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jr. y hjr" -, . - rT' "' --' ' e ,& O . oM0?rjVL VvV'V -9-' "TO CARE FOR HIM WHO HAS BORNE THE BATTLE, AND FOR HIS WIDOW AND ORPHANS." ESTABLISHED 1877 -NEW SERIES. WASHINGTON, D. 0., THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 1884, YOL. HI-NO. 52 -WHOLE NO. 156. .Mll 'Lr y. - k .m m .srB. & X v -R-o lo GML 0. 0. HOWARD'S Personal Yisit to and Reconnaissance of the EUSE OF WATMfcLOQ. tnfcarastang Comparisons of the Ground and Battle - 5 W13mA3iOJFJ.OANBATEL."ES. ' Strategy ofNapoleon 'andl Tiington. By Maj&r-Gencral 0. 0. Eoicard, U. S. A. ooryiaHS!m-ua. iuouts keseuvi::).!. X3ovot know a piece of English verso that in youth more took my fancy than the flow lines of Lord Byron touching the battle of Wfltrlo. It Is often some phase, some graphic picture in the neighborhood, some pleasantstory gaQiored Jroni a looker on, some sudden panic or desperate charge, or, as here, some remark able ovoat Which was at the threshold of the conflict, which gives to the horrid scenes of a battlefield an unaccountable interest. At Antwerp, -where, after a delightful ocean trip of 12 days, I lauded from thestanch steamer BelgenlsnM began to find signs of the great battle, which the Belgians, though they arc said to have done themselves no honor on mat ncia, yet take pains to keep in the fresh remem brance of their fellow-men. Perhaps it is in accordance -with the ordinary -workings of the human heart, -which usually, when it has com mitted a fault undertakes to elaborate a series ef justifications. We find less at Atwcrp than nearer, only some pictures, publications, and the panorama. The latter is smaller than that remarkable production at Chicago, of Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg; it is roughly executed ' by an Antwerp artist, but it has the merit of forever Using some principal points in the memory,; of representing in strong outline the neighboring bights, valleys, and roads; of marking well the villages which were involved in tbelield of operations; and affording sam plesthe size of life of regiments and bat teries and horsemen. THE DUKE OF WELLTNGTON stands so near the central post of observation that you see all his features distinctly "pre j&smettt les tnerne que les stcnsl" says the elo quent man in charge. According to that fig ure before yon, the honored Duke was tall, slender bpllr, with a face sharp and firm, like that of William H- Seward, the aquiline nose asot bobg in the least stinted; having on a chapean much higher and more of the crescent shape ifc bottom than those imputed to oar "Washington, wearing a com m on dark-bl ue cloak fastened with a 'clasp and. chain, -with, a high stock, and slight linen appearing above the cloakfs collar. Napoleon is on a white horse. Tou can TecogniztS his shortness of stature and think it is the "Little Corporal," but you can not describe him in detail from this figure. You have also the men -standing at their guns in one "battery close by you. At first, if al most alone, as I was, you are inclined to ipeak to them, they are so like real men land ling real guns. The broken batteries of Na poleon's artillery on the one hand and iho English squares on the other the living, the dying, the wounded, the Tearing or falling horses, the piles of dead horses and men in the sunken road, and the snasrLrxa t-ayonets or the Scottish HIGHLANDEES beyond these and liundreds of other realistic details, Drought to my mind not only the sto ries of Waterloo which 1 have read, bat such things as the broken batteries of Chancellors yille; the horses, dead in heaps at Gettysburg; the deop roadway of Fredericksburg, which oar men could not live to cross; the bayonet charge of Steiawehr's division at Lookout Val ley; the strong defense of Newton's division of Hie Fourth Corps at Peach-Tree Creek, and of Frank Blair's corps at Atlanta. Can we, in deed, in our new country, match this great historic battle of "Waterloo? We shall see. In strikes, riots, and crimes, as well as in well ordered business, well-regulated society, and public virtue wo certainly rival the world. Ee it in getting down to the depths or in getting up .skyward, or, as the enthusiastic Frenchman says, in patting things au dd, the Americo-Anglo-Saxon yields the palm to nobody. After a slight detention in the great city of S&ntwerp, my son (who is my interpreter here) tlbd 1 went on to the greater city, 3JEUSSEL8, till, as when Byron wrote, tie capital of Bel gium. We arrived in the night, but even by Bight we "began to take in some of the beauties and glories of Brussels. Just think of it: nearly 403,000 inhabitants in thisprinccly city I Beautiful as Borne for situation, and fine as Paris for architectural effects, even better than Paris in Its boulevard and avenues; and the charm of it all is, that with its richness, its lofty churches, its national buildings, its temple f justice, its pretty parks and grand palaces, ex tensive stores and private dwellings it can be Bfeen. I had thought Belgium to be a flat coun try, and so a part of it is, where the Scheldt and the ocean are kept back by the dykes, which resemble the epaulmeuts of our actual forts; but Brussels has several hills. From some of their summits you can