The daily Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863, 1862-11-10
OLE q ally auurna(.
A wife on the Battlefield.

anxious thoughts which torture the mind
of an observer during the progress of
battle, and narrates but one of the many
narrowing scenes of war, which, if de-
scribed, would seem stranger than fc-
ton:
"Oh my friend how can tell you of
the tortures that have nearly crazed me
for the last three daysl Pen is power
less to trace, words weak to convey, one
title of the misery | have endured. l
thought myself strong before. | have
seen so much of suffering that thought
my nerves had grown steady, and /
could bear anything; but to-day l am
weak and trembling like frightened
child
But do not wonder at it. Ny dear
husband lies beside me, wounded unto
death perhaps l have lost all hope of
saving him, though thank God for the
privilege of being this moment beside
him. And besides this, all around me
the sufferers lie moaning in agony
There has been little time to tend them,
poor fellows True, the surgeons are
busy all the time, but all the wounded
have not yet been brought in, and it
seems as if the time will never come
when our brave men shall have been
made as comfortable as circumstances
may permit It. is awful to look around
me- / can see every imaginable form of
suffering, and yet am helpless to aid
them any of consequence.
"Since night before last / have not
left my husbands side for moment,
except to get such things as l required,
or to hand some poor fellow a cup of
water Even as l write my heart throbs
achingly to hear the deep groans and
sharp cries about me- f. is sleeping,
but 1 dare not close my eyes, lest he
should die while l sleep. And it is to
keep awake, and in a manner relieve my
overburdened heart, that | am writing to
you now under such sad auspices
On the morning of the Sd instant the
fight began. The attack was made on
Gen. McArthur's division, and we could
plainly hear the roll of the artillery here,
as it was about two miles and half dis
lance only from this place. Oh, the
fearful agony of that awful, awful day!
had seen f. moment early in the
morning, but it was only a moment,
when he babe me goodbye, saying hur-
ridly as he tore himself away: Pray
for me, my wife; and, if fall God pro-
tect you'll" There was something in his
look and tone which struck a chill to my
heart, and every moment after | knew
the fight had begun, | felt as if he had
indeed fallen. / cannot tell how long it
was before | heard that Oglesby's brig
ade was engaged, but it seemed an age
to me. After that my agony was nearly
intolerable. | never had a thought of
T.. {, I Al 6
f. Then l got the word that he had
been holly pursued by the rebels and had
fallen back
Late in the afternoon l succeeded in
gaining a little ineligible information.
Poor Gen. Hackleman was shot through
the neck while giving command, and
fell mortally wounded He died between
ten and eleven clock the same night
l have since learned. Up to the time OF
receiving the wound he had acted with
the greatest bravery and enthusiasm
tempered by a GOODNESS that made every
action effective. When dusk at last put
an end to the first days conflict, l learn
ously wounded, but could gain no inteli
gence of my husband. | could not beal
the suspense. Dark as it was, and hope
l6SS DIS III st6UlCu W SedTCH lOT Lii LuGu
l started out to the battlefield.
ooh, hop shall describe the searcl
of that night 1t looked like madness
1t loas madness. But all night long
struggled amongst bleeding corpses, owe
dead horses, trampled limbs, shattered
artillery-every thing that goes to MAKE
up the horror of battlefield when the
conflict is over. They were removing
the wounded all night Oh, think hoy
awful to stumble over the dead and hea
the cries of the wounded and dying
alone, and in the nighttime. had t
start off alone, else they would not hav
let me gone.
As you may suppose, | could not fin
him, either amongst the living or tn
dead. But the next morning, just afte
sunrise, l came to little clump of tim
bers where horse had fallen-his hea
shot off and his body half covering
man whom l supposed dead. His fac
was to the ground, but as | stopped
look closer, perceived faint NOV,
ment of the body; then heard a fair
moan. | stopped and turned the fac
upward. The head and face were bot
covered with blood, but when l turned
to the light knew it in spite of its di
hguraton. Oh God, the agony OF th'
moment sickened me almost to suffoct
ton With strength L thought impo
sble in me, l drew him, crushed an
bleeding, from beneath the carcass ofor
poor old horse, whom we had both
loved and petted and dipping my ham
kerchiefin little pool ofwater among
the bushes, bathed his face and pressC
some moisture between his parche
swollen lips. He was utterly insensbl
and there was dreadful wound in h
head Both limbs were crushed hop
lessly beneath the horse He was ute
ly beyond the reach of human skill
save, but as soon as possible | had hi
conveyed to the hospital. l have nurs
him ever since, hopelessly and with
heart breaking with grief Oil he
many wives and mothers, are tod
mourning the dead and dying, even as
mourn my dying! He has not open
his eyes to look at or spoken to me sin
he fell OH could he but speak to l
once before he dies, should give hi
up with more resignation. But to