Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1869-07-06
The Battle of Antietam.

On the recent Decoration Day Gen.
William S. King made an address at
Forest Hills. recounting vividly scenes
and incidents at the memorable bat
tie of Antietam in which he was a
valiant actor. We quote below some
of the more striking of these as we
find them in the Suffolk County Jour-
nal:
On lovely Sabbath morning in
September, while "the sound of the
church-going bell'' was calling Chris
tlans at home to wait upon God "in
places set apart for His worship" a
company Of Roxbury soldiers, in biv-
ouac upon a hill in Maryland, lifted
up their voices and "sang songs of
Zion in strange land" praising the
Lord God of Sabbath. But instead
of sound of Sabbath bell, the air was
resonant with the thunder of fierce
cannonade, which announced that a
battle had begun. The rattling drum.
call summoned the soldiers to their
color8; adOwn the hill they marched,
through the green fields, emerging up
on country road. Ambulance after
ambulance, slowl y driving along, drip
ping blood as they moved, met them
on their march. They heard the low
moan of the wounded racked by the
jolting of the carriage, and, looking
in, saw them lying helpless, MANNED
and bloody.
Onward they marched toward the
sound of the guns, and presently, f.
ling through a gateway, breasted the
rugged face of the South Mountain
Up, up the hill they toiIed, with one
hand holding their musket. and with
the other catching at the underbrush
to facilitate their ascent. As they
neared the point OF action the sad
trains of the wounded became more
numerous. Here, one poor fellow
with both his legs taken off by a can
non shot, one Of them dragging by
the mangled cords, is carried to the
rear by his comrades. Vain kind
ness Death has already set his seal
upon that pallid face and fast-glazing
eye. There, another with his under
jaw shot away and his tongue lolling
upon his neck. At every step they
stumble over the mangled dead
Fearful indication of what may be in
a few moments the fate of themselves
Painting and exhausted, they near
the disputed summit OF the hill and
enter the line OF fire. A cOmrade at
your side sinks, with slow and sicken-
ing motion, to the ground; you stooD
to raise him, but he aids you not you
question him, and he answers not: : he
is insensible, and while you look up
Oh him, he is dead-dead, without a
wore, without a grOan An officer OF
the command, with tears streaming
down his cheeks, says, Captain, 0,
look at my boys, they are dying all
around me p and, while speaking,
throws up both arms with a scream
j OF horror, and fails at your feet, dead.
Three balls have struck him simulta.
neously, and one has penetrated his
heart. As you walk along your own
line. round shot carries off the leg
of one Of your men. He falls to the
ground, and, holding up the lacerated
and bloody stump, cries to you, in ag-
, onized accents, 80, see this My
God. what shall | do 2" Your own
: heart is bleeding with grief beyond
expression; these boys have been en-
trusted to your care by loving wives
and sisters, and mothers, with theil
prayers and blessings, but you can dc
, nothing for them. You compress the
, shattered limb to arrest the bleeding
and console the young sufferer as best
you can, and turn to aid another
But all around you lie the dying and
the dead the carnage has been fear
ful
, Faint with hunger (for we have
s had no rations, and for week pas
: have known no other food than greer
corn and green apples let US go tC
some hospital in the rear, if perchance
: there may be found morsel of food
and cup of water. At every rod
Y as you walk through the wood where
e the fighting has been done, one STUN
;. bles over some poor wounded soldier
friend or foe, who has been left by
his comrades in their retreat or ad
: vance. In pitiful accents they cal
for water to assuage their burning
thirst, but seldom say word about
their wounded condition. With the
promise of sending speedy assistance
you proceed and arrive at an extern
|, porized hospital. Passing up th'
e short approach, you look upon sold
ier stretched on an amputating table
J. Immediately before you; you see thc
a shining steel pierce the quiverine
O flesh, you hear the quick, sharp rasp
/ ing Of the saw; a human leg falls up
i on the ground and is thrown upon ;
heap of other legs and arms, and thu
soldier is carried off crippled for life
:. Scattered through the garden are ma
, ny other tables, each with its superin
q cumbent sufferer; while the toil-worl
. surgeons labor through the long hours
, of the night, compelled to perform
f their operations "by the struggling
moon6eam's misty light, and the Ian
n tern dimly burning" Here is a ne
), gro hut, there a barn, there summer
! house, but the scene in each Is a rep
etition of the other; every where th'
surgeons keen blade and sharp-tooth
J. ed saw, and every where the suffer
4 ing soldier. The green-sward OF th,
0 enclosure is covered with the wound
1t ed, who are waiting to take thei
,e turn under the terrible knife.
O You enter the main building; stel
p cautiously and gently, for the foo
! and passages are covered with wound
s. ed. Everywhere the wounded F! Yo