Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1861-06-17
A .oLpIER,s EMorIoNISBArTLE

Our citizen soldiers inexperienced in the
battle field Will lind the most terrible moments
just before the combat begins. soldier in
his narration Of personal adventures in the
Mexican war, published in ''Howe's Achieve
ments OF Amerieans, gives some interesting
items on this head in his description of the
battle Of Palo Alto, the opening battle Of the
war.
When all was ready, both armies stood still
for about twenty minutes, each waiting for the
other to begin the work Of death, and during
this time did not see single man Of the en-
envy move; they stood like statutes.
We remained quiet with two exceptions
Gen. Taylor, followed by his staff, rode from
left to right at slow pace, with his leg thrown
over like woman, and as he passed each reg
Iuent, he spoke words of encouragement. I
know not what he said to the others, but when
he came up to where we stood he looked stead
lily at Us, / suppose, to see what effect the
novel circumstances. in which we were placed
had upon US, and, as he gszed, he said -" The
6ayoHst, my hardy cocks the 6ayonst is the
thing The other occasion was that Of Lit
Blake, of the Engineers, who volunteered to
gsllop along the enemy's line, in front of both
armies, and count their guns; and so close did
he go that he might have been shot a hundred
times. One of the officers Of the enemy, doubt
less thinking he had some communication to
make, rode out to meet him; Blake, however,
paid no attention to him, but rode on, and then
returned and reported 20 Taylor.
Thus stood those two belligerent armies, face
to face. What were the feelings of those thou
sands How many thoughts and fears were
crowded into those few moments Look at our
men, a clammy sweat is settled all over faces
slightly pale, not from cowardly fear, but from
an awful sense Of peril, combined with deter
mination not 10 finch from duty. These are the
moments in which true soldiers resign them
selves to their fate, and console themselves
with the reflection that whatever may befall
them they will act with honor; these are the
moments when the absolute coward suffers
more than death-when. if not certain he
would be shot in his tracks, he would turn
and fee. Fighting is very hard work; the
man who has passed through a two hours
fight, has lived through a great amount of
mental and physical labor At the end of
battle always found that / had perspired
so profusely as to wet through all my thick
WOclen clothing, and when had got cool, was
IS sore as if had been beaten all over with
club. When the battle commences the feel
ipgs undergo a change. Reader, did you
ever see your house on FIRE? if so, it was then
you rushed into great danger; it was then
you went over places, climbed over walls, lift
ed heavy loads. which you never could have
done IN your cooler moments; you then have
experienced some Of the excitement of q SOL
dier IN battle. / always knew my danger
that at any moment was liable to be killed;
yet such was my exitement that never fully
realized it. All men are not alike; some are
ooo', some are perfectly Wiid or crazy; others
are 80 Frustrated with fear that they are COM
pletely unnerved-an awful sinking and re-
taxation Of all their energies takes place, aw-
ful TO behold they tremble like an aspen.
slink into bitches and covert places, cry like
children, and are totally insensible to shame
dead to every emotion bat the overwhelming
fear of instant death. We had q few and but
a few, Of such in cur army.
As the two armies were facing each other it
was remarkable to see the cOolness of our men:
there they stood, chewing bits of biscuit, and
talking about the Mexicans-some wondering
II they would fight; others allowing that they
would, and like demons, etc. / kept my eye
on the artillery Of the enemy, and happened
to be looking toward their right-wing when
suddenly a white curl Of smoke sprsng up from
one OF their guns, and then saw the dust q Y
some distance in front, where the ball struck
Instantly another rich curl of smoke arose
succeeded by booming sound, and the shot
came crushing toward The enemy fred
very rapidly, and their balls knocked the aust
about Us In all directions-some went over our
heads, others struck the ground in front and
bounded away.
Our batteries now went 10 work. and ponred
In upon thom a perfect storm of iron; Lieut.
Churchill and bis men began with their eieh
teen Founders, and when the first was fired il
made such loud report that our men gave a
spontaneous shout which seemed to inspire US
with renewed confidence. could hear every
word the Lieutenant said to his men, When
the hrst shot was fired, he watched the ball
saying, Too high, men; try another ."-':too
low, men; try sgsin-the third time is the
charm" The third shot was fred, and saw
with my own eyes the dreadful effect of that
and the following shots. That's it my boys"
shouted Churchill, jumping up about two feet;
=" yOs have them now, keep at that" and so
they did, and every shot tore complete lanes
through the enemy 8 lines; but they stood il
manfuily. The full chorus of battle now ragged;
NNrn mt fhRan Of IL u
their iron hail.
Wewere ordered to lie down in the grass to
avoid the shot; this puzzled the enemy; they
could not bring their guns to bear on US, max
ing our loss very small. Many were the mar
TO" escapes; one ball came within six inches
OF my left side. The force of the bali was tre-
mendous; horses body was no obstacle at all;
mans leg was mere pipe stem. i watched
the shot as 1t struck the roots of the grass and
II was astonishing how the dust few. In about
an hour the grass caught FIRE, and the clouds
OF smoke shut out the opposing armies from
view. We had not as yet lost man from our
regiment. In the Obscurity the enemy changed
line, and the lS-pounaefs, supported by our
regiment, took position upon q little rise Of
ground. As We moved to the spot, . g. pound
shot carried away the lower jaw of Capt Page,
and then took OF mans head on the right as
clean as With a knife. The blood of poor Page
was the first blood saw; he was knocked down
In the grass, and as he endeavored to rise, he
presented such q spectacle that q sickly, faint
ing sensation came over me, and the memory
Of that night 1 shall carry with me TO my dying
day. A little later, Major Ripggold was NOR
tally wounded At his battery; I saw him just
after il. The shot had torn away portion Of
the Aesh Of his thighs; its force was tremen-
dous, cutting of both his pistols at the looks,
and also the withers Of his horse-s splendid
steed-wbich was killed to relieve him Of his
misery. The enemy tried hard, bat without
avail, TO hit our 8-pounders. The battle con-
tinued until night put an end to the scene We
biVouacked where We were, and laid upon our
arms; We slept, however, out little, thinking
we might be attacked il our sleep.
The enemy had been very severely handled,
owing to the superiority Of our artillery. The
gunners went into il more like butchers than
military men; each stripped of his coat rolled
up his sleeves, and tied his suspenders round
his waist; they all wore red flannel shirts,
and therefore were in uniform. To
them limbering and unlimbering, firing
few shots, then dashing through the smoke,
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