The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1863-07-25
Mltslellanp.
(Our War CorrespondenCe.)
A Soldiers Letter-No 80.
On THE MARCH, July 13, 1868

account of our proceeding here, is getting sadly
behind the time A laggish correspondent is the
last man to expect forgiveness. Neverthe less |
desire to 90 back, if the reader will go with me,
and commence where left off before.
1t was July third, the day of the severest
fighting at Gettysburg. Although we acted a
part there, our regiment was not engaged. Part
of our brigade was on the skirmish line where
there was some firing, but of comparatively
trhing Importance. Our position was on the ex
treme left, and as we acted on the defensive, we
had nothing to do unless attacked. 1t was hard
days fight. The cannons roar was beyond all
precedence of anything have heard during the
war. 1t fairly made the ground tremble lasting
with unabated fury for several hours. Of course
our eagerness to know how things were going on
was intense. Every straggler had his own story,
and each formed his own opinion from some tri-
fling circumstance that happened to come under
his own observation, making it extremely difficult
to form any conclusion as to the general result.
The officers continually represented things as fa-
vorable. They always do. Night closed the
struggle, and we lay down tolerabe sure that the
battle had not gone against US. Saturday, every
thing was quiet, scarcely shot being fired on
either side. Sunday morning the order came to
pack up for marching the rebels were falling
back. We fell into line and marched through a
short piece of woods on the battle field. This
part of the field was covered with jagged rocks
and huge broken stones of every conceivable
shape,--the ugliest looking place for battle, or
for anything else that one could easily select.
Over this forbidding looking ground, the rebels
had made several fruitless charges, and many of
their men, and ours too, fell here to rise more.
The most of these had been buried. Further
on through another belt of woods the dead were
still unburied. Here the troops halted for a short
tme,and those that wished to had an opportunity
OF looking over the field. | saw but small por-
ton of it, but saw all | wished to-. The rebel
dead and ours lay tbickly together, their thirst
for blood forever quenched. Their bodies were
eyes gared from their sockets, their tongues pro
truded from their mouths, and in almost every
case, clots of blood and mangled flesh showed how
thew had died, and rendered a sight ghasty be-
yond description. My God, could it be possible
that such were lively and active like other people
so shortly previous, with friends, parents, brothers
and sisters to lament their loss. 1t certainly was
so, but it was hard to realize it. | turned away
from the heart-sckening sight, willing to foregC
gratifying my curiosity rather than dwell upon The
horrors Of that battle field / thought | had be
come hardened to almost anything, but | canno
say ever wish to see another sight like that saw
on the battle field of Gettysburg.
There was rumor that the enemy were in
trenching themselves little further ahead. We
moved on formed in line, and speedily preparet
not needed. In short time we were ordered
forward. We undertook to move forward in lin
of battle, but the thing was beyond the range @
possibilities for softer mud never saw. The wa
lay through corn field, and to march across
was like walking in bed Of mortar hundred
feet deep. The mud would adhere to our feet un
til we were unable to walk. 1t would have beel
sorry undertaking for the rebels to have charged
our position across that field, and it would hav
been poor policy for us to have advanced upol
them had they been there. Nature never con
trived better slaughter pen.