proud and grateful to wear it in my country's service. I feel a just pride also in having been a participant in the "battle of the haystacks", where the glorious. squadrons of the Harris Light, swept into the mad conflict with the same resistless bravery that distinguished them on the field of Brandy Station. Every soldier of the saddle who there fought under the grand leadership of Kilpatrick, may justly glory in the laurels won at Aldie. CHAPTER XXVII. UPPERVILLE. Union Advance from Middleburg-Rebel Pickets Encountered.-The Fight Commenced.-Stone Fence Barricades.-A Succession of Brilliant Charges.-The Harris Light Drives the Enemy.-Splendid Cavalry Action.-Stand at Upperville.-The Enemy Again Driven.-Union Forces Triumphant.-General Pleasanton's Re port. THE running cavalry fight which began at Middle burg and ended at Upperville, on a hot day in June, 1863, was a marvel of splendid action, and is of especial interest to me as a participant in its succession of brilliant charges. At eight o'clock on the morning of the twenty first of June, General Pleasanton, at the head of the Cavalry Corps, moved out of Middleburg towards Ashby's Gap in the Blue Ridge. We had not proceeded far before the Rebel outposts were encountered, and driving them before us, we came upon a large cavalry force under the leadership of Fitzhugh Lee. A running engagement then commenced which was kept up for a distance of six miles. The country between Middleburg and Upperville is a succession of ridges and hollows, and our artillery was rushed forward and planted on one eminence after another as we advanced, from which positions we shelled the opposing guns of the enemy. Along this uneven ground, stone fences occurred with unpleasant frequency, the Confederates taking shelter behind them and firing to great advantage upon our advancing troops. But our brave boys of the saddle galloped forward, charging the Rebels behind their stone barricades and sending them flying before the Union sabres. In the vicinity of Rector's Cross Roads the surface of the country is very rough and the roads are narrow and rocky. Near this point the enemy had planted a section of artillery on a hill in advance of us, and Kilpatrick sent the Fourth New York to take the position; but that regiment halting in a ravine out of range of the enemy's fire, Kilpatrick rode down the line calling for the Harris Light to come forward. Our regiment was ordered to charge the battery on the flank and clear the road of obstruction. The Harris Light galloped forward in column of fours down the ravine and up the hill beyond, in the very face of the enemy's guns, forming in platoon under fire and charging the foe in splendid style. Utterly routed, they wheeled with their batteries and fled. At Upperville our advance was met with great desperation, the enemy charging us handsomely, but with no great damage. When our forces had been properly arranged and the right time had come, Kilpatrick was ordered to charge the town. With drawn sabres -weapons in which the General always had great confidence, and generally won success-and with yells which made the mountains and plains resound, we rushed upon the foe. The fray was terrible. Several times did the Rebels break, but being reën forced, or falling back upon some better position, again endeavored to baffle our efforts. But they were not equal to the task, and we drove them through the village of Paris, and finally through Ashby's Gap, upon their infantry columns in the Shenandoah Valley. In these charges and chase we captured two pieces of artillery, four caissons, several stand of small arms, and a large number of prisoners. At Rector's Cross Roads, when Kilpatrick ordered the Harris Light to charge the enemy's battery on a hill in advance of us, as we galloped down the intervening gully where the Fourth New York had halted, sheltered by the rise of ground, and while we were forming in column of platoons under the enemy's fire, a fatal bullet pierced my horse and he fell dead under me. Fortunately I was not dragged down in his fall, and as I struck the ground, a riderless horse in an Indiana company near by came up. One of the sergeants of this company had been shot dead at the same time that my animal had fallen, and mounting his horse I rode forward with the regiment as they charged the enemy's position. Our scouts, during this engagement, had managed to gain an entrance into the Valley, where they ascertained that the Rebel army, in heavy columns, was advancing towards the Upper Potomac. This fight was of sufficient importance to call forth from the commanding general the following official document. HEADQUARTERS CAVALRY CORPS, Brigadier-General S. Williams: GENERAL: I moved with my command this morning to Middleburg, and attacked the cavalry force of the Rebels under Stuart, and steadily drove him all day, inflicting a heavy loss at every step. I drove him through Upperville into Ashby's Gap. We took two pieces of artillery, one being a Blakely gun, and three caissons, besides blowing up one; also, upwards of sixty prisoners, and more are coming; a lieutenant-colonel and major, and five other officers, besides a wounded colonel and a large number of wounded Rebels left in the town of Upperville. They left their dead and wounded upon the field; of the former, I saw upward of twenty. We also took a large number of carbines, pistols, and sabres. In fact, it was a most disastrous day to the Rebel cavalry. Our loss has been very small both in men and horses. I never saw the troops behave better, or under more difficult circumstances. Very heavy charges were made, and the sabre used freely but always with great advantage to us. A. PLEASANTON, Brigadier-General. |