overlook the whole field and compass its environments. All its thoroughfares arc crowded during the day and evening with a well-dressed and apparently happy people, Peasant women work still with the dog-carts, aud the street-railway coaches have three classes: first, second and third. Thereisaimostnolitcratureinthebookstores, certainly no Bibles for the people, only prayer feooks; yet you are impressed that there is feneral contentment at leasts vice is kept jretty much out of sight. In the crowds and arewds I did not see one'man drunk in Brus sels. Such, then, is the impression that Bel gium's capital made upon mo during my very brief vteit. Allow me to introduce some of THE WOEDS OF SY&OX J&fet I recited from memory to my son after getting established in our " Hotel de Vienne," which is situated not far from the fatal square f Hotel de Tille, where the good Barnaveldt, Cat Horse and. other aobleswere publicly SMr4ed by orders from the miserable Philip These words, which are familiar to every t .' k mmm r: V "O 1 x. )ivv. " ' i I vvNC - t , 1 $-Jl ?' .': tzr a r y rmx: : ' Commander-in-Chief John S. Kountz. English-speaking school-boy, may servo us as an introduction to an accouut of Waterloo : There was a sound of revelry by nijrlit, And Belgian's capital had gathered there Her beauty and her chiilry, and bright k The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men. A thousand liearts "beat happily; and -when Music ttroso -with its voluptuous swell , Soft ayes looked love to eyes which spoke again, And all went merry as a marriage-bell; But hush 1 hark !r-a deep sound strikes like a ris ing knell 1 Didyeuothearit? No; 'twas but the wind, Or the car rattlinjj o'er the stony street: On witli the dance! let joy be unconSned; No sleep till morn, wben youth and pleasure meet To chase the Rowing: hours with ilyinjj feet But hark I that heavy sound breaks in once more, As if the clouds its eeho would repeat, And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before! Arm! ana! it is it islbe cannon's ojiening roar! All ! then and there was hurrying to and fro, And Ratherins tears, and tremblin;rs of distress, And cheek all pale, which out an hour ago Blushed at the praise of their own Iovliness ; And there were sudden partings, such as press The life from out youn hearts, and choking sighs IVfaich ne'er might be repeated : who could gues3 If ever more should meet those mutual eyes, Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could ris! And there was mounting in hot haste ; the steed, Thcmustering squadron and the clattering car "Went pouring forward with impetuous speed, And siviuly forming in the ranks of war; And the deep thunder peal on peal afar, And near, the beat of the alarming drum Boused up the soldier ere the morning star ; "While thronged the citizens with terror dumb. Or whispering with white lips "The foe J They. cornel They come! " Speaking of the Scottish soldiers and of the " TJNEETUItNrNG BBA.TE," the master poet adds a requiem: Jjist noon beheldjlhem full of lusty life, Last evejn Beauty's circle proudly gay. The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife, The morn, the ruarbbsiting in arms, the day, Battle's magnificently stern array! The thunder-clouds c!o?e o'er it, which when rent The earth Is covered thick -with other clay, "Which her own clay shall cover, heaped and pent, Bider, and horse, friend, foe, in one red burial blenti Even the building Is pointed out in the Hue Epyale where the grand entertainment given by the Duehess ofEichmondwas held thathali of love, joy, and final sorrow and bitter parting. It almost robs thess words of their poetry to stand here in the place of their literal inter pretation. The morning after our arrival in Brussels, (the 29th of March, 18S-1,) the young man awakens, and by some mysterious comprehen sion of my unexpressed desire, he says : " Father, let us go to WATERLOO BY THE ITEST TRAIN!" The train was to leave at 6:40, and we had just time to dress and make the distance to the depot without breakfast, following the new boulevard for over a mile in quick time. In 20 minutes, speeding southward toward France, we reach Braine la Leud. As soon as we are off the cars at the station an officious guide presents himself and presses his wonderful knowledge upon our acceptance. T7e take the direct road toward Mont Sainte-Jean the man follows up and ceases not to talk; next a little maid of a dozen years joins the party j shohas a basket on her arm. We then go along the load, paved like a street, by twos, now and then exchanging companions. We laugh at the zeal of our guides. 