yhose number was a mournful proof of the fearful trial they had undergone. Some thirty minutes after the Tenth Indiana had opened the contest, the Fourth Kentucky engaged the rebels on the left of the former, and displayed coolness and firmness most remarkable, in view of the fact that it had never before been under fire. It also had to contend against superior numbers, but maintained its formation, and did not allow the rebels to gain a foot of ground. The men cheered each other, and in their ardor came within short range of the enemy, to whose irregular fire they replied with great vigor and effect. Colonel Fry inspired all under him by his courageous conduct. Up and down the line of his command he moved, urging his Kentuckians on under a shower of bullets. Meantime, the Second Minnesota fulfilled the trust left to it by the Tenth Indiana. The stalwart farmers and lumbermen that composed it performed the duty allotted to them deliberately and with perfect success. They loaded and fired with ease and calmness, and seemed to think no more of the work they were doing than of handling a plow or plying an axe. The widely-renowned Ninth Ohio did not join in the bloody strife in its earliest stages. At about half-past eight, however, its impatience for the fray was at last gratified, and it appeared upon the stage in solid line of battle, moving measuredly, and with the confident and determined air of veterans, through a broad, open field on the right of the road, to within two hundred yards, and began a fire upon some rebel regiments that were firing from behind a fence, with regularity and precision. It held the right alone while the action continued. The rebels succeeded in bringing a battery of their artillery in position about nine o'clock, and opened upon the Federal troops shortly afterward with solid and hollow shot. Their balls and shells all went high over the Union soldiers, not one of whom owed his death or wound to the rebel artillery. Captains Kinney's, Standart's, and Whetmore's Ohio batteries were brought into position, and rendered effective service whenever an opportunity offered. In the heat of the engagement Captain Kinney ordered one section of his battery within sixty yards of the enemy's line, and opened a deadly fire upon them, which added greatly to the success of the day. The battle was now at its height, and the effect of the artillery, roaring through the conflict, with the crash of shells and sharp whistle of bullets, was increased by a storm that had broken out in the mornii g, and now poured a deluge of rain on the combatants. For a time, the lightning of heaven vied in sharpness with the flash of artillery, and roll ing bursts of thunder went booming over the mountains, giving terrible effect to the whole scene. Amid this storm, the opposing lines of battle were several times carried so close to each other that the fight was urged on with a hand-tohand encounter, and the commanders on both sides came in dangerous contiguity with the foe. Up to eleven o'clock, the fighting was confined almost entirely to an exchange of lead and iron. The Union right and left would advance on the enemy, fire, and fall back. Then the Secession forces would advance, exchange shots, each side holding its own ground and no more. The Fourteenth Ohio and Tenth Kentucky, sent for as soon as the alarm had been given, being reported to General Thomas coming up with their battery from their encampment on the Columbus road, on a full run, he at last determined to bring matters to an issue. He directed General Carter to flank the enemy's right with his regiments, which had been restive all the morning under the necessity of remaining idle spectators. But before this movement could be made, the heroes of the Ninth Ohio had already decided the battle. Colonel McCook (by the way the only American in the regiment) had his horse shot under him, and was himself wounded, but nevertheless continued in command. About eleven the patience of the regiment became exhausted, and the Colonel gave the order to advance. It was received with a hurrah. Steadily and compactly the column moved over the two hundred yards separating it from. the enemy. When within thirty yards of the foe the order was given to "charge bayonets," and in an instant the moving human wall bristled with bayonets and pressed forward in quick step. The rebels looked aghast at a sight they had never witnessed before. A Tennessee regiment on their extreme left fired a random volley and broke. A Mississippi regiment-the same that held the fence already mentioned hesitated a few moments longer. But the triumphant shout from the Germans, and the bristling array of pointed steel was too much for them. In an instant, those of the enemy between the fence and the Federals, with the exception of a few, who were bayoneted, had scrambled over and fled in wild disorder. Colonel S. S. Fry, of the Fourth Kentucky, was in the act of leading his regiment into a charge upon the Mississippians, when General Zollicoffer, accompanied by his aid, rode up to him and said, "You are not going to fight your friends, are you? These men (pointing to the Mississippians) are all your friends." In the mean time Zollicoffer's aid fired upon Colonel Fry, wounding his horse, from which wound the animal died. Colonel Fry then turned and fired upon Zollicoffer, with fatal effect. General Z. evidently labored under the impression that Colonel Fry was a rebel officer. They had never met before, nor did Colonel Fry know the position of the officer upon whom he fired, as the evidences of his rank were covered by a cloak which General Zollicoffer wore in battle. The rebels in front of the From this moment the battle was won. Union left had grown dispirited by the news of Zollicoffer's fall, and their fire was slackening. When they saw the breaking of their left wing, they faltered and commenced retreating. The Tenth Kentucky, Fourteenth Indiana, and two batteries were immediately pushed after them. But the speed of the enemy increased, and although the Union troops followed in quick step, they could only manage to come within range