Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1863-10-16
BArrLE-RrxLD INclDRNTss

DATTLE.FI1LD INC1DBNTos
From B. r. Taylor's lcttsrsto tho Chicago
Journal, from the Army of the Cumberland,
we make the following choice extracts:
= - =
The battle was over; the army sank upon
the threshold of the Sabbath, the weary to
sleep and the wounded to die" No camp
fires dotted the line with cheerful light, or
touched the woods with red. The air was
eager, and the night was full Of sounds sub
dued and strange. Occasionally rebel mus
ket walked up alcng the picket line figures
moved to and fro, turning up the pale faces
of the dead to the cold light. and bearing
away the wounded the great guns slept sui
lenly under tho moon. Long before dawn
the army gathered itself snugly up like an
athlete before the combat, closing to the left,
stiffening the snews, and making ready for
Sunday that must surely have slipped out
of its place in the book Of time beside the
Sunday at Waterloo. | wonder what you
were all doing, say at twelve, two, four o'clock
on that day. Were the girls singing in tho
choirs-did Dundee warble and :. Coro-
nation cxuit? Did good digestion wait
on appetite" and luxurious fare on both ?
And twa, better so better thai earth smoth-
cred in her bosom the throbbing thunder Of
the battle, that it should not break through
the blue curve that swept around Your calm
home Sabbath. But sure am thst thous-
and prayers went up that were nrvcr breath.
ed aloud, for the Army Of the Cumber.
land
l saw a fine boy last night, fair and deli
cate, somebody's hope and joy among tho
breezy hills OF iowa. He could not have
been seventeen. A bullet pierced his shoul-
der on Monday, and though at eight o'clock
he walked ten rods, at twelve he was dead.
There was a startled look in his eve. like that
Of wounded bird when taken IN the hunt
er's hand his features were delicate as
woman's; he opened his blue eyes widely,
with such stare as one thinks can !" see
hand ace cannot see, that bockons hin, away;"
spasm OF pain swept over his handsome
face and he was at rest Some girlish heart
will ache for the boy lover in his distant
grave. Some Rachel will not be comforted
because he is not Mr.. Hcaly, the artist, has
a picture that looks like that lad. It Is his
portrait Of Spanish boy, painted ever 40
long ago, by Velasqnez, il remember right.
As that young Castilian's great blue eyes look
through the centuries, so did my soldier
boys gaze turn up to the moonlight.
And dream tho dream through,
Iwant to record fact which, though not
new to you, it seems to me | should com,
NIT sin were to pass over in silence. III
anybody thinks that when our men are
stricken upon the field they All the air with
cries and groans, till it shivers with such ev.
idence of agony, he greatly errs. An arm
is shattered, a leg carried away, bullet
| pierces the breast, and the soldier sinks
down silently upon the ground, or creeps
away, it he can, without murmur or com.
plaint; falls as the sparrow falls, spcechlcss-
~, and like that sparrow, earnestly believe.
falls not without the Father The dying
horse gives out his fearful utterance Of al
most human suffering, but the lnangled rider
is dumb. The crash Of muskctry, the crack
Of rifles, the roar Of guns, the shrek Of
Shells the rebel whoop, the Federal cheer,
and that indescribable undcrtone of grind
ing, rumbing, splntering sound, make ua
the voices of the battlefield
AS beftting close to the rough work Of
the day, let ms take you, on that Sunday
evening, to the withered bower erected for
the rebel General Hindman. a still form is
lying there, that at four o'clock was instinct
with life and honor. 1t is all that is left, ex.
cept glorious memory, of Capt. w. q. Rus.
sell, Assistant Adjutaut General, on the staff
of General Gordon Granger. A youth Of
twenty tro, he possessed the stability and
sound Judgment of maturcr years |; mind
Of a high order, quick and comprehensive,
was tempered by heart fired with the mo-
! blest impulses, In the very tornado Of tho
battle, he was bearing nm order from his Gen
eral, and forgctful of all but the duty, took
the nearest route. the rebel storm unheeded,
and that route was through the gate of deatl,
there set wide open. He fell shot through
the heart, and the rideress and bleeding
horse brought the tdings Of his fate. And
there IN the withered bower lies the soldier
boy, the hero man. The General entcrs.--
F" Let me sec him again." he said they un-
covered the dead Captains face-thcrc is al
most smile on it-and there beside him, tho
sturdy General bows himself, and the rain
falls. lie was even as other men. The eyes
of the group that stood around grew dim, az
he talked to the dead youth as If it were not
the dull ear of death that his words fell on
At the end OF all that strife and rage, it was
a betitting wnerewith to end the day; it was
the one touch Of nature that makes tho
whole world kin" Good night, young Cap
tain Hail and farewell!
You remember, perhaps, that at Shiloh, a
white dove, bewildered by the thunder, flew
in and out amid the clouds of the battle, and
at last iluttered painting down upon the wheel
of gun. II was strange place for the EN-
blem of purity and peace it belonged to the
white flag and not to the red. An artillery
man captured it in his grimy hands, caress-
ed it a moment, and thought, perhaps, of
some nesting dove at home, freed it, and in
an instant it was lost in the storm. Not un.
like was an incident on the terrible Sunday.
Beside Col. Jacques, Of the 73d Illinois, rode
his son, lad Of IL, a bright, brave fellow
! who believed in his father and feared moth.
ing. Right up to the enemy, right up any.
where, If the father went, there rode the
boy. But when the bullets swept in sheets,
and grape and canister cut ragged roads
through the columns Of blue and FLASHED
them with red, the father bade the young or
derly back out of the frey gust. The little
fellow wheeled his horse aud made for the
hospital the hospital was captured and tho
boy prisoner. Poor little waif--fung oul
by the turbulent sea into hands Of the enc
my! know not that the boy has O moth
er, but If not, there are gentle, womanly
hearts enough in the land TO ache for the lit
tie prisoner, and to pray that tha slip Of q
boy may be set down safely again beside the
stout Colonel.
4 WE once saw n young man bravely turn
ing up. xass; he was true hearted Clio
rie OvONNNAAsuvS n S~sxiN =