Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1864-09-30
[Corr. Of Springfield Rep 'iran.l
LIFE BEFORE PETERSBURG.
BEFORE PrrERsBrRG. SFrrfunrR l6.

LIFE BEFORE PETERSBURG.
BEFORE PETERSBURG. SEPrfNEER l6.
Life before Petersburg is by no means
monotonous. \ tour on picket, tour in the
trenches, a tour on fatigue. tour in camp.
has each its peculiar perils and excitement.
And what happens one day in either sphere
is by no means sure to be repeated on the
next
SHARP WORK AT TIE FRONT.
When last wrote Of our picket front,
Johnnies and Yanks were iraternizing good
naturedly, chatting and swapping IN practi-
cal armistice Now the whole line before
Us Is under continuous FIRE, and never word
passes from foe TO foe. The yidettes of the
two sides in their closely appr minated pits
10 not fire On each other. That would be-
too cold booded an affair, for Trey ara 3 Dee
more than good bayonet-thrus' 'faee aYart.
But the yldettes Of each SIDE ure fired at
from the main outer works U. lle .J.r.
that fire they return, and hriu- -su.
IRON main line to main line.
must keep themselves uui-s e.-r cover
nov. Il they lit head OF mu- .5.e ,.si.
low earth band, chew comes .-...- ia-t
them, or "chug,' it stops 10 -.eu Ilrir-
l. "a tiresome work Of peril by u'El- ard da.
daring all the twenty four --, @
-ureIirved round Two DAYS .-a l.s..s
90. tde lOth Connecticl, in .a. -.r
showed hl- head over its CREST -- .I i-
cyes bullet crasnei t5-e1
and hc it.I back, BLEEDING
lf- sole conrad 90 Pie 20. SILL. W
brave tr3 DARN. -..li
.H.r
.l .. r attempt o. ncar De- soa1.e3
u rear would ue .g- aiu Ie'l
..,r cIps could com, 20 nis relief.
Communication with even rlr company
c.mmauler was out Of the question. Inerr
was nothing for the lonely watcher 90 do
but o. wait And wait he did, uiuc weary.
irrarv hours. until the night .u- 40 with
ir- w,lc me cover. Cramrsl u taat close
r.tvril. tv the side Of his bleeding, moan
Iat. u,llE fellow, unable % DIT nimselt for
fl.i i-.su-.l lf posture, helpless t1 give or tl
ek l.la ur the sf,cchless -gfiarcr. in t.c
hcl, ot s pouring sun. and again in the an
nayHu-. % 3D. pouring ram. Dr." brushing t'c
1...- .rsm g., -puan.d, dist cured lac then
giving -csa. drops lt wafer O. sakr thr
v..u.. .l.-- DO tae --.icS, q u1e-ae passed
OIL .i. .. taa- gloomy div. long for
-u.lsu,-~, craving relief. IL Cd yod,
-.cy we're .ag u,urs, be- -aii. Aud -.yN
w..c.
sHARP-sHooTING.
som, may think that man might have
novel tla- daY from the yidettc rlts towards
tlr main lime. with a fair chau,e % escape
Blt tacv ior't know the truth. " " ,1e
-1t crown of .bs how bank before come If
those ui.- was actually cut down .r.u -.x ID
Twelve uc e- hy ride shot ul tHt busy
iay.-elpled away by repeated bullet d.
intended Tor the men It barely cueeai- p
The enemy had -harp-sl1,ters at WORK 'ic-
curate shooters too. Tie uitu from our
mann lime were hrIug through l-lc openings
iu the >aud-bag piles along .1e Ptr"le'-
Tie rcbels could not rec the men Iuey
could know only from the pud Ji smoAe
whence the shot proceeded Bat they
would reply with such deadly aim as to
send bullet after bullet directly through
those openings which were not larger than
ones hand. some Of these apertures were
50 enlarged by the many bullets striking
their edge, that they were abandoned Tor
others. When a man fired through one OF
them he must look through another II he
would note the effect of his shot. \ soldier
not long since. who. after firing, Looked
through the same hole to follow his shot,
had his head bored through by a return
bullet With such shooting 4 man could
not walk or even crawl fifty yards IN plaiu
Q sht on a sidehill with impunity. Not one
rifle alone, but hundreds wOUla be aimed at
him.
On one side Of single tree, aJ an expos,
portion Of our line, not lar from tie month
OF the exploded mine, an officer counted up
wards of 200 bullets buried Ia -le wood,
and it was thought that mors than twice
that number were in different parts Of the
same tree. There are places uear our works
in the focus Of the rebel fire, where pint
OF bullets can be picked up in few minutes
at any time. And as to old artillery am
munition from the other side-sllid shot and
unexploded shell-it might BE gathered by
the cartload The rebels would save all this n
they could CLEAN over the ground we occupy
for deserters tell Us that any Ot their men
picking up four unexploded Yankee shell
within their lines and carrying 10 the ord
nance officer receives days leave with a
pass % Petersburg. That salute over the
iali 1i Atlanta must have furnished them
quite a harvest.
The old Potomac report cannot be made
of the Petersburg front at the present time
Ii is not "all quiet along the lines" The
ring of the rifles echo in the evening air as
write, and the sound Of passing bullets is
even now IN my ears. This life Is not mon
otonous, nor yet is it attractive and restful.
But as the soldiers say, "lt's all in the three
wears" H. c. 7.