Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1864-05-06
IRASBURGH, VERMONT FRIDAY, MAY g. 1864.

jessie, my dear enid, questioned th'
good woman who bad been waiting fot
her.
'Molher-I-am-his--' came il
reply through sobs Of great joy.
'WaIter's?
For life or death And mother
she had almost added kiss me, but an
others lips had already placed one upOr
her own that must linger there forever
The 2lst Of June-the day written az
with swords for pens and blood for ink
on the pages of our history-the terrible
battle of Bull Run had been fought--wor
and lost! The news flashed over th'
wires through the length and breadth o
the North, as if the electric fluid had sud
denly been tinged with hues incarnadine
'Who W as Fafe--who woundcd--wbC
dead P was the bitter cry on every lip
O, day Of fatal errors, unwavering cour.
age, almost matchless daring! But ye
who battled there living or dead, viii
never be forgotten, for
-"coming millions will glorious tribute
pay
Toyour dauntless, desperate courage on that
well-remembered day,
When the earth was crimson ruin and the sky
was rentin twain,
And the cannons poured destruction and the RI
nes deadly rain;
When hecatombs of noble hearts, as yotiye Of
fcrings given
Upon their country's altar, was accepted cen in
heayen;
When human life was trampled out upon the
CORY path,
And the God that watches battle seemed 70 turn
away in wrath;
Yes, when the snowy dove of peace the olive
branch shall bring,
When the sword is turned to ploughshare and
holy angels sing
Of earth redeemed from bloodshed, in every
land and cline,
Thy name shall be a wonder and glory for all
Time"
The company to which Walter Elmer
belonged had been foremost and in the
thickest of the charge upon masked
battery. Few, except their captain,
Edward Barber, had escaped. Though
wanting in many Of the attributes that
go to make up a good man he was nj
coward. A kind Providence seemed tC
have held shield between him and death
for where the shot ratified and shell hiss
ed-where the pistol bullets whistled and
the Mimic balls sang, he braved fate and
escaped unharmed. But it was not so
with the noble-hearted lover of Jessie
Avery. Struck down among the first
faint from the loss Of blood, and dying
with thirst, he had been literally tramped
into the bloody ground by those that
came after, and by those who retreated
in the causeless panic that put an end tc
the strife. And during the terrible night
that followed he lay there :! IF all OF
human agony can be condensed into few
brief hours, it was endured then and
there by those who had fallen. List ye
the story as It falls from the lips Of some
one you love, who was there, and learn,
if We have never learned before, how
much those who have battled for your
firesides and your homes, have endured
to keep them from the foot Of the inga-
der and the rule Of the oppressor.
The retreat checked--a brief armis'
tice established Captain Barber gather.
ed the scattered remnants of his COM
pany, and returned to the CORY field tc
succor such as might live--to bury those
whose spirit lips were answering the rol
call in a camp beyond the river that wash
es the shores both Of time and eternity.
Captain, here is Walt Elmer sale
one of the little squad of men, rs he
came suddenly upon him.
walter Elmerl | knew he was ii
the foremost rank. saw him fighting
like tiger. Go on with your search
men, will attend to him : and the Cap
tain knelt by the side of the almost
corpse.
water! for, Gods sake, water! came
in husky, curdling whisper from the lips
of the poor soldier.
yes, in a moment. The men are
bringing some now. Where are yoI
wounded? Let me see, Walt? and he
unbottoned the uniform TO search for th'
mark of the fatal bullet.
sDon't-don't' and the hands of Wal
ter Elmer were raised tremblingly, and
folded over his breast az if 70 forbid fur
ther investigation.
'Pshawl Walt, you are as delicate al
woman. Bat am not going to lei
YOU die So, and he removed the hands
and laid the fair breast open. we were
bows together, you know, Walt, and-my
God what is this ? and from over th,
feebly beating heart he tore a miniature
| and nnzed nnnn Il rs with the ewes OF