The Placer herald., 1862-07-19

spllntereu ny Caunon pail. trampleu Dy nOrseS
and men, and crushed under the heavy wheels of
artillery. One sad wreck covered all.
Almost week had passed since the battle. and
most of the dead were buried. We heard of twos
and threes. and in one place eleven, still lying
where they fell; and as we rode down lonely
pass we came to one waiting to be laid in the
dust, and stopped for moment TO note the sad
sight. Pray look out from my eyes at him as he
lies where he fell You see by his garb that be is
one Of the rebel army and by the peculiar marks
OF that class, that he is city rough. There is
little about him to soften the grim picture that
rises up before you he rests in perfect stiffness
by that tree; but there is a shawl coarse and
homely that must have belonged to some woman,
and
His hands are folded on his breast;
There is no other thing expressed
But long disquet merged in rest.
'Will you still let me guide you through that
scene as it comes before me? Here you meet %
man who has been in command and stood fast;
and when you suy some simple word OF praise to
him in the name of all who love their country.
he bushes and stummers like a woman and tells
you he tried to do his best; and when we get to
mound City we shall find man racked with pain,
who will forget to suffer in telling how this brave
man you have just spoken to not only stood by
his regiment in fierce storm of shot, but when
he saw regiment near his own giving back be-
cause their officers showed the white feather, rode
up to the regiment, hurled mighty curse at
those who were giving back. stood fast by the
men in the thckest of the fight, and saved them.
And says the sick man, with tears in his eyes, Il
would rather be private under him than cap
tain under any other man. l notice one feature
in this camp that never saw before-the men
do not swear and use profane words as they used
10 do. There is u little touch of seriousness
about them. They are cheerful and hearty, and
in few days they will mostly tall into the bad
habits so painful to hear; but they have been too
In the trpmpnlOul VprjfipS Of hell and
heaven on that battle field to turn them into
small change for every day use just yet / may
not judge harshly OF what should be done in
time OF war like this in the West; it is very easy
to be unfair. will simply tell you that if it had
not been for the things sent by the Sanitary
Commission in the way of linen, and things sent
by our citizens in the way OF nOurshment, see
no possibility by which those wounded men could
have been lifted out Of their blood stained wool
len garments. saturated with wet and mud, or
could have had amy food or drink except corn
mush, hard bread, and turbid water OF the river.
Here is one who has lost arm and there
one lost leg This old man Of sixty has been
struck by grape shot, and that boy Of eighteen
has been shot through the lung. Here q noble
man has lived through fearful bullct-wound
Just over the eye and that poor German, who
could never talk English so as to be really under
stood, has been hit in the mouth and has lost all
hope Of talking except by signs. The doctor
comes to this young man and says quietly. i
think. my boy, shall have to take your arm off,
and he cries out in great agony oh dear doctor.
do save my arm! and the doctor tells him he will
try little longer; and when he has gone, the
poor fellow says to me, what shall do if l
loose my arm? have poor old mother at home,
and there is no one to do anything for her but
me-
"That man who has lost his arm, is evidently
sinking. AS l lay wet linen to the poor stump
he tells me how he has wife and two children
o,1h hnh h,cal al,x,u fria do roht np1
live Il manly life The sood simple heart is
clearly trying to balance its accounts before it
faces the great event which it feels to be not far
distant. AS 60 past him l see the face grow
quieter and ut last good Mr.. Williams, who
watched him to the end, tells me he put up his
one hand, gently closed his own eyes, and then
laid the hand across his breast and died.
That boy in the corner alone, suffers agony l
may not tell. All day long we hear hi cries Of
pain through all the length Of the boat; far into
the night the tide of anguish pours over him;
but at last the pain is all gone. and he calls one
of our number to him and says: L am going,
want you to please write a letter to my father
tell him owe such a man two dollars and half,
and such man owes me four dollars, and he
must draw my pay and keep it all himself Then
he lay silently fora little while, and as the nurse
wet his lips he said: Oh l should so like
drink out of my fathers well!' and in moment
he had gone where angels gather Immortality
NV ,fes fair stream. fast by the throne of God"
And all day long, with cooling water and soft
linen. with morses Of food and sips OF wine, with
words of cheer and tender pity to every one, and
most of all to those who were in the sorest need,
we tried to do some small service for those who
had done and suffered so much for us
These are long extracts, but they are more
profitable in these bright but bitter days Of early
Summer, when the murmur of distant battle is in
the air, than the talk of the easy chair would be.
The times have not occasioned more graphic
picture of the terrible episodes of war than the
story of this practical Christian who, like his
master goes about consoling the wounded and
the weary. The most tender and thoughtful
charity pervades the entire discourse. The rebels
in the PASTORS eyes, though they have slain his
friends and brothers for maintaining the laws OF
their country, which are the security OF liberty
and peace for all citizens, are still fellow men,
"Finally,n he says, IL came to feel a more tender
pity for the deluded men on the other side, and
q more unutterable hatred Of that vile thing that
has made them what they are. On all sides
found young men, with faces as sweet and In
cenious as the faces of our own children as open
10 sympathy. and, according 10 their light, as
ready to give all they had for their cause"
"How long did Adam remain in Paradise