The Mormon Battle.
Our accounts of the fighting at Nauvoo received through the St. Louis papers, have as yet been very meagre and imperfect. Something like a picture of the last battle is supplied in the St. Louis Reveille, as fol lows:—
The Nauvooites have thrown up three breastworks, at about one and a half miles from the city, toward the road leading to Carthage, and behind these the defending forces are posted, with five pieces of artillery. At about 12 M. the new citizens fired two six pound shot into the anties' camp, upon which the latter sent out a flag of truce, with a request to hold another "talk," but the citizens of Nauvoo returned for answer that they were done talking with them, and that hereafter they should fight until the others became desirous of a peace. The action now commenced from the artillery on both sides—over eighty discharges of cannon were heard from both parties during the course of an hour and a half. They now closed in and commenced discharges of musketry at each other.
A movement was then made by the anties to out-flank the Nauvoo right, and pass their breastwork, which was here defended by the Spartan band of Mormons, with "sixteen chamber rifles;" the latter drew out from the breastwork to repel the advancing force, and suc-ceeded in beating them back. During this skirmish on the right, a man named Anderson, the leader of the Mormon Spartans, fell, shot through the lungs by a rifle ball, and almost intantly expired. About the same moment, his son, a boy about fifteen years of age, who was engaged in another portion of the works, was struck by a six pound shot on the right shoulder, and his body made a crushed mass of bones, the whole breast being torn to pieces. Another Mormon was struck du-ring this part of the fight with a cannon shot and killed instantly. His name was Norris, a blacksmith. The fight continued for two hours and a half, and every at-tempt the anties made to pass the position of the Nauvoo-ites, they were successfully beaten back, until at length, they were forced to retire to their camp, leaving the field in possession of the new citizens and Mormons.
During the progress of the fight an invalid Mormon was posted upon the top of the temple, with a spy glass in hand, watching the progress; and the wives of the citizens, with their children, were gathered at the base of the building, with upturned eyes and painfully anx-ious faces, listening to his report of the battle, which, from time to time, he related to them from above. Our informant says that he heard many of these poor Mormon mothers declare that they would perish in the streets of Nauvoo, defending it against this mob, if it should drive their husbands in from the field were they are now posted.
The number of killed on the part of the anti-Mormon force is unknown. At Carthage they only acknowledge six badly wounded—Capt. Smith, one of the number, mortally. Every preparation was making on both sides for another battle.
All capable of bearing arms in Nauvoo are engaged in the fight. Many of the women and children of the new citizens are in the city, without the power or op-portunity to leave; their husbands are in the field bat-tling against an unreasonable mob, and they are left a prey to the worst of fears.
