Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1868-09-24
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Written for the Yorkyille Enquirer.
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BY ]. wITHERsPooN ERWIN. a
ra. CHAPTER XII.
The fight was now oYer, and the enemy had bee
driven from the feld, which was left to compare
tive silence. The sun had set, and one by one tn
stars came ont overhead, shining as they shone o.
the plains of Bethlehem, when the glad throng o
angels sung their sweet song Of peace on earth ant
good will to men. ,a......-a .-a.. .~
The silence Of the field was only comparative
The booming of the guns, the rattle Of musketry
the ringing of steel and the shouts of the combat
ants, were no longer heard but their stsad feeb
and plaintive cries, calling for water water 7
smote upon the ear, and there were cries OF dis
tress and groans ofagony that rent the heart Th'
glory and sublimity of the battle had passed away
and only the horrors of the conflict and the revolt
ing sights that attend every heroic struggle of war
were left in its track, to appeal to Heaven sgains
the wickedness Of earth. Here and there, along
the hood-sprinkled slopes of the hills, and in the
sombre darkness of the wood, flashed the torches
and lanterns of those who had come to aid the
wounded, or cover up the dead. The light fell moi
upon stretchers and ambulances alone. Its CLEANS
were gGnted back from picks and spades, with
cold and ghastly reflection, that saddened the eye
and sickened the heart One could but think OF
the homes, far away from the green bills OF Yer
mont to the sunny sayannahs Of the far South,
whose treasured ones were now about to be rudely
shoveled away in hslfdug graves, that the summer
rains would bring back to the light OF day, IN al
the hideousuess of decay and corruption. The
youthful head of some favorite son and brother,
for which the dowDy pillow was scarcely deemed
soft enough, and which the soft hand Of affection
could scarcely touch too lovingly and caressingly,
with stony eyes would seem to stare up at the un-
sympathizing faces, that huriedly: flung it down
into the hastily dug grave, With no thought, no
care but to tumble the clods upon it as speedily as
possible, and leave it to forgetfuness Thousands
of such unknown and unnoted graves have been
sought form vain..- Whea thestars are out in the
sky, Night, in her broad mantle of gloom, bends
down over them and weeps her tears, where the
tears of mother or sister shall never fall and
though the hand of affection may not plant i'm
mortelles or hang garlands upon those forgotten
graves yet Spring forgets not to hallow the spot,
and adorn the resting places of the unknown and
unnoted dead, with the wildwood flowers that her
hand scatters, lovingly and bountifully, over these
forgotten and obiterated graves. .......
Brack, it will be remembered, had been LETT, by
the lieutenant of artillery, to keep watch over
the body of Victor Garnet, and see that it was
conveyed to the ctyand laid deceutly away in some
respectable buryiDg ground, where fitting memo
rial might tell that he had lived and that he had
passed away. 1t was last act of charity to the
youth, who had won his friendship, to give him
some record on earth to show that ne had not
passed from the theatre of action like the brute,
leaving no trace behind him-no memorial to show
that he was loved in life and regretted IN death.
Oh those nameless graves! What tale they
tell of human life, with its love and friendship
traced in sand.
The last gun of the battery had scarcely been
hidden from sight by the foliage of the green pines,
among which the road wound, when Brack's ears
were pained by the cries Of a poor sufferer, not
many rods off, piteously appealing for draught
of water. Brack was a friendly soul, whose heart
was ever readily moved to pity and compassion
Though destitute of frmness and stability Of pur-
pose he yet was not being to disregard an ap-
peal for succor. He would have ventured much,
and at any time have put himsefto no little trouble
and pains, to do kind act, to even stranger, re-
curing his services BE would have let the weeds
choke up his own garden, while he would labor
with uncalcuating zeal in beautifying the grounds
of his neighbor. .....
The CRY was scarcely repeated, when Brack rose
from his seat by the body, which he had been lett
to guard, and with hesitating and doubtful step,
as if he was halfconscious that he was deserting
trust advanced to the spot from which the cries Of
the wounded sufferer had come. 1t was poor
soldier, badly mangled by shot through the body,
and when once at his side, Braeks sympathies
were most painfully and actively excited. He hur.
ried to the stream on which the right OF the enc
my had rested during the greater part OF the hight,
and filling up his canteen, set out to relieve the
consuming thirst of the wounded man. On his
return, his route lay among scores of the wounded
and diving, and so many piteous appeals for water
assailed his ears, and so many wistful eyes were
turned imploringly upon him, that he must have
been made of stern material indeed, could he have
passed by the wretched sufferers without pausine
to give all the relief in his power. His canteer
was soon emptied, and gathering number from
the field, he again returned to the brook fora more
bountiful supply. Nearly an hour passed before
he found an opportunity to return to the sufferer
who had first entreated his aid, and having sup
pHed him with draught of cooling water, ant
pillowed his head upon his folded blanket, Bracl
would have returned to guard the body left to hi
care, but the dying man entreated him, in accent
so imploring and earnest, to remain by his side
that Brack had not the heart to leave him to gasl
out the remnant of his minutes alone Inhis dreat
of being left alone, the dying man had graspet
Brack's hand, nervously and apprehensively, II
both his own, and Brack, though longing to return
to his post had not the 6rmness to tear himsel
away. Twilight had deepened into darkness, ant
a fatigue party, lighting up the dismal scene will
lanterns and torches, were busy with their impe
ments in preparing to bury the dead. Here ant
there, other parties accompanied by surgeons, wer
picking their way over the battlefield and bearing
off those whose wounds admittedof their removal
The dying long for sympathy. Even in the mos
lonely and untrodden wilderness, the living ar
never cut off utterly from human sympathies ant
hopes. Beyond the wilderness that surround
them, and through which they are cropping thei
way, lie human habitations where they may agai'