The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-05-10
FROM THE ARMY At YORK
~, g I. ',s s,. TOWN.
Hou our nses Worked IN Ns Treneles--zAe III
...,,,of q Rebel Negro iShorpsAoolen
HOW 1aE xrxiwosk Il 1sIscH.s.

1t may be q puxsle TO many to conceive hov
our men can throw up fortifcations right in th'
face and in plain sight Of the enemy withoh
being seriously disturbed by them. A brief de
scriptioni may be interesting, inasmuch As iscan
not be contraband, because the work 10, don,
right under the poscs Of the rebels. m
|, Aworking party 10 detailed for night duty
with muskets slung on their backs and shovel.
and picks on their shoulder, they proceed to tht
selected ground. The white tape marks the
line Of excavation. The dark lanterns are
faced to the rear" the snuskets are carefully
laid aside4 the shovels ere in hand, and each man
silently commences 70 dig. Not q word Il
spoken; not one spade clicks against another
each man frst digs hole large enough to cover
himself; he then turns and digs to his right-hand
neighb0r; then the ditch deepens and widehs
and the parspet rises. Yet all 10 silent; the re-
lief comes and the weary ones retire; the words
and jests Of the enemy are often plainly heard
while no noise from our men disturbs the still.
ness save the rattle of the earth as each spade
full 10 thrown to the top; at daylight long line
OF earthworks, afordiDg complete protection to
our men, greets the astonished eyes Of the enc.
my, while the sharp-shooters' bullets greet their
ears. frequently this work is done in open day.
light, the sharp shooters and pickets keeping
the enemy from annoying our men. -
r 8 ONE o. sUxNRR's yaIEsDs GONE UNDER.
/ The best work Of the morning of the a9th ult
was reducing to state oi permanent inutilty in
this mundane sphere a negro rideman, who,
through bic skill as a marksman, has done more
injury to our men than dozen Of bis white com,
peers In the attempted labor Of reducing the
compiemeht Of our sbarpshooters. Our men
have known him 4 long time, have kept an eve
on him, have lain in wait for him. His habit has
been to perch himself in big tree, and, keep
ing himself hid behind the body annoy our men
by firing upon them, He climbed the tree this
morning in advance Of the others coming out,
srnuggled himself in his position, aud was antici.
pating his usual day Of quietude. Our men
might have killed him as he came out, but avoid
ed shooting, go a. not TO alarm the others. His
tree was about twenty rods from one of our pits.
When our men fred on the advancing rebel
pickets, he, of course, saw the he was in-that
be was decidedly up a tree.
~ say, big Niger" called out one OF our men,
you better come down from there"
"What fol ?" responded the nigger.
II want you 40 prisoner"
mot as this chile knows Of" replied the con-
cealed Ethiope. rsaH
"Just as you say" replied our sharpshooter.
In about an hour the darkey peered his head
out. Our man was on the look out for him; he
had his rife on the bead.line. ready-pulled the
,trigger-whiz went the bullet,s and down came
the negro. He was shot through the head.
~ ' dla BrRDAN's sHARpsnooTERs
These enterprising marksmen furnish the 70.
nance Of the siege, If it may be 90 termed, and
many and marvellous are the stories told of the
feats Of daring and skill they execute, and the
hairbreadth escapes they experience. Their du-
ties are certainly Of the most arduous and has-
ardous character. They are generally stationed
in pairs in rife pits, or in some other protected
position furnished by the nature of the ground
Generally within from five to eight hundred
yards of the enemy's picke,s, and almost always
in front Of their intrenched works, for there it is
that the accurate marksmen can be Of the most
service, every movement they make, every shot
they make, is at the hazard of life; for the en-
emy is by no means without good marksmen,
some Of whom have skill that rivals "Old Cali
fornla joe" and would try the skill of Colonel
Berdan himself One Of these was a stsiwart
negro, whose accurate firing made him the dread
as well as the admiration of our own crack
marksmen. 1t used to be the boast of the old
English archers that each man carried the lives
Of twelve men at his belt, but this blackamoor
carried ali innumerable number of lives in the
bore OF his musket At any practicable range,
with the least sight on one of our men, he SEEM
ed to know no such thing as failing to hit. Hap
PLY he is no more. Two days ago, after watch.
ing and waiting with the patience and persever-
ance which none but the practical rifle picket
can exercise, be exposed himself at a moment,
and was tumbled over with ball through his
head The sad part Of the story is that the man
who shot him had scarcely withdrawn his rifle,
exclaiuing ~ got the range that, time" when a
ball entered his brain and stretched him lifeless
He was buried Yesterday by his comrades He
was German by birth, but did not learn his
name. The Borden rifemen are the least soldier.
~ looking men about here, hut there can be no
question as to their great service. They wear
all sorts of uniforms, and use every description
OF riae, each man having that kind with which
he is most proficient .r