Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1863-10-29


A correspondent Of the philadelphia
lngsirer gives the following description
'tfa viss 10 tbs old Bul! Rss battle
Geld
"Os Monday night ! vested with
part Of the army that pitched their tents
On the sectien Of the ola Bull Run bat
sic-6eld adjacent to the Wsrrepton pike.
A poet might find here in the sugges-
tive relics Of the deadly strife tho theme
OF an epic; or . painter might illus
tsa.s on canvas the horrors Of war from
the mcineutoes here left OF its ruthless
| work.
"Bulis,s are picked up aud exhibited
Nv the handful, and soldiers who partic-
ipated 10 the fray are comparing At the
same tine their gathered uementoes
and their personal recollectOns Of the
sloody field. In the long, Iuxnr'sn.
grass one strikes his foot tganrt skulls
and bones. mingled wth the deadly
missiles that brought them to tho earth.
Hollow skulls lie contiguous to bemis-
pheres OF exploded shells. The shallow
graves rise here and there above the
erase, sometimes in rows, sometimes
alone, or scattered st irregular intervals.
"Throvgh the th:n layer Of aoil that
hides the nameless hero Who gave his
lie for his country, one ices the pro.
trudlng ribs whence the rain has wash
ed their covering, = foot or an aim
reached out beyond its earthen bed +;
and once l saw one Of these long sleep
ers covered snuely up to the chin, but
with the entire lace exposed, and turned
up TO the pas.er by; one could imagine
him q soldier lying on the fed wrapped
up in hi. blanket, but that the blanket
was Of clay and the face was hesbiess
aud eyeless.
"ln one case . foot protruded, With
, the flesh stil partially preserved; IN
another an entire skeleton lay exposed
=. upon the surface without ary covering
whstever. The tatters Of what had
been his uniform showed that he bad
, been a cavalryman. The flesh was, Of
, course, decemposed; but the tanned and
shriveled skin still incased the bony
framework Of the body, aud even the
tiuger nails were in their places. The
l,gamen,s that Ias,en the joints must
, have been preserved, ior he WAS lifted
bv the be!t which was stili around the
6 waist, aud not bone fell out of it.
place.
"When found ho lay 10 the attitude o.
calm repose, like one who bad fallen
, asleep from wear;ne.s. This Was in The
camp Of the 9th Massachusetts, regiment
= He was buried. rs were many more thai
night who had waited a long fourteen
months for their funeral rites. In sact
the different pioneer corps were engaged
: for some time 10 paying this IL tribute
= 10 the gallant dead, whose fragmentary
remains were altered round GU,
camps.
"Ihe Pennsylvania Reserves bivou-
z acked for night on the ground where
u they themselves we're engaged Ia deadly
strife in the battle Ct fourteen month,
ego, and the skulls and bones of some 0
their former companions in arms Ivy
around WITHIN the light 1T their cauF
i fires. 1t may even have happened thai
{ mex pitched their tents over the gray.
Of los, comrs!e, and aga.n unwittlngly
rested under the same shelter with on.
:. who had often before shared their coucl
y on the tented fed.
. "A scl1ics OF the First Regiment
: struck his foot against a ea,trdge-box
. near his tom, and. picking it up, reac
on il the ha.ne Of an cid as-ocia'e VIII,
had been among The missing, and who's.
I" dra.t wAs ouly known from bis pro
e To-, cd abseace. His resting place hat
i at length been fould. Tor near the boa
was u small mound of earth that doubt
less contained his Wondering homes.
"An officer Of my acquaintance rec
ognized the spot where hi. tent was 10
Gated as one rear which he was severei )
wounded and where he lay through .
= long weary night by the side Of a dead
Captain. The painful reminiscences
= which the place called up, rendered il
anything but an agreeable camping
ground 10 him."
l.