Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1854-12-28

kindness anu alIenLlOn OF our fellows u
their helpless enemies was beyond al
praise. They brought them water, go
knapsacks to put under their heads, anC
borrowed blankets in which to cover
them from the raw night air; here and
there. small groups of them stood alb
sorbed in pity round some PROSTATE foe
10 whom their kindness came too late
and who, shot either through the head
or lungs. gasped out his existence in
painful sobs, or terminated it In hor-
rible eonvulsion which made your blood
eurdle to hear. A little above the line
of tents was the brow of the hill over
looking Inkermann Lights. Here was
the spot where the allied artillery en-
gagged that of the enemy after the re-
treat, and here the sight was sickening
indeed. There is nothing so awful as
the spectacle of the bodies of those who
have been struck down by round shot
or shell. One poor fellow of the 95th
had been struck by two 24-pounders in
the head and body, A shell afterwsrd
burst on him and tore him to pieces, and
it was only by the fragments of cloth,
with the regimental buttons adhering,
that you could tell that the rough bloody
mass which lay in the road had ever
been human being. But it is useless
to dwell on these sickening details; suf-
fee to say that here, among the carcas-
ses of some 600 killed and wounded
horses, lay the bodies of our brave Eng
lish and French artillerymen, all more or
less frightfully mutilated. Some had
their heads taken off at the neck, as if
with an AK; others their legs gone from
the hips; others their arms, and others,
again, who were hit in the chest or
stomach, were literally as smashed as if
They had been crushed in a machine
But it was not alone the allies who lay
here; on the contrary, there were ten
Russian corpses for one of theirs; but
the latter were all killed by musketry
before the artillery came up. On this
spot the Russians kept dropping shells
the whole night, but their vindictive eff
forts were in vain; all who lay in reach
of their missiles had suffered the last
which they were to endure on earth.-
Passing up the road TO Sevastopol be-
tween heaps of Russian dead, you came
to the spot where the Guards had been
compelled to retire from the defense of
the wall above Inkermann Valley
Here our dead were nearly as numerous
as the enemy's. Across the path, side
by side, lay FIVE guardsmen who were
killed by one round shot as they ad-
vanced to charge the enemy. They
lay on their faces, in the same attitude,
with their muskets tightly grasped in
both hands, and all had the same grim,
painful frown upon their features, like
men who were struck down in the act of
closing with their foes. Beyond this,
the Russian guardsmen and line regi-
ments lay thick as leaves, intermixed
with dead and wounded horses. The
latter, with fractured limbs, were now
and then rising. and after staggering
few steps, rolling over among the
corpses, snorting and plunging fearfully.
Up to the right of the wall was the way
to the Two-gun Battery. The path lay
through thick brushwood; but the path
was slippery with blood, and the brush
wood was broken down and encumbered
with the dead. The scene from the bat
terry was awful-awful beyond descrip-
ton. / stood upon the parapet at about
nine at night, and felt my heart sink as
l gazed upon the scene OF carnage
around. The moon was at its full, and
showed every object as if by the light
of day. Facing me was the Valley of
Inkermann, with the Chernaya like a
band of silver flowing gracefully be-
tween the hills, which, for varied and
picturesque beauty, might vie with any
part of the world. Yet l shall never
recall the memory of Inkermann Valley
with any but feelings of loathing and
horror; for around the spot from which
l surveyed the scene lay upwards of
5000 bodies. Many badly wounded
also lay there; and their low. dull moans
of mortal agony struck with horrible
distinctness upon the ear, or, worse still,
the hoarse, gurgling cry and vehement
struggles of those who were convulsed
before they passed away Around the
hill small groups of men with hospital
stretchers were searching out for those
who still survived: and others, again,
with lanterns, busily turning over the
dead, looking for the bodies of officers
who were known to be killed, but who
had not been found. Here also we're
English women, whose husbands had
not returned, hurrying about with loud
lamentations, turning the faces Of our
dead TO the moonlight, and eagerly seek
ing for what they feared to find. These
latter were far more to be pitied than
the inanimate forms of those who lay
slaughtered around. The ambulances,
as fast as they came up received their
load of sufferers, and even blankets
were employed to convey Che wounded
to the rear. Outside the battery the
Russians lay two and three deep. In
side the place was literally full with |
bodies of Russian Guardsmen, 55th
and Goth. The fine, tall forms of our
poor fellows could be distinguished at
glance, though the gray great-coats.
stained with blood, rendered them alike
externally. They lay as they fell, in
heaps; sometimes our men over three or
four Russians, and sometimes a Russian