THE BATTLE OF REAMS’S STATION.
August 28, 1864.
A desperate battle was next fought, on the 28th of August, a little southward of Reams’s Station. It was brought on by an effort, on the part of the enemy, to break and disperse the Second corps, under General Hancock, posted at that point. The attack was made at about half past five in the afternoon, against Hancock’s centre, by the rebels under Wilcox: and against his left, by the rebels under Heth. It was met with great bravery, and vigorously resisted; but at length the enemy succeeded in breaking the line opposed to them. Happily, no permanent advantage was gained by this turn of fortune to the rebels. A portion of General Gibbon’s division was brought forward to repair the damage done to the National line. The enemy then fell upon General Hancock’s extreme left, but were severely repulsed by a dismounted cavalry force, under General Gregg, who handled his men with great skill—the cavalry, on their part, behaving with the utmost gallantry. At different points along the line the fighting continued briskly until dark, when the battle ended in the enemy’s signal defeat. The rebels then withdrew, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. Many prisoners were captured from the divisions of both Heth and Wilcox, and the enemy’s loss was very heavy. The National loss in killed and wounded did not exceed twelve hundred.
Few battles of this war have been more determined or sanguinary than this one. In his official report, General Hancock says: “This has been one of the most desperate fights of the war, resembling Spottsylvania in its character, though the numbers engaged gave less importance to it.” The field of battle, when the conflict was over, has been described as hideously and repulsively awful to look upon. Such scenes as these, throughout the whole civil war, bore eloquent testimony to the bravery and noble self-sacrifice of the gallant men who laid down their lives in defence of their country.