of his rear, to which they gave from time to time parting salutes with rifle balls and shells. The pursuit was continued to within a mile of the intrenchments, when owing to the close approach of night, the victors stopped and made themselves as comfortable as possible on the northern declivity of a hill overlooking the fortifications. Rain was still falling, and although all were greatly fatigued from the labors of the day, but few sought repose on the soaked ground. The excitement of the battle kept the majority awake, and the uncomfortable night was spent in the discussion of the stirring events of the preceding hours, by the immense camp-fires, which burned brightly in defiance of the drifting rain. With daybreak some of the Federal guns were got into a position commanding the rebel intrenchments, and were soon hurling shells upon them. Crowds of the enemy were seen hurrying down the hill toward the landing, and the little ferry-boat was rapidly steaming to and fro, carrying bodies of men, the last of the Confederates on the right bank of the river. No response being elicited, the infantry was ordered forward, the Tenth Kentucky in the advance. With lusty cheers the troops rushed down the road and up the hills crowned by fortifications, and climbing over the barricades of logs, obstructing the approaches on all sides, the Kentuckians were in a few minutes on the parapet, shouting, jumping, and waving their hats and muskets. Hardly five minutes more elapsed when the rebel camp teemed with thousands of soldiers, frantic with excitement. The rebels literally saved nothing but what they wore on their persons. Eight of their guns, including two Parrot 20-pounders, with caissons and ammunition, were left behind, together with nearly a thousand stand of arms, and hundreds of boxes of cartridges, 1,700 horses and mules, a drove of cattle, 100 wagons, with harness, vast quantities of commissary and quartermasters' stores, some twenty bales of blankets and quilts, and the personal effects of officers and men. The enemy left all their dead and many of their wounded behind them, five of their surgeons, however, remaining. One hundred and fifteen of their killed, including Zollicoffer, and about 120 of their wounded were found on the field, and 150 prisoners taken. Their entire loss must have been much greater. The Federal loss was 39 killed and 207 wounded. Taken as a whole it was one of the fairest contested battles and most glorious victories of the war-one in which the Western troops fully sustained their reputation for unflinching courage and stern determination never to yield, no matter how great the force opposed to them. INVESTMENT OF FORT PULASKI, GA. Tybee Island, lying at the mouth of Savannah river, immediately below Fort Pulaski, on Cockspur Island, was occupied by Federal troops very shortly after the capture of Port Royal by Commodore Dupont, the Flag-officer of the South Atlantic blockading squadron. It was late in December, however, before a garrison was established there. This was the first step toward the investment of Fort Pulaski, whose heavy embrasures frowned in stern defiance at the Federal fleet investing the harbor. Late in December, from his headquarters at Tybee Island, an island forming the eastern shore of Calibogue Sound, and lying north of Savannah harbor, General Sherman, commanding the army in this district, had dispatched several reconnoitering parties to explore the small rivers, creeks and inlets which intersect each other at various points on the left of the Savannah river, forming the series of islands which dot the map of the harbor. A well grounded hope was entertained that an inside channel would be discovered, connecting with the Savannah river, of sufficient depth to float the gunboats to a point on that river far above Fort Pulaski. In order to understand the nature of the reconnoissance, it will be necessary to have a clear apprehension of the geography of the country. Savannah is about fifteen miles from the mouth of the river, and on the right or southern bank. Approach to it by water is defended by Fort Pulaski, a casemated fort on Cockspur Island, at the mouth of the river, and Fort Jackson, a barbette fort on the mainland, only four miles below the city. The left bank is formed by a succession of islands, and the channel also is interrupted by large and numerous islands, the most im portant of which is Elba, whose upper extremity is immediately opposite Fort Jackson. Lower down in the stream is Long Island. The network of creeks and bays that surrounds Hilton Head terminates southward in Calibogue sound, which is divided from the Savannah river at its mouth by Turtle and Jones Island. The waters that form two sides of Jones Island, which is triangular in shape, are called Mud and Wright rivers; the latter is the southernmost, and separates Jones from Turtle Island, which lies next to Dawfuskie Island, the western shore of Calibogue sound. The islands on the Savannah are all very low and marshy, overgrown by high grass, and frequently without a solitary shrub or tree; they are all liable to be submerged by a very high tide. Jones Island is a broad, marshy, uninhabited island, five miles above the fort, not more than five miles long, by two or three broad. About half way between its upper and lower angles, and fronting on the Savannah, is Venus Point. This first reconnoissance was undertaken by Lieutenant J. H. Wilson, of the topographical engineers. Taking with him two boats and a company of Rhode Island soldiers, together with his negro oarsmen and pilots, he started on the dangerous expedition, making all the necessary explorations by night, while his boats were hidden by the tall grass on the marshy and swampy shores he traversed. To the rear of Jones Island he discovered a canal called Wall's Cut, connecting the Mud and Wright rivers, the former emptying into the Savannah six, and the latter two miles above Fort Pulaski. The navigation of Wall's Cut had been obstructed by three rows of piles, driven across its entire width by the rebels, but at high tide the boats were got over these obstruc |