ sion of Pennsylvania was opened soon af¬ ter the  bat'lo  of   (Jhancelloravillo   by  a
cavalry movement, which  was   met and
ciuashed at Brandy   Station   by   General
Pleasanton, about  the   1st of June.    On
the l.'Uh ultimo, General Milroy wh.i at¬ tacked at 'Winchester by thc ailvance of
Lee's army under General Ewell, and fled
(li.sgraoefully,  after   a   short  conflict, to
Harper's Ferry, abandoning all his stores
and cannon to  the   rebela.    This opened
the way for the atlvancc ofthe foo across
the rotomac.    Another force of oavalry :
crossed the upper Potomac on   tbe  l.^ith,
causing great consteriiation in Maryland
and   lower    Pennsylvania.      It   entered
Chambetsburg and Mercersburg   in   the
evening.    The alarm caused by this raid
, was unnecessarily great, for the main ar-
, my of Ijce had not yet reached tbe south
, side of the Potomac. Tho Union garri¬ son at Frederick, Md., fell back to the Raley House on the ICth. A detachment of the enemy attacked Harper's Ferry the same day, but was shelled back by  Gen,
I Tyler from Maryland Heights.    Ten thou-
I sand rebel infautry crossed the Potomac at Williamsburg in thc nigbt, beginning in earnest the great invasion which was now fully shown lo bo intended. The fights at Aldie, on the 18ib and 19lh, were
between Geu. Pleaaanton's and a body of to the wost ward, near the Lutheran The- tbe enemy's cavalry, wbich is supposed to  ological Seminary.    The beginning of t'he have flanked tbe rear.    Mora rebels con-  three days' conflict was at hand.    ' • •tantly poured across  tbo Potomac,  and II, -•
on the 19th Ewell's entire division  occu- ,,.„^, „^„^^ ^^ wedkesoay.
pied bharpsburg,  in Maryland.    By this . ,     ,       , •      . ,
; time Penmsylvania, X'.w York and New       ^^"-^ .w''0 ^as been m the pra8€nc>, who
' Jersey began their great effort to  repel i now  site among the  echoed, and tvhosc
! Lee's "ad vance from the  Noitb.    iiooker| brain teems with rushing memories  ofa reposing in pastoral quiet at Fairfa.x Sta¬ tion, in Virginia, did not disturb   himself
troops
pieces of artillery passed through Cham- bersburg on the 27th. On Sunday York waa occupied ^ Gen- Early^ who made his famous levy on its citizens. Harris- burg, long threatened, waa not yet {ittack- ed. .
Gen. .Meade took command of th'is'nrniy on Sunday, the 28lh ult. At that timo his bcad.juarters were at Frederick, and Lee's at llagor^town. It will be^een that [ he was in the southwest, and conaequent- ! ly in rear of the (on, imminently threaten¬ ing his line of retreat. The army of the Potomac began its campaign from lhat moment. Orders were issued to the sev¬ eral corps to move early in the evening, and on the morning of the 29tb our whole hrdliant and hopeful host was in motion toward Pennsylvania. The 1st, 3d and llth Corps encamped on Tuesday at Era- mettsburg ; the 2d and 12th also pitched thoir tents near by. Tbe 6lh Corps march¬ ed to Carlisle 'W'ednesdjur morning, the first day of this month, forever memor¬ able The 1st Corpa, under Major Qen. Roynolils, and the 11th, under Major Gen. Howard, started for Gettysburg, iteynolds
il der. Gen- Wadsworth immediately came to their aid; two of his regiments the 2d Wisconsin and tbe 24th Michigan, charg¬ ed tho rebel infantry, forcing thera in turn to retire. Tbe batteries assumed an ex¬ cellent position further in the rear, which tbey held during the day. Gen. Reynolds now rode foward to inspect the field and ascertain thc most favorable Une for tbe disposal of hia Iroops. One or two mem¬ bers of hie staft were wilb him. The en¬ emy at that instant poured in a cruel musketry fire upon the group of olFicerH ; a bullet struck Geiv. Keynolcf's in thc neck, wounding bim mortally. Crying out with a voice that thrilled the hearts of bis soldiers, "Forward! for God's fcakc, forward!" bc turned for an instniit, be- Jheld tbo order obeyed by a lino of tib.iut- ing infantry, and tailing into tbe arms of Capt. Wilcox, his aid, who rode beside him, his life went out with the words, "Good God, W.ilcox, I am killed."