3Sy son being guide enough for this occasion, we decline all over tures. The child next opens her basket and offers cheap pictures and photographs. It must be a disappointment to these waiting folks for a traveler to appear and not take a guide; but I longed to study that field without too much talk. We found Mont Sainte-Jean a little hamlet with a small hotel. Just before we came to the road that leads southerly from this hamlet to Nivelle, we stopped, looked at our good map, saw the BBITISH HON on the top of a mound or artificial hill of con siderable bight, some 300 or 400 yards to our front, looking straight south, and caught glimpses of other landmarks which, deter mined our position. At once, while the man was explaining that Gen. Sheridan, "the cavalry General of New York," had been there; Gen. Grant had given them a visit, and also the "taller" Gen. Sher man, Monsieur Hugo and the Queen of'Eng land, with, the utmost volubility, I set myself to A FANCIFUL POSTING OF TBOOPS. It was plain, indeed, that Wellington had in spected this ground, and from a standpoint near where we were, Mont Sainte-Jean ; for, notwithstanding the changes made by the erection of the large artificial mound, the gen eral crest of what we would call "the divide," running substantially east and west, is still very clearly defined. The hilts and valleys so arrange themselves that behind this crest on the north side, the greater proportion of an. army could be easily concealed from an enemy approaching the field from the south. I was very desirous to hasten to the top of tho artificial hill, stand beside tho "Brit ish Lion," and survey the field from that posi tion, but we were too hungry to go without breakfast, and were in hopes that the man at least would save up his persistent information for other parties. At the " Hotel des Colonnes," a public house of large pretentions, judging by its name and by tho history of the great people who hadlodged there given us by our voluble friends, but really only A VEKY SMALL COUNTRY TAVERN, we obtained a fair breakfast, and then hastened on down the Genappe road till we came to the point which may he called the center of Wel lington's line of battle. There is a cross-road at this point, which runs along the crest of which I have spoken. We followed this thoroughfare to the west till we reached a group of houses near the base of the largo mound crowned with the lion. These houses an exceptional case in this region) have all been recently erected. The little girl had followed us, smiling and trying to speak "Anglaise," and volunteered much information concerning this neighbor hood. She deprecated the drunkenness which she said prevailed ; for, she said, concerning the man who had left us, her dissipated brother, and others, that gin makes "them all "drunk, sick, and poor." bhe succeeded m selling us a few pictures of tho most remarkable points of the battlefield, and then bade us adieu at the fOotof the stone steps. We ascended as rapidly as possible to the top of the niouud, aud found, as I had anticipated, a clear view of every im portant element within the scope of both WELLINGTON'S AND NAPOLEON'S ITANTJVEES during ilia ISth of June, 1815. The date is engraved on the shaft beneath the bronze lion, who proudly faces toward France. This plateau corresponds wellwith our field at Gettysburg. Taking post beside Gen. Meade on the Cemetery Hight in the morning of Jaly 2, 1663, after the sun bad risen and touched tho hills aud mountains with its light, you would have had a view, as I did then, much like this which I enjoyed that morning from the lion-mound. At Gettysburg, the crest from Wolf's aud Culp's Hills along the Cemetery Hidge, descending gradually past Ziegler's Grove aud ascending to the Little and Big Bound Tops, is shaped like the greater portion of the Duke's front line at Waterloo. The difference is, that opposite his extreme right is the village of Hugomont. Had we continued during the 2d and 3d of July to bold the town of Gettysburg itself, tho circumstances would have been almost identical. .In rear of his right the small grove and the village Lo Merbe Braine, which were occupied by reserve troops, answer to tho grove and tho McAllister's Mill, which was so firmly held by Slocum's corps at Gettysburg. THE POSITION OF NAPOLEON, undertaking to envelop Wellington's right and to watch his front, line against line, from the woods near Hugomont, across tho Genappe road" at La Belle Alliance, on to near La Hale, is similar to that of Gen. Lee, which, over six miles in extent, began on the hights opposite Slocum and extended along through the town of Gettysburg, and then along the crest of Oak or Seminary Eidgo to some poinf opposite the Bound Tops. Our position at Gettysburg has been com pared to a fish-hook, the shank or straight part being from the Cemetery to Big Bound Top and tho curved part ending at McAllister's Mill. Victor Hugo has made the relative positions of the two armies at Waterloo very plain by grouping the troops which did the actual fight ing about a diagram in the shape of a capital A. He says, substantially: "Lay upon the ground in your thought a large A ; the left leg of the A is the Nivelle road; the right leg is the road, to Genappo; the cord of the A is tho 'hollow way' from d'Ohain to Braino la Leud, the apex is Mont-Sainte-Jean ; there is Welling ton. The left point is Hugomont; there is Eeille with Jerome Bonaparte. The right point is -La uelio Alliance; there is .Napoleon At little below, where the cord intersects the right leg of the A, is Haie-Sainte. At tho middle of this cord is the precise point where the last word of the battle was said. That is the place where they have put the Lion, an involuntary symbol of the supreme heroism of the Imperial Guard." The triangle comprised between the apex, tho two legs and the cord is tho plateau of Mont Sainte-Jean. The struggle