The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1861-08-23

their canteens empty, not drop of water
within reach, the men were ordered to close
ranks and in double quick time sweer
ahead. The belief that the Confederate:
were not more than an hour, at most, the
better of US, and tha: following them thus
rapidly and necessarily, we should soon be
up with them, alone encouraged the sol.
diers in that headlong pursuit and held
.hem to the work. But for that belief
hundreds of them, at all events, must have
staggered from the column and thrown
themselves against the trees and fences
either side the road, utterly baffled and
overpowered. AS it was, hundreds used
to break from the ranks whenever farm
house held out to them the promise that
water was at hand, and not merely disre
garding, but defying, every effort of their
officers to restrain them, made fercely for
the spot where their agonies were to be
assuaged. In many instances the poor
fellows were ruthlessly doomed to disap
polntment, the retreating Southerners
having cut the ropes which held the buck
cts in the wells, or broken the chains, as
the case might be. It was enough to force
hot tears from the sternest eye 10 see the
sufferers, painting and breathless almost
after their wild race, looking hopelessly
down those dark, deep wells, the forbid>
den water glimmering sixty feet or more
below, and the fevered and crusted lip
quivering with redoubled pang. New
ertheless, it was a splendid panorama,
those four miles of armed men-the sun
multiplying. it seemed to me, the lines of
flashing steel, bringing out plume and
epaulette and sword, and all the finery of
war, into keener radiance, and heighten-
ing the vision of that vast throng with all
It's glory. The sun which parched those
quivering lips, which drew the sweat in
streams from many and many scorching
brow, which drank the blood of thousands
on that desperate march, and bred from
van to rear a mutinous thirst-the same
stood there above us sleeping all those
swaying banners and all those naughty
arms in flood of splendor, and blending
in one long wonderous wave of dazzling
light all the gay deceptions and the worst
privations of a soldiers life. Most of the
Regiments were accompanied by their
bands: and as the bold music sprang up
at intervals along the line, many droop-
ing heart leaped up with it, and despite
of the heat and dust and thirst, it was, af-
ter all, cheerful crowd that sped along.
Aoout five o'clock in the afternoon, the
tolls and troubles Of the day were at an
end. Before the sun went down, an army
of - 600 had stretched itself to rest in a
wide, deep valley, in the shadow of lofty
woods which held it in perfect zone.
Batteries Of flying artillery-troops of
cavalry-huge wagons with white avn
ings-ambulances and hospital earts-a
farm house here and there-these, dis
persed at different points throughout the
valley, relieved the monotonous masses Of
infantry with which the ground was dark
ened. A cool and abundant stream flow
ed through the sloping meadows over
which these masses were extended, to the
right and left of the road to Centreyille ::
and the long, fresh grass, covering the
meadows, furnished luxurious bedding
for the heated and harrassed forces of the
Union. The night, however, was not
without its discomfolts and alarms.
There was heavy dew, which, though
not as dense and Grenching as the one we
had to sleep through in the marshes out
side Vienna, was bad enough for the tough
est soldier to endure. 1. was all the
worse for us, inasmuch as many of the
69th had that morning, during the flank
ing movement upon Fairfax, which they
went through with rush, flung off their
blankets, whilst several of them flung off
their coats as well. How these poor fell
lows managed to keep their bones from
aching, and how with light hearts and
lighter limbs they leaped into the ranks
next morning, as though they had been
housed instead of being wiring
ing wet all night, it would be difficult for
me to say. That two or three of them
we're violently seized with cramps, and
THAI The doctor had to be hunted up and
the regimental medicine chest explored,
Just little after midnight, and that there
were moans and writings mingled with
The healthier snorings of that densely
crowded and encountered valley, from that
out till sunrise-all this | know, for N.Y.
self felt sick and restless all that night, and
failed to hare one hours unbroken sleep.
1t was, also, little after midnight, that
one of the horses belonging to a Com
wagon broke loose, and, dashing
=, r;nreI,, n ,oupb Tho c,rp Iaa1Tar, :