Weekly Trinity journal. [volume] (Weaverville, Calif.) 1857-1972, 1865-07-22

AFTER THE BATTLE OF FAIR OAKs.-A cores
pondent in the East gives {. graphic account in
the way of rcmnisconce, Of the terrible scenes
that transpired after the famous battle of Fair
Oaks:
Three weeks or more we stand in bvOuac on
the spot where had our little battle. for little
enough il had been in our case, although Sntf-
ciently terrihlcon he left where as we presently
learned the fight had ragged with nIurderous fury
all day Had we suffered great dsaster. or
won ii great victory? Both. Certain it is the
two corps Of our army which had crossed the
Chickahomny most narrowly escaped destruction
that morning. Was their rescue the glorious
victory that our GeneIals and the enemys de-
serter- (backed, of course, by that ilustrious
trio the intelligent contraband, the reliable gen
tlcman and the rebel surgeon told us? We
pawns thanked heaved for our great deliverance,
aud ncontnently wrote off, in the rain between
hurials ard trench-digging. such Dragging ac-
counts of the affair aud our several parts in it,,
individually and regimentally, as my pen even
now bushes 10 think of: and oh the sights and
smells of that week. \ camp-grouEd trodden
hard. and then so lked with the blood of men
and horses till it was stained TO dull red. in
ciots the bodies Of thousands of men half
buried other 10 lies in the neutral space beyond
our lines, not buried at all but rotting in the
damp heat torn clothing, old knapSacks, ADAM
ioncd litter of all kinds, the cnrcasses OF horses
half buried in huge piles, and then half covered
with the soggy earth and such stencil Twas
enough TO vomit yulture And yet, in this
sinking hell our soldiers lived, ate, slept and
dug for weeks. Pah The very Whit of recol-
lection chohes me.
Here the yellow demon Of malaria joined orr
bivouac What with the smell and the rotting
bodies of men and horses. and the decaying
mass OF leaves and camp-rnb5ish. and the gen
eral decomposition in the damp heat of every
thing decomposable and the poison absorbed by
the pools of nasty. filthy water we were compell-
ed to drink and use for cooking-men eyes
turned gamboge, and their skins became livid,
and their flesh shrank as if from contact with
such an atmosphere, and their bones ached, and
by tens and twenties and hundreds, and thou
sands the strongest of us gave way, fairly broken
hown bv this demon. He is a demon of many
nicknarnes Some call him Cholera, others Vel
low Fever in the East he trades rs the Plague,
in the West as Shakes to us he came under the
innocent names of DiarrhTa and Camp Fever,
Jaundice and Typhoid. And he had his hands
full What though drank commissary whis-
ky till were half drunk. or swallowed quinine
till our heads buzzed agan--what could ''an,i-
fogmatics " do while absorbed the terrible
poison with every respiration Thehving rotted
faster than the dead The dead multiplied like
white mice.
Mems minds too festcred with their bodies
Stragglers loaed to the rear and cncamped in
pairs or squads on their own hook officers saw
them. but took no note, or cursed teeblv. or pre-
tended to do something. The once jolly mess
tables that used to ring with jests and laughter.
and shine with wit and good humor. now heard
only the low, pcevsh grow that resoundrd thro
that camp. \ poisoned army lying still in camp
has about as much aordie you may find in Il
sheep-fold.