American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1855-11-03
HORRORS OF WAR

eiCkeninS descriptions we have vet seen
of the condition of the dead and wound
cd after the capture of Sevastopol. 1t
has reference only to 4
THE HOSPITAL OF sEvAsropoL.
OF al! the pictures of the horrors of
war which have ever been presented to
the world, the hospital of Sevastopol
presents tho most horrible, heart-rend.
ing and revolving. 1t cannot be de-
scribed, aud the imagination of q Fusel
could not conceive anything at all like
unto 1t. How the poor human body
can be mutilated, and yet hold its soul
within, when every limb is shattered
and every vein, and artery is pouring
out the life stream, one might study.
here at every step and at the wonder
how little will kill! The building used
as hospital is one Of the noblest piles
inside the dockyard wall, and is situated
in the centre Of the row at right angles
TO the line of the Redan. The whole
row was peculiarly exposed to tho action
of shot and she'll bounding over the Re-
dan, and to the missiles directed at the
Is arrac k Battery, and it bears in sides,
roofs, windows and doors, frequent and
destructive proofs ofthe severity of can
nonade. Entering one of these doors
beheld such sight as few mon, thank
God, have ever Witnessed In a long
low room, supported by square pillars
arched at the top, and dimly lighted
through shattered aad unglazed window
frames lay the wounded Russians, who
had been abandoned to our mercies by
their General, The wounded, did /
sayi No, but the dead; the rotten and
fostering corpses of the soldiers who
were left to die in their extreme agony
unattended, uncared for, packed as close
as they could be slowed, some on the
lioor, others on wretched tressels and
oedsteads, or pail els of straw. stopped
and saturated with blood, which oozed
and trickled through upon the floor,
mingled with the droppings of corrup-
ton. ..4. N.... ..
With the roar of exploding fortresses
in their ears, with shells and shot fore.
ing through the roof and sides of the
rooms in which they lay, with the crack
ling and Kissing of fire around them,
those poor fellows, who had served
their loving friend and master the Gar,
but too well, were consigned to their
terrible fate. Many might have been
saved by ordinary care. Many lay, yet
alive, with maggots crawling about in
their wounds. Many nearly mad by
the scenes around them, or seeking es-
cape from it in their EXTREMIST agony.
had rolled away under the beds, and
glared out on the heart.stricken specta-
tors, oh with such looks! Many with
legs and arms broken and twisted, the
jagged splinters sticking through tho
raw flesh, implored aid, water, food, or
pity, or, deprived of speech by the APP
proach of death, or by dreadful injuries
onahe head or trunk, pointed to the
letbal spot. Many seemed bent alone
on making their peace with Heaven. -
The attitudes of soma were SO hideous-
y fantastic as to appal and root one to
the ground by sort of dreadful fascin-
alton. Could that bloody mass of cloth
ing and white bones ever have been a
human being, or that burnt black mass
OF flesh ever had human soul q? 1t
was fearful to think what the answer
must be. Tho bodies of numbers of
men were swollen and bloated TO an in
credible degree. and the features disten-
ded TO gigantic size, with eyes protru-
ding from the sockets, and the blacken-
ed tongue loling out of the mouth, com.
pressed tightly by the teeth which had
set upon it in the death rattle made one
shudder and reel round.
In the midst of one Of these "cham.
bers of horror"-for there were MANY
Of them-were found some dead and
some living English soldiers, and among
them poor Capt. Vaughan, of the Goth,
who has since succumbed to his wounds.
L confess it was impossible for me to
stand at the sight which Mortified our
most experienced snrgeon--the deadly
clammy stencil, and smell of the gan.
cred wounds, of corrupt blood, of rotiing
flesh, were intolerable and odious he.
You'd endurance. But what must tho
wounded felt who were obliged to en-
dure all this, and who passed away
without hand to give them cup Of
water, or voice to cay one kindly
word to them The most of these men
were wounded on Saturday--many,
perhaps, on Friday before--indeed il
is impossible to say how long they might
have been there. In the hurry of their
retreat, tho Muscovites seemed to have
carried in dead men to get them out of
the way, and to have put them upon the
pallets in borrid mockery. So that
this retreat was secured, the enemy
cares but little for the wounded. On
Monday only. did they receive those
whom we sent out to them during
brief armistice for the purpose, which
was believe, sought by ourselves, as
our overcrowded hospitals could not
contain, and our overworked surgeons
could not attend to any more.
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