The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1864-08-10
SCENES ATT FLAG or rsUc..
IN THE TRENCHES.
Near Petersburg, Va, Aug. 4, 1861
To The Editor of the Riehaomd Dispatch :.

i Will 1iOJ uDUtItakt ~
tion of that days perioi maaees bnt If you
de, IN these scraps from my no. e-book OF
any interest to Yourself or ielaeTs, they are
res q ctfuily submitted. Eiriy yesterday
morning Monday a truce "as granted the
Yankees for the purpose OF bcry!ng their
dead, who were lying jnlt In mont Of our
works in heaps; and already t1e fumes from
their black and swollen corpses vera render
ing our position almost "untenabl1"--more
so by lar than c1uld their artillery and
Mimic muske;s Accordingly, at ) a. NJ
firing alopg the lines was suspended, and
operations began. Curioeity caused the
men of b0tu sides 10 cluster Gu their
respective sides OF tue ha5, and
officers and incn who had 50 long ep
posed each other at more respectful dis
taDces were brought face TO face and side by
side in front Of the yeafAlag cha'n, which
had proved fatal 10 u few OF our noble boys
This crater now ia the resting place OF u
large number of Yankees black and white
and is, to all Appearances, nearly as before
the explosion, having been filled up and lev
eiled. The \ iDkeCS who were Killed within
Our lines, or rather 30 the rsa~ OF our In "a,
are buried together in q raFinc, aud their
'graves occupy very 1nsaerab.e space OF
ground. iheir total uumbeT of killed, black
and white, will foot up between 7t9 and 500
After carefully examining with a sick heart
this uphtaved .ancral pyrc 0i our brave boys,
/ crossed TO the front. and though | have
seen many OF our battle fields, never did
| wtItess such horribly sickcnng sight.
From the top Of cur works iOr a
very considerable dis anCe, lay the swollen,
black, Gnd plkril masses OF who were hut
few hours before Union soldiers. In many
places tha bodies were lying across eacn
other, negro ana white barely diotingnisia
bic save oy their uniforms aud hair. In
one place noticed the unGisiakable wool at
tached TO one rotting corpse resting across
another wearing q Captains unitvrID, who
hal Owned large sandy beard. Amongst
taese Corpses there were some six or eignt
Of our own gallant Soutnernera, who had
been thrown over by the expo: n. The
fl ~, rs is the custom, was planted midway
bIween the opposing lines, ard officers y
all gradee, and men. walk d freely about on
their resbectiv; Sides aud VIC were glad IL
see That many CT our OH eeI5 leiuscd to en-
courage that impudent commune ,tivc irai
which the Yankees tndeavored as usual 10
display. noticed particularly one Yankee
Maj Or who exertcd himself specially to be
come most familiar with an artillery Mej ii
OF our army. BY way Il Initiating himself
into the good gr.cts Of our rebel Maj II, and
proving that he wisued to be n st friendly,
Ihs Yankee drew from under his coat u bot
tie marked "cognac," 1T the SAINT time tap
oinf- his new ac4asiniainCa Familiarity Oh
:he siio 1ldcr, When tle following dialogue
p ens1ed
Yankee Major-"t say. Major. he1o i:
something 'extray gu>sa we can take /
friendly GsJJt
Rebe! NJ; ;or.~-..J atn obliged to you sir
but l can 40 take d friendly nip win y~n.
Yauk.-" Oh, bsliaw, MAJOR, lay aside y III
predudices; assure you its prime good
.Reu.--"l do not 0on6t il III TIE least, bui
do not wish to (irinG with you, Sir"
YAnE.-" Wei, nJw, Igj II, guess # you
and me had The eettleLrent III y - val We
could soon step aside md Layo the thing al
right, with the dice"
Rcb.--"4 shou,:t not "a satisfied, Sir, IL
rest the i2;e sf the C3nied4rsci- apen 'h' AZ
chance OF the dice. prefer lie -, Ne 9
settlement gee haze seen III TO air.,t-,ba
Of fighting it CUt." 'i'S''
1ank.-" @uszs u j,r, You fi!ows went
on The principit OF not shooting a ,vhiic
man #hcn you e3a!d Aili niger !eytn
h@p;-- leu are muci raiatakeu-wc n
most Try Wilea wG gei Ne black an y:nif,s
together 10 h.li the whites aut cA,es H.
negroes" "a
fanF;--." Well, nov, hold that a white
man IS better thaa niger"
Ken. 10 do wc, Sir; but it depguds alto
setner uP0D .F't0 The a>lQs 3tt4 is 'rn,usb
it seems that you r,'g.rt hen ali alike"
1ank.. Changing the sui 1tc: )-"Maiar.
guefs some OF your i,itndo wuuld like
mp went you ask them up
Reb.-"fha you, Major, If [ sec aoy
one hunting ior hqasr III send him up.|
and, touching his cap respectable. our rrh.l
mi Sed i'll with the crowd noticed a regu.
4 specimen OF a Ncw Yurl1 upstart siri.lino
aooUt, over the ti2id5 with stage stride,
hands ramme1 dow0 in IN. p1ckots OF his
ioose shck. Ills uniform CeuOtSi The SUI
sto1. Stepping to o coarse looking major
- blue, he bawled out, ,"Ah, re'cher, my boy,
how d &c do:" His mlnner was 50 New
I orky and disgusting that did not think i,
At all probable anything good could en.a
nate ir-m his bralniess skuil; 50 | Moved
ar Near thasf!ag stood particularly in
erestio.g group, evidently done upd for
nsrec n. asked who these animals
were, and ascertained that the one on The
eit, a Lttle, etil, dried up man, in Il |
arSe blue sack, with Struggling hair,
s'"ut The coior oha rotten gope, AMI eyes
'oJat ihe tolcr OF spolit oysters, Wss |
dot efai WL!tt, the same WHO surreu- |
ioiea harper FaFry To us on IL certain &C |
; 'sion-so the la1kes6 told me. Ts lis |
light stood, looking az though it was ;hc !
aston OF one ot his famous natiuee enter |
AIN mont, tnc former dancing master, now /
fensrai ferrero. lis foniuess for dress has
lot i"rsaken him, for he looked as nice 80 8
riZz headed BDwery boy. The time is
ut far distant. | hope, when he may b.
allied upon TO "trip it on the light fantastic
oe" to the rear, 10 the music OF our guns |
'ext him stood tall, lean, c4davercu, mas,
Sho res, mbled an os:entatiuu3 tombstone, |
ct NJ by some otttcted wife SIX weeks be-
1re her second marriage in meInary OF her
epaited first. He wore his wAi5ter5 u Ia
cut close, as was bis hair. Ills
ys were CT that peculiar color which it Is |
impossible To des sccibc But | oEce saw
a!uahle dog which was beng prlctic d on by
n optician lor disease called the hooks"
lis eyos closely resembled those OF this
'eneral Potter. They we're truly the meau.
st, most eneaking eyes | have ever seen;
nd mouth which rtaemblei an opening
0 sepuichre, were the only features wor-
by Of note. How proud il made me feel to
urn my head towards our own work, or
he frank, open c)untenancos of cur own
i'll, Johnson. Mshone, and Saund-rs, SO
lainly dresst that it woult have been im-
ossiblo TO have recognized them but for
leir bearing. Bnt enough; Ige written
ior e than you care TO read, much less pub
sh. Yours, KEY
How REsagYE TRooPs FIGHr The orgla-