Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1861-11-21
TERMS OF ADvEnTIsIsc.
The Horrors OF Bull Run--Feeling
ut Richmond, Virginia,


Written for the Montreal Canada) Wit
ness by an ex-Montreal editor, who has
spent several years in the Southern States id
the same vocation ~
The battle OF Manassas, or Bull Run, a.
It is somewhat pointedly styled by the
Norherners, was sad victory TO the peo-
pie of Richmond. In proportion, there
were many more citizens of Richmond pres-
ent on the hattie field than of any other city
Of the South aud the loss Of the Southern
army was very much greater than was sup
posed at the Moth. i have heard Beeurer-
gard declare his belief that three or four
Southerners fell to every Northern soldier.
Be this asit may, Richmond, after the bat
tie, was veiled in mourning. 1t seemed as
il there was scarcely family that had not
lost friend or relative many had lost their
head and every male member of their once
loving domestic circle. Manassas was q
hardly gaineI victory, though its moral ef-
iects were great; but it was victory that
spread mourning and desolation over the
land, for hundreds of the most beloved and
cherished among the youth of the South,
fell on that fatal day. They had gone forth
in the liush and confidence Of youthful hope
and mistaken patriotism and can we won
der that no sounds of rejoicing were heard,
such as are usual after victory, however
unexpectedly or hardly won, even though
the wall OF the widow, the mother or the
orphan Child uiinglcs with the hoarse bray
Of the trumpet and the shouts of the VIC
tors? No song of triumph was sung in
Richmond, or in the surrounding villages;
and now, for the first time, the people ap-
peared to realize the horrors of the war they
had entered upon, without seeming to have
calculated its cost Those who had cherish.
ed hopes raised by the reports that those
they loved were not dead, but only wound.
ed, were, alas, doomed to suffer more bit
ter anguish than that of their iel0w-citizens
who wept over the biers of the slain. No
pen can adequately describe the horror Of
the scenes witnessed by anxious crowds, as
day by day the wounded were brought in
and carried to the houses of their friends or
to the st. Charles Hotel, which had been
fitted up as an hospital | question indeed,
whether many of the battle fields of Europe
have been the arena of such horrible indi-
yidual suffering. | have read of no cam
paign, except that of Moscow, where the
French soldiers perished by tens Of thous-
ands, in every conceivable agony, that can
offer comparison in this respect 1t may
seem absurd to speak of Moscow and Bull
Run in the same breath but do not refer
to the relative magnitude of the campaigns,
nor com pare the numbers engaged the du-
ration of the struggle, nor the loss Of lifs.
My comparison refers only to the peculiar
sufferings Of the wounded as day after day
they were brought into the city, in every
conceivable and inc0nceivabe condition Of
mutilation, and writhing in agony, wheIe
modification had not already superrened,
or sha. tul,s
death by violence had not seized upor the
hapless victim of this fratricidal strife In
most battle-ie,ds Of modern times, skillful
surgeons and attentive nurses have been in
prompt attendance, aud the wounded have
received every possible attention compati-
bic with their unfortunate position but with
the wounded ofthe Southern army, at least,
this was not the case. Possibly sufficient
number of surgeons could not be provided,
and know that many who were present
were poorly supplied with surgical instru.
ments, or with medicines of a nature 10
alleviate suffering, and that they did the
best they could under the circu Instances
but saw men brought in who had lain for
four and twenty hours on the field where
they had fallen, unaided, and without even
a drop of water to slake their burning thirst
saw men brought in delrious with fever,
raving like madmen, and failingto tn recognize
their nearest and dearest friends Some
were borne past, upon whose lvid features
death had already set his seal-the pitiful
appealing glance Of the fast glazing eye be-
ing the only sign that life still fingered
The features of many were so distorted by
pain that they scarcely appeared to be
human and, most horrible of all, / wit
messed at least dozen poor creatures
brought in who had either lost limb by q
cannon ball, or had suffered theamputation
Of leg or an arm. 1t is hard to decide
which OF these two classes of victims had
suffered the greater agony-those who had
lain uncared for, save by some friendly COM
rade who had bound his handkerchief over
Il the limb to stop the etfusion of blood, and
thus preserve the vital spark--or those
who had endured the pain of amputation,
either too hnrrie1ly, or else unskilfully
performed. In several of the latter cases
the ligatures had slipped or became loosen
ed, the bandages had fallen of, and the
bones protruded beyond the mangled flesh,
while in both alike the bones and flesh were
! hlsck and fostering, and swarming with
nlaggots. People shudderea and sickensd as
they turned away from the horrid spectacle,
women tainted in the streets-and yet thers
were some brave women--mohers, wives
and sisters-who dared to dress these fright
ful wounds, when men, used TO witness
blood and suffering. shrunk appalled, from
the CHASTITY scene. Striving to conceal their
own acute mental suffering, these angels Of
mercy fingered to the last over the dying
husband or brother-and 10 more than one
!, case, to my knowledge, over the bed Of
those who were strangers and friendless--
striving to impart that couifort 10 the do
parting souls. which, Heaven help them,
they sorely needed themselves 1t was .
happy thing for these poor victims that in
most instances they had ceased to feel pain,
while consciousness generally returned an
hour or two before death: but it is almost
needless to add that recovery, amongst those
who had suffered in tho manner we have
described, was rare indeed We know of
but one instance of the recovery of man
who had suffered the amputation Of a limb
on the battlefield. la1l4 - oil
WISCONSIN ELEcTIoN.-Ihe returns Of
the Wisconsin election are not all in Ii tha