for this plateau was the whole battle. The wings of the two armies stretched out to tho right and left of the Genappe and Ni velle roads. D'Erlon faced Picton, and Bcille faced Hill. Behind tho apex of the A, behind the plateau of Mont-Sain le-Jean, is the forest of Soignes. As to the plain itself, it is avast undulatinc terrain ; each wave is higher than the preced ing, aud all ascend toward Mont Saiute-Joan and end at the forest. . At our Gettysburg General Leo had the ad vantage of the general ascent the undulating valley, then ridge after ridge, and finally the South Mountain range; but atAntietam tho reverse was the case. McClellau descended upon Lee fr'om the slopes and foot-hills of the South Mountain. An American gentleman told us that one day he visited the place whore we stood upon this grand plateau, and who should ride up with some. friends but Gen. W. T. Sherman. Ho said that the General with great quickness opened his map, dropped on one knee and be gan to study the field, placing for himself Hugomont, LaBello Alliance, Mont Sainte-Jean, La Haio and other important landmarks. This appeared to fill him with delight. I think I can understand his feeling. As I stood there it took but little imagination to people those beautiful cultivated fields with multitudes with equipped and well-furnished armies, and to enter with sympathy into tho terrific strug gle which was to decide tho fate of empires, which was to reclaim from Napoleonthat God dess of Liberty whom ho had'at first freed and to whom he had given loyal service, but whom ho had atlast,for his own ends and family's, at tempted to fotter. Takenin connection with tho panorama, tho battle, though enacted the 18th of Juno, 1815, seemed as' I stood on that high ground, under the shadow of the "British Lion," an affair of but yesterday. I will attempt in another monograph a com parison of organization and incidents of this fierce and bloody Waterloo, SYI1 TIE pOE Struggle with .Missourians, Texans and Indians on the Frontier. BATTLE OE.PEA RIDGE. Defeat, of Van Dorn and Price iii the Boston Mountains. DEATH OF McCULLOOH. -Indians Scalp -and Mutilate the - Wounded. BY COrVEIGUTED "cXrleton." AIX EIGHTS KESEaVED.I xpcvi. To the Boys and Girls of the United Slates: In no other war ever waged has the field of action been so wide asjn the struggle between tho Northern and Southern States. In this series of letters I have told you of the begin ning at Port Sumter in South Carolina; the battle of Bull Bun ; of Wilson's Creek in Missouri ; of battles ih West Virginia ; around Bichmond, in Kentucky, at Donelson, at Mill Springs, at Pittsburg Lamling, at New Orleans, and now we must go to the far Southwest, if wo would comprehend the vastuess of the theater in which this great drama of history was acted. " THE INDIANS. To understand what means the Confederates employed wo must take. a look at the Indian tribes. You have learned while studying the history of tho United States how the Creek and Cherokee Indians once had their hunting grounds in Georgia aud Alabama; how they made a treaty with the United States, gave up their lands, and moved to the Indian Territory; also,.the Seminoles of Florida; that the United States Government gave them every year blankets and money. There were, at the breaking outof the war, 50,000 Indians in New Mexico, 30,000 m Texas, 20,000 in Kansas and Nebraska in all there were moro than 400,000 who received supplies from the Government. Very soon after tllo war began Albert Pike, who was born in Boston, Mass., who lived in Arkauses, and who was known to the world as a poet, was scat by Jefferson Davis to make a treaty with tho Indians of the Southwest. He told tho Indians that they had been wronged by the United States; that the Confederacy was thenceforth to bo the government of the country, and that they would he well cared for. He induced, the chiefejs? call the Indians to- gctherand a great cmiggftwasli eld August 21," aeoju je our tnousaau uteres were there. John Boss was the principal: chief of the, Cherokees, and signed tho treaty. The Creeks joined them. The Confederacy supplied them with arms, and in a short time several thousand warriors were enrolled as soldiers in the Con federate army. MAGNITUDE OT THE STRUGGLE. Benton is the northwestern County of Arkan sas. A range of high hills called Boston Mountains crosses the County from the north east to the southwest. A little stream caUed Sugar Creek trickles down tho western slope, and empties into the Neosho. The great road from Springfield in Missouri to Fayetteville in Arkansas and on to tho Indian Territory, crosses the range of hills. One would hardly think that on this far dis tant field on the frontier, where there were few inhabitants, a sanguinary battle would bo fought; but wearc ever to keep in remembrauce the fact that, it was a conflict of ideas of two forms of government, of two systems of labor; thatwherever men were divided in opinion on these great questions, there the conflict would go on. THE CONFEDERATE ARMY. Gen. Sterling Price and Gen. McCulloch were commanders of the Confederate troops, but they did not agree, audi Gen. Earl Van Dorn was placed in command of all the Confederate troops west of, the Mississippi. He was born