The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1861-08-13
SCENES DURING THE BATTLE OF
MANASSAS

No person who was not upon the ground and an
eve witness of the stirring scenes which there
! transpred can begin to comprehend from de-
scrpton the terrible realities of battle; and even
those who participated competent to speak only
of their own personal experience. Where friends
and foes falling by scores, and every species
of missile was flying through the air, threatening
each instant to send one into eternity little time
is afforded for observation or reflection than
is required to preserve personal safety. The scene
is one of the most exciting and exhilirating that
can be conceived. Imagine reg iment passing
YOU at double quick" the men cheering swith
enthusiasm, their teeth SET their eyes flashing
and their minds in frenzy of resolution You ac-
company them to the field They halt An Aid
de-Camp passes to or from the commanding General
The clear voices of the officers ring along the line
in tones of passionate eoquence; their words Short
thrilling and electric. The men feel like giants.
The word is given to march, and the body move
into action For the first time in your life you
listen to the whzzing of iron hail. Grape and
canister fy into the ranks, bombs burst overhead,
and the fragments fly all around you. friend
falls; perhaps dozen or twenty OF your comrades
lie wounded or dying at your feet strange invol-
untary shrinking steals over you, which it is i'm
possible to resist. You feel inclined neither to
advance nor recede, but are spell bound by the
contendinc emotions of the moral and physical
man. The cheek blanches, the lip quivers and
the eve almost hcsitates to look upon the scene.
In this attitude you may, perhaps, be ordered to
stand an hour ina ctive havoc meanwhile marking
its footsteps with blood every side Finally
the order is given to advance, to fire, or to charge
And now, what Il metamorphosis. With your
first shot you become new man. Personal safety
is your least concern. Fear has no existence In
your bosom. Hesitation gives way before an
uncomfortable desire to rush into the thckest OF
the fight. The dead and dying around you, If
they receive passing through, only serve to
stimulate you to revenge You become cool and
deliberate, and watch the effect of bullets, the
showers Of bursting shells, the passage of cannon
balls as they rake their murderous channels through
your ranks the plunging of wounded horses, the
agonies of the dying, and the clash of contending
arms which follows the dashing charge, with
feeling so callous by surrounding circumstances,
that your soul seems dead to every sympathizlng
and selfish thought
THE REACTION.
Such is the spirit which carries the soldier
through the field Of battle. But when the excite
ment has passed. when the roll of musketry has
ceased, the noisy voices Of the cannon are stied,
the dusky ball of sui phurous smoke has risen from
the field, and you stroll over the theatre Of carnage,
hearing the groans Of the wounded, discovering
here, Shattered almost beyond recognition the
form of some dear friend whom only an hour
before you met in the full flush Of life and hap
piness there another, perforated by a bullet;
third with limb shot away; fourth with his
face disfyured; fifth torn almost to Fragments
sixth headless corpse; the ground ploughed up
and stained with blood; human brains splashed
around; limbs without bodies, and bodies without
limbs, scattered here and there and the same
picture duplicated scores of times, then you begin
to realize the horrors of war and experience
reaction of nature. The heart opens it's flood
gates, humanity asserts herself again, and you
begin to feel and act more the man and less the
demon. Friend and foe alike now receive your
kindest ministerinss. The enemy who but short
time before, full of hate, you were doing all in
your power to kill, you now exert to save You
supply him with water to quench his thirst, with
food to sustain his strength and with sympathzing
words to soothe his troubled mind IL that is
human or charitable in your nature now rises to
the surface, and you are animated by that spirit
of mercy (which blesseth him that gives and him
that takes" A battle field is eminently place
that tries mems souls.
WALK OVER THE BATTLE FIELD.
Passing over the ground a few minutes after
the retreat Of the enemy, [ had ample opportunity
of witnessing the exhibition of these noble traits.
Dead and wounded lay scattered by hundreds
men from Massachusetts and South Carolina, from
Maine and Louisiana; from Rhode Island and Ala
bama; from New York and Nirgi nia-representing
one bloody congregation from nearly every State
of the Old COnederacy--the victims of each
others hate. Rapidly us possible those who could
be moved by hand raised and borne to the
neighboring hospitals. Those most desperately
wounded awaited the arrival Of the ambulances,
but friend and enemy alike received all the atten-
ton that could be rendered. BY the side of those
who could net be moved till late in the night or
until the ensuing day, crackers and cups of water
placed. Bushes were torn up and little
arbors made above them, and pillows Of leaves
were placed under their heads, that the sufferers
might be made comfortable possible.
THE CRY FOR WATER.
At almost every step as you passed across the
localities in which the fight ragged fercest might
instance that | am aware Of was the appeal unheed-
ed. Our men spared 70 trouble to afford relief
One noble fellOw-a South Carolinian by the way
= Just as l entered the field, had New York
Zouave in his arms: carrying him to neighboring
brook, where among the thlcket he found a com
paratlvely comfortable abiding place during the
night Another had taken off his coat and made
with it pillow; and third whom saw had
torn up part of his shirt with which he Was
binding up the head Of a wounded Yankee.
TIE HOSPITALS.
The hospitals were located in various places;
some in the woods in distant farnl-houses
and barns, and few in tents. To these points
during the battle and afterwards, the injured we're
removed circumstances would permit Here
limbs were cut off, bodies opened, heads trepannet,
and balls extracted from morning till night as fast
they arrived The sufferers were laid upon