Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1862-07-11

SayOrlng oil Datuc-each man leeiS MS BOSOM
swell and the sinews of his arm tighten. Oh
for dash at the foe! Oh, for blow at the
boasters! IIark The drums beat To
arms! to arms Up, soldiers, strike tents
to arms The longcd for hour has come II
the foe is near! Forward, enthusiastically
forward Steady, iron hearts, and onward
Onward they move, plant rs a wave of
molten lava firm and impenetrablc as wall
Of brass The firm earth shudlers under
the tread Of the moving host-a cleaning
sea, legion rolling after legion, they rise in
pillows and sink in hollows, nundating ridge
steel. Onward roll the waves Of this living
Ha, look see on yonder low, wooded
ridges-as motonless as the very rocks that
yield them shelter, is drawn up the massed
host of the traitor foe. Over them fans in
the lazy breeze tie hated standard of rebellion.
Halt r't-and under their respective ban
ncrs the dark, compact legions of the two,
armies stand front to front For moment
reigns a silence--deep and dread--a silence
| so ,o(ound that the hearth beats of these two
! lowering clouds of hostile men seem to break
| the smooth current Of the breeze into throb-
bing wavelets, and cause the very forest
| leaves to vibratc in sympathy with the ebb
and flow Of the life.tide of these seas of men.
Down all the long, motionless linc--shouder
| to shoulder foot to foot--firm and unAinch-
ing with blue, compressed lips, and pale,
rigid faces, stand men VINO are soon to deal
and feel the deadly blows of earnest battle. =
Mark them we'll. Mark their grasp tighten,
| ing on their arms--their quiverng chins, the
nervous working Of their nostrils, the fixed,
leaden gaze Of their starting eyes. All, sus-
pense is a torture from which the danger and
roar of battle is a welcome relief
Quick, look puff puff! puff!--there,
there and there, the white smoke, wreaths
curl upward-jast where you perceive those
first wheeling eddies in that calm human sea
which soon shall be but one boiling Maclstrom
Of aroused fury. .....
lla! hear you that kissing that quickly
grows to a hoarse scream? See you yondcr
dark, rushing thing, spouting sparks and
fame in its swift course? Mark where it
plungcs into the crowded ranks of yonder
cose-massed, motionless battalion! see the
Itna, jets of fame that dart upward in fierce,
spreading rays hear the duh smashing ex-
plosion.
Where are the men who stood so firmly
with breast turned against the shock of the
screaching demon? Death -shrieks and tho
screams OF those in mortal agony so up from
the wide rap lust rent in the denSc hofto1;op
The spell of silence, of suspense is broken
- vengeance on our foe ~ cries the hcart of
every soldier. Not nerve tremblcs now
every nostril expands to breathe forth def
anca-chceks rcdden and tinrle with boiling
blood-cyes flash with fierce determination
\ hundred cannon raise their black mouths
to the range of the foe--tcn thousand blazing
eyes glance along ten thousand plttcrinr
barrels. 'r"9
" Fire !" and a sheet Of fame Nc hl;,I;nr
rs the tightening flash that wreaths in fire
the hemisphere. darts out toward the lines Of
the foe; then follows an eyplosion that iors
the firm earth as when an hundred hisSino.
bolts of heavens artillery explode mon and
shiver to the plain some tall granite pcok--
and the battle has begun Incessant as the
patter of hail is the rattle of small arms. con.
tinuous as the roar of hurricane Is the
boom of cannon and the BURSTING or shcllc
The hoarse voices of tho leaders are family
heard urging on their men; easping cunners
with new resolution load again their heated
pieces; fainting infantry close up their shat
tered ranks and once more hurl themselves
upon the dense masses of the foc--tired and
scattered clouds of cavalry form again for
another charge upon the solid squares of the
enemy.
With the imoetuositv of nm Anime oy,.
lanche, the dark columns of the host rush
| forward--artillery, infantry, cavalry, pour
| down upon the oDposinV columns of tha foo
shaking their ranks as field of corn is
shaken and bent before the western gale,
Cannons roar, rifles ring and sabres CLEAN,
Many terrible shrek is heard where the
bayonet pierccs its way--many a painful
moan rises where the trampinp boors of
horses pass. .= ."a."1-
| But death-shricks are not Needed dvino
means are not heard--On. ON ON to victory
or soldiers death -,
/ Hold! on the greensward beneath the
4 spreading branches of an oak. lies a brown
haired, smooth checked boy we know. lis
left arm lies q shattered mass at, his side
those cheeks once rosy with young blood arc
now ashy palo his half closed eyes are dull
and leaden, and his breath comes short and
quick through his open lips. A surgeon,
heated and blood .spattcred, approaches the
wounded lad The saw glides across the
bone of the shattered limb. The ewes of the
young soldier are leaden no longer, they start
from their sockets ablaza with agony-yct no
! crv or moan ic sf,,ooJ h,, tho h. IL Il 49,.