in Missouri, was educated at West Point, fought in the war with Mexico, and had deserted the flag of his country, When the war began ho gathered a band of Texans and captured the troops of tho United States army in that State. Jefferson Davis appointed him to command, hoping that he would induce the young men of Missouri to enlist for the Confederacy. There was great rejoicing in the Confederate army when ho arrived. Forty cannon fired a salute. He made an address. VAN DOBN'S SPEECH. "Soldiers," he said, "behold your leader J He comes to show you tho way to glory and immortal renown. He comes to hurl back the minions of tho despots' at Washington, whoso ignorance, licentiousness and brutality are equaled by their own craven natures. They come to free your slaves, lay wasto your plan tations, burn your villages, and abuse your loving wives and beautifuldaughters." HIS PROCLAMATION. To induce tho young men to join him, he issued, a proclamation,, had it printed, and sent by messengers throughall the towns of Arkansas and northern Louisiana. Confederate sympa thizers in Missouri distributed itin their towns and villages. "We haye voted must now fight to o be free," it read; "we be free, or present to tho world the huthiliating;speclaclo of a nation of braggarts more contemptible than the tyrants who seek to enslave us. The flag of our coun try is waving on the southern border of Mis souri, planted there by my hands under au thority of our chief magistrate. It represents all that is dear to us in life. Shall it wave there in melancholy loneliness as a Fall leaf in our primeval forests, or .shall its beautiful field and bright stars flaunt in tho breeze over the bright fields of Arkansas,, Texans, and of Louis iana, as they aro maratialling to do battle with Missouri for victory for-honor, and for inde pendence? ' : "Awake young "hfehiof Arkansas, and arm! Beautiful maidehsofLpuisiana, smile not upon tho craven youth who :inay linger by your hearths wben the xudo. blastof war is sounding in your ears! Toxas chivalry, to arms ! Hard ship and hunger, disease, and death are prefer able to slavish subjugation; 'and a nation with a bright page in history .autCa glorious epitaph is bettor than a vassalSJand. with honor losj; and a people sunk in?iufamy ! " van dohn's false dispatch. To firo the hearts of the people of Arkansas and arouso his troops to action, ho forged a telegraphic dispatch that there had been, a great tattlo on tho Mississippi, in which three Union gunboats wero destroyed and 20,000 Union troops wero killed, wounded or taken prisoners. Gen. Pike, who had been commissionep Brigadier-General by Jefferson Davi3, was placed in command of tho Indians, who came from all the Southwest to joiu the Confederates, increasing tho army to 20,000 men. - TnE UNION ARMY. Tho Union army was commanded byMaj. Gen. Samuel 11. Curtis, of Iowa, who studied at West Point, fought under Gen. Taylor in Mexico, was Member of Congress when the war broke out, resigned his seat, hastened to Iowa, and was appointed Colonel of the 2d regiment. Ho had 11,000 men, in four divisions. Tho First and Second Divisions wore commanded by Gen. Sigol. First Division, Col. Osterhaus 36th 111:, 12th and 17th Mo., battalion of 3d Mo., 24th and 25th 111., two battalions of HI. cavalry and two bat teries of 12 guns. Second Division, Gen. Asboth 2d, Gth and 15th Mo., battalion" of 4th Mo. Caw, 2d Ohio battery, Lieut. Chapman ; flying battery, Capt. Elbert, 12 guns. Third DivisioivGen. JefH C. Davis 8th, 18th and 22d Indiana, 37th 111.-, 9th Mo:, 1st Mo. Cav., and Benton's. Ind. battery of 10 guns. Fourth Division, Col. Carf 4V and 9th Iowa, 35th 111.,. 25th Mo., 3d. iil: Cay.,' two bat talions of 3d Iowa Cav., Jones's Iowa battory j and Stevens's battery of four mounted howitz ers. CONFEDERATE ARMY. Gen. Van Dorn's army had been hastily gathered. The Arkansas, Louisiaua and Texas troops numbered 11,000, and wero commanded by Gen. McCulloch. The Missouri troops were under Gen. Price, and numbered 3,000. Gen. Pike had two white regiments besides the Indians, numbering 4,000, making the Confed erate army about 20,000. With this force Van Dorn confidently expected to defeat Gen. Curtis and scatter his array to the winds. van dorn's plan. Gen. Van Dorn was in the Boston Mountains, on the border of tho Indian country, 50 miles from Pea Bidgc, and he determined to make a rapid march, get in rear of Gen. Curtis, and strike a sudden blow, cutting off his retreat. It was a wild morning, March '5, 1862, when the Confederate troops broke camp, packed up their iron kettles and tin dishes, and marched north along the road to Pea Bidge. They had no long lino of baggage wagons, and marched rapidly, though the snow was whirling in their faces. The move ment was so rapid that Van Dorn confidently expected to make it a surprise. If he could do so, it would be of incalculable advantage, "The Union troops arc widely scattered," said the Confederate scouts. It was true, Sigelwas SQBtk o-Beirtoavil!o, severahmiles from the Third and FQurth-Di- -visions under-Curtis; Some of the regiments were out after forage. It would make the work all the easier for the Confederates. THE NEWS. It was startling news which reached Gen. Curtis at 2 o'clock on the