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The Battle of Dranesville
We publish on page 20 an
illustration of the Battle of Dranesville, from a sketch by an officer who was
an eye-witness. The following is the Official dispatch from General M'Call to
General Marcy, recounting the facts.
OFFICIAL REPORT FROM GENERAL M'CALL
Ord's brigade, with the First Rifles and Easton's battery, had a brisk affair
with four regiments and a battery of the rebels at 12 m. to-day.
I arrived
during the action, and sent for Reynolds, who was left at Difficult Creek. The
enemy was defeated, and fled before Reynolds arrived.
We have found 40 killed of
the enemy and 10 wounded on the field. Our loss, 2 killed and 3 wounded. We have
taken two caissons, with the harness, the horses having
been killed.
The Rifles behaved finely. Lieutenant-Colonel Kane very slightly
wounded, but still in the field. I have collected the dead and wounded, and am
about to move back to camp.
George A. M'Call, Brig.-Gen. Commanding.
A Correspondent of the Herald adds
the following:
Meantime General advanced to
Thorton's House, near Dranesville, when his command was suddenly fired upon by a
force lying in ambush in dense woods adjacent. This was the signal of battle,
and a brisk engagement promptly ensued.
General M'Call, who arrived a few
minutes previously took command. In a moment's time Easton's battery was planted
alonside the Thorton House, and fired rapidly with terrible effect in the
enemy's ambush. Colonel Kane's "Bucktail Riflemen" were placed in advance, and
fired upon the enemy wherever they made their appearance. The rebels, who had a
battery of six pieces, returned the cannonading, and replied to the rifles with
musketry. The firing was kept up some three-quarters of an hour, when the enemy
retreated rapidly, the fire of the whole brigade, rifles and battery, being too
hot for them.
Our troops stood up bravely under the
sharp volleys of the rebels. Their steadiness was praised by General M'Call and
his officers.
The rebels took the direction of
Fairfax Court House, leaving on the field a number of their killed and wounded.
Our troops pursued them a short distance, and returned.
The scene in the woods presented all
the horrors of a sanguinary battle-field, and the dead and dying lying strewn in
various directions. Forty dead bodies of the rebels were picked up, and fifteen
wounded prisoners were taken and placed in Hunter's and other houses in
Dranesville.
General Ord Captured eight wounded
prisoners and two caissons with ammunition. In their haste the enemy left behind
arms of all descriptions, clothing, etc.
Their loss is estimated at 150 killed
and wounded. Among their killed was Colonel Tom Taylor, of Frankfurt, Kentucky,
and commander of the First Kentucky Regiment of rebels. The forces of the enemy
consisted of three infantry regiments, First and Eleventh Kentucky, and Tenth
Alabama, with a cavalry regiment and a battery, all under command of Colonel
John H. Forney, of the Tenth Alabama, Acting Brigadier-General. The dead rebels
were left on the field.
The loss on our side was six killed
and eight wounded, most of whom belonged to the Bucktails. Colonel Kane received
a slight wound.
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