Tbe commaj d of tbe corps devolved upon Gen. Doubleday, who hurried to the | front, placed it in positiou, and awaited a chargo, which it was seen the rebels wero about to make. An eminence, whereon stood a pieje of woods, was the important point thenceforth to be defended. The rebels-advanced and, opened   fire   from
o'clock, a. in. The 1st Corps, iri advance, marched directly tbvoiigh the town. The enemy   was   diacovcrctl posted in a wood
with  any  such  activity.     He   watched, waited, and was puzzled.
•Milroy's stampede, the clamor of which, it seems might have come to bim from over the western mountains; tbe cries of help from llHrrisburg, Pittsburg, Carlisle, and other minor Pennsylvania towns ; the tremendous appeals from Philadelphia and B.iliiniore—all these did not serve to rouae him from his lethargy, or give bim thc leaet idea of where the enemy waa. It was not until a voice of command from Washington, inspired, it is believed, from the midst of his own army, came sounding in his ears like a fire-bell in the night, that he ordered up bis tent-stakes and began Ats march northward over tho Potoniac. I Meanwhile, Gen. Couch had commenced I lho organirution of a militia force at Get- I tysburg   to cbe<-k   tbo   twenty   thouisand
conflict so recent and so"vast,  mfty wiell pause before attempting to indicate its 1 magnitude or describe its progress.    Rash ' as the   advance  of Gen. Reynolds has
been pronounced by many brother oflicers who now lament bis death, I que^ion whether it was not, after all, for the test. Il served al once as a reconnoisance show¬ ing the enemy's exact poijition and proba¬ ble force, and as a check upon an ofTcpa- ive movement which that enemy might have been intent upon. It secured tho Army of tbe Potomac the commanding position of Cemetery Hill, from which tbe battles of the two aucceding days were chiefly fought, and whieh, bad the rebel commander anticipated the engacementj be would, doubtless,bave secured for him¬ self. Not lees, perhaps, than the akill oru our side, it gave us the victory. VVbenJ therefore, tbe heroic lst Corps and its fa ted commander placed themselves  in thej
.""' ""V u"V'rr.L"'J'"oC,?«rY'«7Tn J their entire   line.    They"  were    instantly
in command,  where  they arrived at 10 ^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ j^^ Meredith's Western bri-
gade, who, vvithout firing a shot, but witb a tremendous cheer, dashed forward with such swiftnesa aa to surround nearly GdO of tbe foe, who wero taken prisonw.s. A strong columu immediately advanced against us from tho woods, anrl, though volicy after volley was poured into them, did not waver. Their pro-\imity and atrenglb at last became so tbreaiuiiing that the brigades of the 2d division woro ordeied to make another charge, which was even more succestiful than the first. Tbeir momentum was like an avalauehe; the rebels were shot, bayoneted, aud driv en to partial rctrt-at, more than two regi menta falling into our baiul.s alive. Our ranks sutiered fearfully in tbisdeiuonatrn- tion, and it was evident lhat su.^h light¬ ing could not go on. The llth corps now made iis appearance, and lis General (Howard) assumed command of the forces. .Steinwehr waa ordered to hold Gettys¬ burg and Cemetery Hill—all bis artillery being placed in the latter position. The other two divisions of Ihe llth corps, un¬ dor Scbnrz and Barlow, then supported the first corps, on the right, iu time to re¬ sist two desperate charges by Ewell's troops. A third charge wns now made by the entire rebel force in front, which comprised the corps of Ewell and Hill, sLKly-lwo thousand strong. Thc shock "'"° ""-'••'     The superior numbers ofthe
was awful.