afternoon of March 5. Men.come riding info camp in hot haste with the information that tho Confederates were advancing. Gen. Cnrtis is quick to act. He must concentrate his troop3. Cavalrymen ride across the country with orders to the officers who are out after forage and to Sigel. Gen. Curtis resolves to fight a battle, although the Confederates outnumber him two to one. He selects his ground on Pea Eidgo. To understand how the battle was fought, let us first walk over tho ground, starting from Elk Horn Tavern. The road from Springfield to Fayetteville runs southwest. The tavern is on the ridge. Going down the road south we cross Sugar Creek and come to the hamlet of Mottsville, where the tents of the Third and Fourth Divisions are standing. The val ley is half a mile wido. Walking on we as cend another hill. Ten miles brings us to Cross Hollows a place where three hollows or ravines cross each other. The ravines are nar row, 75 feet wide, the banks steep, and the position one of great strength. Just south of Cross Hollows, Gen. Van Dorn pitches his tent. We will go no farther south, but turn north west, following a road which takes us into Osage Springs; then north to Bentonville, which is 10 miles west of Mottsville, where we see the First and Second Divisions under Sigel. Turning now northeast, wo come, just before Teaching Sugar Creek, to a road branching to the right. If we follow it we shall come to the hamlet of Leetown, and it will bring us back to Elk Horn Tavern. Following tho main road, we cross Sugar Creek, ascend Pea Bidge, and como to Cross-Timber Hollow, which is four miles due west of the tavern. Keeping these points in mind, we shall see just how tho Confederates moved to surprise Gen. Curtis. Gen. Curtis had formed his line facing south, expecting that Van Dorn would advance from Cross Hollows; but that was not Van Dorn's plan. We see him sending a small force up the road towards Gen. Curtis, but tho main army turns west towards Bentonville to strike Sigel. Messengers have brought orders to Sigel to retreat to Pea Bidge. Ho has 200 wagons, which he sends in advance The Confederate cavalry ride rapidly round him and gain hi3 rear, but he fights his way through them, los ing 28 killed aud 50 prisoners, and joins Gen. Curtis, who has discovered what Van Dorn is intending to do.and who quickly changes his front, forming his line facing northeast instead of southwest. UNION LINE OF BATTLE. We see Gen. Curtis sending Gen. Carr's di vision up the road on the morning of March 7, to Elk Horn Tavern. The troops of this divis ion aro to hold the right of the line. They are to bo in tho thick of tho fight, which is to rage around the tavern, and which is to give a name to the battle the Confederates calling it the battle of Elk Horn. Next in line is the Third Division (Gen. Davis's), and beyond him the Third and Fourth, under Sigel. CONFEDERATE LINE. Gen. Price,- with the Missourians, has led the advance of tho Confederates. They have made a long march, have reached tho road northeast of Elk Horn Tavern, and confront Gen. Carr's division. Next in line, towards Cross-Timber Hollow, are the Arkansas troops, under Gen. McCulloch, while the Texans, Louisianians and Indfaus confront Sigel. FIRST DAY'S BATTLE. It was i0:30 in the moruing when Col. Oster-haus,withthe3d-Iowa Cav., a detachment of the 1st Mo. Cav., the 22 Ind., and Davidson's Peo ria battery advanced to reconnoiter tho Con federate position. Tho cavalry drove in 'the Confederate pickets. The Peoria battory open ed fire. Tho pickets retreated to tho woods, and the cavalry charged after them. Suddenly th woods' wore thick with. Confederates, and th fftvalry wer driyw. The Confederate Mrs. Kate B. Sherwaod, President W.R.G. rushed npon the battery and captured two guns. Thoy were wild with joy. At the samo moment there was a ripple of musketry in the woods north of the tavern. Pike was advancing to attack Carr. The Union pickets wero falling back. The battle was raging so fiercely on the left that Gen. Curtis sens Gen. Davis to assist Osterhaus. The Tftfrd Division went through Leetown with his SoeoM Brigade, commanded by Col. White Sth Mo., 37th III., and a battery of four guca. Thehrigads formed in line. The woods m front of the troops were alive with Indians, under Gen. Pike and the celebrated chief, John Boss. The Texans and Louisiana troops charged upon the brigade with fury. It was driven, but when the Con federates, with wild yells, thought they wera to have things all their own way, the First Brigade swept in, firing terrific volleys in which Gen. McCulloch wa3 killed and Gen. Mcintosh wounded. Backward and forward, over the knolls, through tho hallows, in the fields and thickets swayed the battle. SIgei's troops came in. Van Dorn ordered rc-enforceinents. Gen. Davis saw that the Confederate left flank was exposed, and sent the ISth Ind. to attack It. The regiment fell like a thunder bolt upon the. Indians, driving them and strewing the field with killed and wounded, rushing upon the cannon, capturing them, wheeling them into position, and turning them upon the fleeing Confederates. The battle on the left center was over. AROUND THE TAVERN. CoL Carr placed the First Brigade east of the xoad, and Col. Vandevers brigade