The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1863-07-22

War-SicIScning Sights-EfSect of shot
and dShell-Terrific slaughter.
The following account of the appearance
of the Gettysburg battlefield from cor
respondent of the New York Herald, will
be perused with deep interest;
GETTYSBURG, Pa, July ), 1863
To-day | have passed from end to end of
the whole ground where the lines of battle
were drawn. The place bears evidence OF
having been the scene of a fierce struggle.
The shocks of those two masses of humanity
surging and resurging the one against the
other, could hardly pass without leaving
their traces in fearful characters.
FROM THE TOWN TO THE BArrLE-FIELD.
Passing out of Gettysburg by the Balti-
more turnpike, we come III few steps to
the entrance of the cemetery. Little of
the incoSure remains save the wicker gate
way, from which the gates have been torn.
The neat wooden fence, first thrown down
to facilitate the movements of our artillery,
became absorbed for fuel, and in various
other Ills as, as the soldiers made their camp
on the spot. A few paliugs scattered care
lessly around are all that remain. The Gem
etery was such as is usually to be found
near thrifty towns of the size of Gettysburg.
None of the monuments and adornings were
highly expensive, though all were neat,
and many of them bordered on the costly.
The place was kept with considerable care,
as is evidenced by the few traces of horti-
culture that remain. The eye is arrested
by notice prominently posted, torbiddng
the destruction by mutilatiOn Of any shrub,
tree or stone about the place, under severe
penalties. The defiance that war makes
against the civil law, and the overthrow of
many of sOciety's customs, is iOrcibly ap-
parent as one peruses those warning lines.
TRACES OF THE STRUGGLE AT THE CEMETERY.
Monuments and headstones lie here and
there overturned. Graves once carefully
tended by some loving hand, have been
trampled by horses feet until the vestigcs
of verdure have disappeared. The neat and
well trained shrubbcry has vanished, or is
but a broken and withered mass of tangled
brushwood. On one grave lies a dead ar
tillery horse, fast decOmposing under the
July sun On another lie the torn garments
of some wounded soldier, stained and sat
urated with his blood.
THE BATH TTE-GRoUNp BEFORE Us.
From the summit of the hill large pOr-
ton of the battle-ground is spread out be-
fore the spectator. In front aud at his feet
lies the town of Gettysburg, containing in
quiet times a population of four or five
thousand souls. 1t is not more than a hun
dred yards to the houses in the edge of the
village where the contest with the rebel
sharpshooters took place. To the left Of
the town stretches long valley, bounded
on each side bya gently sloping ridge. The
crest of each ridge is distant q good three
fourthS of mile or more from the other.
1t was on these ridges that the lines of bat
tie on the second and third days were
formed, the rebel line being on the ridge to
the westward. The one stretching directly
from our left hand, and occupied by our
own men has but little timber upon it, while
that held by the rebels can boast of several
groves of greater or less extent In one of
these the Pennsylvania College is embow-
cred, while in another is seen the Theolog-
ical Seminary. Half way between the
ridges are the ruins of large brick build
ing burned during the engagement, and
dotted about here and there are various
brick and frame structures. Two miles at
our left hand rises n sharp pointed eleva-
tion, known to the inhabitants of the region
as Round Hill. Its sides are wooded, and
the forest stretches from its base across the
valley to the crest Of the western ridge,
THE VALLEY BETWEEN THE RIDGES.
1t must not be supposed that the space
between the ridges is an oven plain, shaven
with the scythe and leveled by the roller.
1t rises and falls gently and with little reg
ularity, but in no place is it steep of ascent.
Were it not for its uniformity and for the
occasional sprinllling of trees over its sur
face, it could be compared to patch of
rolling prairie in miniature. To the south
west of the further ridge is seen the mount
ain region of Western Maryland, behind
which the rebels had their line Of retreat.
1t is not wild, rough mass of mountains,
but a region of hills of the larger and more
inaccessible sort. They are traverSed by
roads only N few localities. and their pas
sage, except through the gaps, is difficult for
a single team and impossible for an army.
THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
Spoken of above, was one of the spots
around which the battle ragged. Beyond it
was where the First and Eleventh Corps
contended with Ewell and Longstrcet on
the first day Of the engagement. After
ward, finding that the rebels were too strong
for them, they fell back and took up new
position including this building in the line |
Here the loss was very heavy, and the |
seminary shows tho fearful nature or the |
struggle. It's walls are perforated with /!
shot and shell, and the bricks are indented /
by numerous bullet marks. It's windows |.
show the effects of the musketry, and but /
little glass remains to shut out the cold and |
rain. The building is now in use accord |
ing to its original design, but is occupied /
as hospital by the rebels. From n school |
for the education of ministers of the Gospel .
to receptacle ofrebel wounded is a change .
indeed. The Pennsylvania College has been |
similarly occupied, and the instruction of .
the students is neglected for the present. |
POSITION OF \ BATTERY.
In passing from the cemetery along the .
crest of the ridge where our line of battle .
stood, | first came upon the position oc-
cupied by some of the batteries. This is
shown by the numerous horses lying nm
buried, and by the large mounds which
mark where others have been slightly COW
cred up. There are additional traces of
an artillery fight. Here is broken wheel
of gun carriage, an exploded caisSon, a
handsplke and the numerous peculiarly |
colored paper covers that accompany fixed
ammunition. In the forks of IA tree found
a testament, with the name " Charles Dur
rale Company G, written on the fly leaf. The
guns and the gunners have disappeared.
Some of the latter are now with the column
moving in pursuit of the enemy others are
suffering in the hospitals, and still others are .
resting where the bugle's revelle shall |.
never awake them.
DEFENsEs by THE ROADSIDE.
Between the cemetery and the town, and
at the foot of the ridge where ! stand runs
the road leading to Emmetsburg. 1t is not
a turnpike, but common dirt road, and as