The national Republican., 1862-07-22
THE WOUNDED ON OUR BATTLE
RIELDy.


THE WOUNDED ON our BATTLE
HIELDy
In our issus Of yesterday, We urged the No
osssity OF adopting some plan by which the
wounded on our battle fields oan be properly
cared for. The ambulances sre now brought
into requisitou, but without system; and II has
already happened that the drivers, having no
one TO control them, became alarmed ct the
poiss OF battle and the sight Of slaughter, and
panic stricken fed from the nsld; and in late
affair, drove Iuriousiy over the prostrats bodies
Of the brave men who had fallen, without heed.
Ing their groans and implorlng cries for help.
A correspondent Of the Cincinnati Tsmss thus
describes the condition Of the wounded after
the battle Of Pittsburg:
The horror Of horrors connected with this
battle 10 the treatment Of the wounded. In the
nEst place, there were poor facilities here for
treating them, and In the second place, there
were not n nth enough surgeons to attend
horrors on this point, but duty to our gallant
volunteers demands that the truth be told.
shall ut present relate only one fact. A large
number Of the wounded had orawled or been
sunday and Monday. skSo some found % the shelter
Of tents, but others lay out In the open air.
There those men lay, without . surgeon or
attendant, without q mouthful to eat or drink
until Wednesday morning. They groansd and
dead and the dying lay there together. On
Wednesday morning one surgeon was sent TO
them, and one attendant with hard crackers
and water! And that was their treatment until
they either died or were conveyed to one Of
the boats which presently came 10 the relief of
the wounded"
Another correspondent Of the New York
World, says Of the wounded, on the same
field, that
Several days will elspse before all the suf-
ferers are brought In, az they are scattered
over the woods for space Of Ave miles square.
Here, too, are presented the most awful spec
tacles OF human suffering which even the hor.
rors of battlefield can exhibit. The leaves
on the woods being dry On the first day, they
had caught nre in places from the csmp.nrss,
shells, and wadding, and had burned to death
such OF the men as had fallen unable to crawl
away. The piteeus grosns Of men Of both
to their black ened forms their hair and beard
singed to the head, the hands uplifted, rs II
shielding themselves from the stifing flames,
could be seen in several places. The rain OF
SUNDAY night, Monday, and Tuesday, had fallen
upon the writhing victims and beat out the
remnant of heeting life. The features Of the
men, blackened with powder and dirt, washed
into palld whiteness, their heads reclining Oh
tho dreAmless pillow OF mud, the exc cruciating
RrOAnB OF the wouuded, laid ~ hey were, In
groups, the mosns "f those III the deepest ago.
nies of pain, and the gisr.ng, staring eyes of
the dying, f"rmeo indeed, olB OF the most
touching, but terrible pictures Imaginable"
A correspondent OF the ST. Louis Republican
gives his testimony in the following words:
Wounded men, mangled horses,
crushed bodies, extended so interminably, II
WAS impossible to pass through them. and the
visitor w9u.a hnay BE- compelled to turn and
and covered II with pools Of water, and some.
times the wounded could be seen crawling on
the dead and lying there to keep of from the
damp earth. Many had died in that position,
and not few of the deaths were caused BY
exposure. Numbers were drowned by be.
ing unable to crawl away from the positions
where they had fallen. and in which the water
rapidly colieo.sd.n Days passed
death had outstripped the physicians, and WAS
coming TO their relief Certainly a greater
sosne Of widespread misery never existed"
Still another correspondent, looking over the
same field ,oeek after The battle, says:
MANY Of the wounded are not yet fully
cared for. They are lying about In tents, upon
straw, with no nourishment, and exposed TO
the weather. An intelligent ofacsr, who wit.
messed these horrible scenes. sat down and
Wcpt HAo CHuus
writer for the Philadelphia Prsss, at Fort
Douelson, in relating the scenes be witnessed,
gives US this view Of the wounded there:
80 Another circumstance, which, whether
owing to mismanxgenent or negligence, or
want Of material and men, is unutterabIy
melancholy, wss tho want OF medical attend.
ance. l stumbled into y tent not hfty yards
from the hospital, where lay one Of the rebel
wounded, young man apparently not over
eighteen years Of age, who said he had re-
csived no attention for two days. except what
csuld administer.
ION TIE evening OF the battle directly 10 the
pathway, lying In the mud, with nothing but
blanket beneath him, and surrounded by cv.
rious lockers on, WAS n Confederate officer,
groaning and apparently dying. Two or three
hours afterwards, the scene was being enacted.
] related these circumstances to one of the
surgeons, who told me that all WAS disorder
zation or system"
OF the wounded 10 the recent battles before
Richmond, We have similar accounts. The cor.
respondent Of the Philadelphis Press Gays:
"1i n soldier WAS wounded in such way that
he could not walk, there being no ambulsnces
to remove any wounded men, he of course fell
into the hands OF the enemy"
Another writer, speaking Of the retreat of
Mcclellan from Savage's Station, says:
The wounded were told nothing, but the
silence was ominOus to them, as 1t foretold them
they would be left on the contested ground,
In the hands OF hsartlssa traitors. Perhaps u
thousand and more wounded we're left In the
hospital At Savage's Station, and these soon OK.
perienced N second time the bloody greeting Of
the enemy. Some Of the wounded hobbed ten
miles the first day, upon crutohes, and one
the other ankle broken who kept up with An
ammnnition wagon through eleven hours. The
ambulances were crowded with men until the
springs bent hat upon the xxles, and \ very
common matter to soc was several wounded
men stth'S in the tail tho wagon with bloody
ieet dripping upon the steps,"
After the battle of savage's, the wounded
had ugain TO BIZ left behind, as our army had
no means OF transportation for them, and the
-xigency ci the army would not allow of ,,elsv
in waiting the tsrdy movements Of the woupdsd
These poor fellows were expected to walk for
miles and miles from the battle field, after they
had been 6ghing for hours aud were wounded,
We stated yesterday, that after the battle of
the Chickahominy, u report was published In
the New York Express that our wounded had
been laying from Saturday 10 Thursday Oh the
L. H., 1 n =