Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1859-07-21

ratings, &c, had been removed; mattress
es OF hay had been spread upon the. floor,
and were completely filled with wounded
men, in every stage of suffering and of
peril, lying side BY side. The surgeons
were dressing their wounds; Sisters Of
Charity and other women were giving
them wine and otherwise administering to
their comfort; but morning, l am sure, will
dawn upon n large proportion of them re-
lieved forever from their pain. lfanything
can be more horrible than soldiers life, it
certainly is soldiers death. 80 es iss1
When we drove into town we were
warned by French gentleman, who had
arrived little before US, that unless we
placed our carriage in the stable or grounds
Of some private citizen, it would certainly
be seized for the services of the wounded,
as his had been. As it was all we could
rely on for bedroom as wellas a means
of locomotiou we were unwilling thus to
lose it. On going to private house,
therefore to make such an arrangement we
found it had been taken for hospital, and
among its inmates was a vivandere, wo-
man Of perhaps 80, dressed in the style of
our Bloo,ners, who had received ball in
the hand while following her.occupation of
carrying water and wine TO the soldiers du-
ring the action. Two surgeons from the
Emperor's family were dressing her wound,
and though pale from the loss of blood,
was conversing cheerfully aud even gaily
with them. - ss4 E3lH ~ ah
Six or eight times while stood on the
street watching the wounded, there came
along squads of prisoners, captured at va
rious stages of the action. Sometimes
there would be only three or four, then
twenty, fifty or hundred, and in one com
pany over 400 They walked closely TO-
gether six or eight deep, the officers being
generally in the middle, and were guarded
BY single file of troops walking on each
side. ASS general thing they were not
bad looking men. Many of them were
very young-not over fifteen, certainly
and only now and then you would see a
particularly brutal audstupid countenance.
There was nothing like anger.or shame
on their faces; they seemed generally
wholly Indifferent to their position, but
looked about with good deal of curiosity
upon the crowd which surrounded them.-
They were generally silent though now
and then they would laugh and talk with
each other as they passed along. The Of
fcers were, with scarcely an exception,
handsome, manly and intelligent fellows.
All were without arms. The uniform of
the men was very coarse brown stuff,
made of flax, very plain, and with scarcely
any attempt at ornament. Towards night
carts began TO come in laden with wound
ed Austrians hundreds of whom passed
along while stood there, and were taken
directly to the hospitals, where they re-
ceived precisely the same treatment as the
French. Most of them seemed TO be very
badly hurt Among the number both Of
the wounded and prisoners were great
many Hungarians.
The town tonight, as might be expect
ed, is simply camp. The streets which
are narrow are crammed with artillery and
provision wagons trying, almost in vain, to.
make their way through town; n;-bisouac
fires light up the orchards and fields all
around the yillage;-two streams of troops
turn out on the two roads leading to the
field of battle, extending as far as the eye
can reach ;;-sutlers, fruit pedlers, and
small dealers of every kind circulate among
the soldiers who crowd the ets;-an
imense train of Piedmontese artillery are
brought to stand in the street while try
ing IS make their way through the town to
their place of encampment;-and thou
sands of French infantry, despalring of
reaching their tents, have seated them
selves upon the narrow sidewalks, and with
the house-walls for back and their baver-
sacks for pillows, they have addressed
themselves in that position to the labor of
obtaining nights rest. 1t is striking
scene most certainly, and the most won
derful part of it is the perfect order and
good behavior of the troops. have not
seen during the whole day a single in
stance of disorder, OF even sudeness in
word or deed from any soldier. Not one
have 1 seen in the slightest degree intoxi-
Gated not one have l seen shouting or
singing; not rough orrude remark have
/ seen or heard addressed to any one,--nor
have | failed in single instance, whenever
I'have applied to soldier for information
or addressed him on any subject Whatever,
to receive courteous reply and the most
polite endeavor to aid my wishes. Nor
have heard single cheer over veto-
ry,-ora single syllable of exulta,ion over
The prisoners as they came in. The most
respectful silence has in every case been
preserved. Expressions of sympathy with
the wounded were constant, and prompt
attention, so far as 1 can see, has been
treated with perfect respect. In selecting
fields for the camp, those which will be
injured by it least seem uniformly to be
chosen. Bakers shops, and groceries with
cheese, bacon, sausages, DC, freely exposed,
are open,-and l have repeatedly seen
soldiers bargaining for supplies at their
windows. But have heard of no instance
and seen no indication of the slightest in
reference with private property. Yet
there is no great rigor of discipline enforced
for the soldiers seem to be quite at
their ease, and wander about town very |
much at their own discretion. But they
look upon war as business, las some
thing to be done, like everything else,
with as little fuss and excitement as pos
sible. So they look upon battle, and the
Operations attending 1.-THE care of the
wounded, the reception fprisoners, &c.,
as merely part of the regular routine,-just
like cleaning their muskets, or boiling their
soup over bivouac fires.