Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1863-09-03

knapsacks, clothing. hats, caps. cart
ridge boxes-knspsacks mildewed
mouldy-the names Of the owners al
obliterated, those who wore then
gone. most Of them to long and silenl
bones. How terrific the contes. in the
corn6eld beyond, when Klmball's brig
ade Of French's division charged. and,
amid the tall STALKS and ripening esrs
Of grain, piled the ground with heaps
Of dead. thrust through with the bayo-
netl Now the gentle breeze of the
morning rustles the bearded grain
sweet musiei tbs peaceful here to-
day. A stranger would hardly dis
cover that so terrible conflict bad
been wsged within a year. Time, sl-
though waster, is also q repsirer; il
be wounds he also heals.
THE BURNSIDE BRIDGE.
Passing through a gate crossing the
Boonsboro's and Sharpsburg pike, I
reached the road leading from Shsrps-
burg to the Burnside bridge. One
must see the ground to appreciate the
valor Of the troops. You see q bridge
twelve feet wide and one hundred and
fifty feet long. As you cross it from
the east you come against q bank so
steep that you can hardly climb it,
Oak trees shade 1t. At the top is
stone wall; midway upis an exesva-
ton where limestone has been qusrried,
and you stand By the wall and look
down a hundred feet into the river, so
near that you can toss pebble from
the wall into the water. Locate here
Rebels behind the rail fences, in the
excavation, behind the trees, behind
rocks. four pieces Of artillery, to rake
the bridge-sharpsbooters at the foot
Of the hill along the river bank, under
the willows, TO fire upon the flank Of au
advancing column. Away up on the
high hills beyond are the Rebel bat
teries in semi circle, pouring their fire
down into the valley. Yet against all
this the men Of Burnside force their
way over the bridge, up the hill. dri-
wing the Rebels from the oaks, from the
excavation, from the walls and the
fences--men; some Of whom like the
35th Massachusetts,, are but q month
from their farms and workshops!
/ walked all over the ground. ex-
aminiDg the positions. and wondered
that feeble force could accomplish so
much. l am not versed in military
science, and have only common sense
to guide me, but was not able 20 see
at the time of the battle, neither am /
able how to discover the value OF this
bridge, or the necessity Of carrying it.
The hills south of Sharpsburg COM
mand it. To make it Of any value
they must also be carried.
The second struggle was necessarily
harder than the first, and there we
failed. Burnside had no! men enough
to accomplish his object. He has been
blamed for not making the attack
earlierin the morning, but iu his testi-
nony before the Committee OF Con-
gress he testi6es that the attack was
made as soon as he received the order
--sbout half past 10, and that the
bridge was carried at O'Clock.
In the fields beyond the bridge, at
the foot of the slopes on which the
Rebel lines were concentrated, Burn.
side suffered severe loss. The dead
we're buried where they fell, the place
marked by the rude hesd-bosrds Of
their comrades; but the plow has
smoothed down all the hillocks, the
bead-boards were tossed aside, and
there is nothing to mark the places OF
burial but the deeper green Of the
growing corn.
So they sleep. Their work is done.
It was well done. They lived for q
purpose. Their works will follow
them. There will be peace at LAST
Then, when the last Rebel is subdued,
the last traitor apprehended, the world
will see, in the triumph Of right over
wrong. Of justice over injustice, OF
liberty, over despotism, in a 6rmer
Government, consolidated people, q
purified nation, that they died not in