west of it. Capt. Jones's battery was the first to open fire. Col. Vandever was at Huntsville, 40 miles away, when Gen. Curtis's orders reached him. The brigade had marched the distance, stop ping three times only, making a rest at each halt of 15 minutes. The troopshad arrived the night before, but they were rested and ready for the battle. We see tho brigade advancing half a mile north of the tavern, and Capt. Haydeu's bat tery from-.Dubnque coming into position and opening fire. Sterling-Price, cammaudinr the Alissouri troops, .determines to strike with ail hisTorce. He presses on'drives Tandeysr to wards the tavern, making a sudden rush, cap turing one of the cannon. Gen. Carr is outnumbered, two to one. "X must have re-enforcements," is his message to Curtis. "I send you my body-guard; you must hold them," was the response, and Maj. Bowen's battalion of cavalry went thundering down the road with a howitzer. They were all the troops that could be spared till the matter wa3 settled on the left. " I cannot hold on much longer," was the second message from Carr. "You shall have help," was the reply, and a battery came up from the left, with a battalion of infantry. A few minutes later Curtis himself, with Asboth's division, came sweeping over the xidge to Carr's aid. Through the afternoon Price had pressed on, Carr disputing every inch of ground. He had been driven a mile, a bullet had pierced his arm, one-fourth of his men had been killed or wounded, but his line had not been broken. Asboth's batteries wheeled into position south of the tavern. The fight was fierce. The 2d Mo. and 3d Iowa had fired away all their ammunition, but at the word they charged bayonets and drove the Confederates. The battle was over on the left, and more of Sigel's troops came hurrying across thd pas tures. Night came, with the Confederates de feated on the left, but well satisfied with what they had accomplished on the right. They were in possession of the field, had captured our can non, had possession of the road to Springfield, cutting off Curtis's retreat. Van Dorn made hi3 headquarters at the tavern and prepared for th6 morrow. the outlook:. It is not a very bright outlook for Gen. Cur tis when the sun goes down. His line of retreat is cut off, his supplies nearly exhausted. His mules and horses haye had little to eat for 48 hours. He is hemmed in. He cannot be at tacked in the rear, for the mountains protect him. He must bo ready to fight in tho morning, and he must win the victory. He does not sit down and wring his bands in despair, for he is confident that he will be victorious. He knows the ground, and reforms his line, with Davis's division on tho right, where the fighting is to be most severe, and places Carr in the center, wiih Sigol on the left. Hi3 line is shorter than it has been. He knows that Van Dorn wiU. advance from the tavern with aU. hi3 force. SECOND DAY. Eight o'clock and the Confederates have not advanced. Gen. Curtis resolves to begin the b3ttle. Sigel's cannon open, and with such effect that Sigel swung his infantry forward in support, attacking tho right flank of the Confederates. It would make this letter too long to nar rate all the details, how Pattison's brigade and the 1st Ind. battery fought in the fields south of the tavern and east of the road; how the Confederate batteries opened upon them, compelling them to fall backj how White's brigade and Davidson's battery made the line a sheet of flames; how the 21st 111. took: posi tion behind a fence on the left, and tho 12th Mo., with 12 guns, on the ridge in their rear, the men lying down and the cannon sending a storm of sheUs into tho Confederate lines, silencing Van Dorn's batteries, discouraging his troops the Indians fleeing, the Arkansas and Louisiana troops losing heart, tho Con federate fire growing fainter, the troops flee ing at last some towards Cross-Timber Hol lows, tho Missourians, under Price, runaing along the road towards Springfield, then fleeing west scattering in every direction so suddenly that Gen. Curtis is at a loss" which, way to turn in pursuit. Eight miles away, Van Dorn gathered a por tion of his scattered troop3 and sent a request to Gen. Curtis to bury the dead and care for the wounded. SCALPING THE WOUNDED. It was not a pleasant scene that Gen. Albert Pike beheld tho bodies of tho Union dead hacked to pieces by the Indians, the wounded scalped and tomahawked. Gen, Curtis charged Van Dorn with having permitted tho horrible work to go on, and tho Confederate General did not deny the chargo. The victory was worJ bufcjit a cost of more than 1,300 killed and wounded. How many Van Dorn. lost will never be known, but as tho Confederates attacked while Gcc. Cirtis stood on the defensive, there was probably a yreator Confederate loss. Ib lx ctmiwiw. lIOON-BLipESS; 1 Story of Love in the Sequatchie Yalley. BABTIiETT'S IFOOnSFG. The Trouble Caiised by Kissing tbe Wrong GfrL A DUBIOUS EXPIAFASOH". Everything Ends in the Usual Happy Manner. IWrUUn expressly for The National Trt5wn.l BY HARVEY AUSTIN. " Dave BarOefcr," said the Orderly Sergeant of Co. L, suddenly appearing at the stable with an ominous strip of paper in his band. "Another blasted detail," growled Mat Lan gan, tho chronic sorehead of