Incidents of the battle of Leesburg.
The following incidents of the battle of Leesburg we do not recollect to have seen before in print. They are extracted from the Federal army correspondent of the Philadelphia Press:‘ A man named Stokes, who was among the list of prisoners, seeing no chance of escape, lay down in an open field among a number of the dead, as though he were really hors du combat. At length a rebel sharp-shooter, stumbling upon his body, selected it as an excellent one for a foot-rest. Poor Stokes was in tribulation, but held his peace. At length the rebel, having made a very successful shot, sprang up and danced around for joy, well nigh knocking his foot stool into a jelly.-- ‘"Stop, for God's sake!"’ shouted Stokes. The sharp-shooter drew back, perfectly thunderstruck then the true state of affair, be shouted out, "You score of rebels to the spot, and Stokes, when last seen, was going off under a guard with a very crest-fallen face.
The most deadly contest of the day occurred between a member of the Massachusetts Fifteenth and Eighth Virginia regiments.--The latter, as is well known, were at one time retreating, with the Fifteenth hotly pursuing. The rebel rear was brought up by a most determined fellow, who turned repeatedly and discharged his musket at our ranks. Animated by the same personal daring, a Federal soldier rushed beyond the head of his column, firing continually. After the pursuit had continued for some distance, it being feared that our men were to be drawn into a trap, they were ordered to retire. The order was obeyed by all save the volunteer who had led the advance, and before many minutes he was seen struggling with the laggard Virginian, whose own column had gone ahead.
Three barrels of a revolver were discharged at the rebel without seeming effect, and the Virginian, rushing upon his assailant with a huge knife, was about to stab him. His knee was on the other's breast, and the loyalist had shut his eyes. The knife, however, fell from the other's grasp, and he reeled over lifeless. All three of the pistol shots had actually taken effect upon him, yet such was his overmastering brute ferocity, that for some instants his wounds were without effect.
Our informant adds that more reckless courage, upon both sides, was never remarked. All consciousness of organization was for a time abandoned, and men, fighting upon their own responsibility, presumed, even in the face of death, to set examples of bravers. A number fell dead in the act of courting its coming, and some openly dec never leave the field alive.
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