Co. L, slapping- tho horse he was grooming with the back of tho curry-comb. "It!a always go go go. Tha horses' legs are already wore off up to the hocks clambering over these infernal Tennessee mountains. Sol stand over there, won't ye?" (Thi3 to tho horse not to the Orderly Ser geant.) "Here; what's wanted?" responded a bright cheery voice, and tho owner stept around 1m horse into sight, with a curry-comb in one hand and a brush in thefothcr. His face ac corded well with his voice, for it was sunny and sunburned, with straightforward eyes, and, a pleasant smile about the mouth. A fatlgua cap sat jauntily on tho black curls, and tho yellow chevrons on the jacket hanging near showed that his good soldiership had raised him to a Sergeant "Dave," said the Orderly Sergeant, "thera'ar a detail of a Sergeant and 10 men ordered, t go over Into tha Sequatchie Valley with soma wagons that are to gather up forage. You're the Sergeant, and you'll take with you CorpT. WiU Decker, and Allen, Alexander, Hughes, Johnson, Kilpatnek, Mason, Prentiss, Thom son and Wilson. Now slap on yocr saddles m. short meter and strike out, fbr the W3gons ara already gone." "Just my blasted luck!" growled Langaa; "if it rd been guard duty I'd a' been detailed sure's death, but when there's a chance togei out of camp I stand no more chance thaa bound boy at a husking." "Here, Langan, you can take myplaca, said Thomson. "My horse's hack 's a little galled, and I don't want to ride him if I cast help it." Durned willing, aint yo?' ssecred-Laa? gan. " I never saw anybody aa willing' as jv. axe to have some other fellow do Ms daijv There's always something the matter with ye, or your horse whenever there's anything to W done." "Setter leave Langan behind, boys," said, one that was not detailed, "That temper of-hia wHlonr aU tliQ butterrnHk yoall get." "Come, boys att ready?" said Dave cheer ily, as he buckled his own girths and adjusted his bridle and halter. "All got your arms? AH got enough cartridges ? You've only a few, yoE say, Langan ? Thomson, as yon. are not goingi give him aH your revolver and carbine car tridges. AB ready now? Lead out! Prepare to mount! 3Iount! Count twos from the right J Bight forward, twos right, march I" Thus Serg't DaveBartlettf marched away t an unexpected fafev and with him to an equall j unexpected one went his bosom friend and tent-mate, CorpT WiE Decker, and nine splen did comrades, including the growling Mat Langan, who, despite his acid tongue, was act good a soldier as the best of them. The middle of the splendid October after noon found Sergeant Bartlett and Corporal Decker occupying rude but comfortable arm chairs on the broad porch of a substantial farm-house in the Sequatchie VaBey, waiting for the wagons to be loaded with the forage s badly needed In Chattanooga. Langan was down, by the cribs, having an ill-natured and wordy dispute on the political issues involved in tha war with the venerable ownerof the farmhouse, and the rest of the boy3 were deeply interest in a fight they were trying to bring on betweaa two young cockerels they found in the baxa yard, and which they were sure were gama birds. Bartlett and Decker were not alone. A low rocking-chair by the former's aide heli. slender, lithe, dark-haired girl of 20, with tha most bewitching face, Dave was quite sure, that he had ever beheld. Being a frank aad outspoken young man, he wa3 not reticent ia communicating this information to the young lady. The unmistakable sincerity of his admiration, together with his own personal comeliness, wasnotlong in changing the sharp tongued littlerebelwho encountered him when he first entered the house Into a smiling and; agreeable damsel, quite as wining; as maidens of 20 usually are to be wooed by a handsome manly feUow, even though he wore iho. uni form that was specially obnoxious to the young lady's kinsmen, who were all with Bragg on Missionary Bidge, not more than 15 milea away, as the crow flies. Two hours before Miss Nannie Bossiter, for such wa3 Sergeant. Bartlett's companion's name, had been quit confident that Bragg; would speedily descend from Missionary Bidge and drive what Yankees he did not kill into the Tennessee. Biver. Now she was sorry that the war could not "stop just where it wasr so that there would be no more bloodshed, it was too bad tat kiU. off so many nice fellows," this with an unmistakable look at Dave, which told, very plainly how she would regret seeing his narae among thoie of the slain. Corporal WBl Decker was having similar success in changing tho views of her cousin, Jane Browning; who sat beside him. Except that the two girls wera. of the same age, and had sweet, drawling voiee. so like that you could not tell which spoke without looking at them, they were very d&-j similar. Nannie was slender, lissoma, aaf,. black-haired, while Jane was sheets plaaap, and had hair which her friends called "aK burn," and those who did not like har a kai complimentary color. The young folks had onlykaawa-OB-ftaaattwc now less than thrse hours, bat ia tha high pressure days of tha war love-aaktBf;. ISca. almost everything etee, went en at a 9fL tfc would seem a frightful paee is thasa 3f-w motioned peaceful days. The progrc&i of affairs wa clearly ia&ioatit ,--.' r .4W.