Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1871-02-24

d serve, about two hundred yards apart
in such positions as would enable
l. them TO watch the roads and fields
without being seen. From the reserve
one soldier was sent hundred yards
to the front, and another the same dis
tance in the rear. We had no axes
but built rude barricade of rails and
| brush across the road, that 1t might
annoy an enemy in the night.
Late in the aft-rnoon 1 visited all
the posts, and cautioned the menMto
keep a sharp lookout and to exffh-
guish all fires before sundoWns In
case of an attack, they were TO deploy
at once, taking advantage Of all shell
ter, and not to fail back till their re-
sistance would be useless and then to
keep within supporting distance OF
each other. Should I have occasion 10
visit them in the night, would first
signal by twice clapplng my hands.
The Division Officer of the Day-a
Major radiant. in a uniform fresh from
some suffers stock-visited the posts,
and instructed them in the details of
Vidette and outpost duty. Particular
" did he charge them to make, all
mounted men dismount before ap-
preaching to be recognized. Said the
Major, ''Should General Grant himself
come out here, make him dismOunt
before approaching within ten yards. y
Just after sundoWn we heard a shot
in front; then several more in quick
/
ming down the road, idOdging behind
the trees, closely pursued by a party
of gray-cOated cav a4ry-men, who we're
cracking away at him with revo1vefs.-
The men were promptly behind the
little breastWork, and part Of them
sent a volley which caused the cavalry
to wheel and gallop out of range. The
| Vidette remained with the reserve till
dark, when he was sent forward ano
posted behind a tall stump. II
A 4
and the rain fell in torrents. The
darkness was so dense that nothing
could be. seen-not even, the shadows
i of the trees overhead. Grouped to-
gether behind our baFFieade, we stood
for two long hours trying to shelter
| ourselves with rubber blankets, and
eagerly listening for the warning mus
ket-shot of the Videgtes. Freqnent,
binding flashes of lightning would
come, showing, for a second, every
thing around with blue glare only
/ to make dark ness seem blaelztsr than
ever. At about 9 O'Clock the rain
ceased, and part of the men lay down
/ to sleep. Their rest was of short dura-
ton. One of the picketss on the. rig t.
/ hearing a noise in the bushes, eha1=
Ienged and was answered by a shot.
He Instantly fired at the flash, and his
comrades on post fired with him. The
crashing in the bushes increased, and
/ the sound of footsteps could be plainly |
I heard. Any noise at such a time and |
place always seems close at hand
Several others challenged and fired, |
thus revealing the position Of nearly |
half the posts. The vidette on the /
road in front, nervous from the nrst |
attack, and scared by the thunder and |
lightning, imagined that he saw some
thing, and fired with the rest, and |
then rushed back to the reserve.
In the midst of all this trouble, the
COW, who had been brought along, be-
came demoralized, and breaking from
her fastenings, rushed off through the
woods and was irFeVOeably lost. With
her vanished all our pleasant antieipa-
tions of fresh milk, and ten yards of
new rope. She had never fancied me, /
and few hours previous had kicked
me fat, when attempted to milk her.
Yet mOurned her loss.
A few minutes later we heard the
clatter of a horse's hoOfs and the jing-
ling of a saber, coming in the rear
Then the VideGte challenged sharply,z
'tWho cum dar 20 Division OFFICER of 4
the day - was the response. Halt
Division Officer OF the Day. Dismountl
Advance, and be recognized ~ contin-
ued the Sentinel. In front of him was
a broad deep mud-puddle, and from
the splashing we knew that the Ma
ior1s horse must be in 1t. ~ a m zI1 lna-l
water.n pleaded the Major "you
know who am; never mind dlsmoutz
ing; 1 want to see your Captain and
he started his horse. "HalG DIS
mount ~ was the repeated order, and
the soldiers rife clicked. There was
a sudden checking of the horse, and
the officer commenced expostulatlng
s'This is all unnecessary" when an
emphatic tDismountP ~ interrupted
him. A flash of sheet lightning show
ed the Major dismOunted, and up to
his knees in the puddle, while the
black soldier stood with his mu~ket at
aim. In another second he would
have fired. "You obey orders we'll,
said the crest t-fallen officer; "but my
new tFoWsers are ruined. Where is the
Captain of the pick let ?''
Having ascertained the cause of the
firing, which was the object of his vis- III
it, be said 81 think you had be ter
advance all your posts about a hun !
dred yards, for the enemy must now {
know your exact location Do it al !
once !" Then, mounting his horse, he {
rode off. /
The first duty of a soldier is implicit
obedience to all orders from superiors {
I must confess that had but little $
relish for this work. 1t was easy to +
say, advance the posts - but to go /
STUN bling around through the woods, t
in pitch darkness, and hunt up each
separate pOst-runnIng the risk of an =
ambush, or being shot, by mistake, by !
your own men bitten by moccasins
and ratt1esnakes; getting lost; scratch !
ed with briers, and drenehed with wet Z
mlred in swamps-was :
difficult, dangerous and disagreeable !
in the extreme. For once, I was Tempt
ed to disobey orders, and risk the con- +
sequences. But knowing the bad eff !
feet it would have on my company :
as some had overheard the Order-I de- J
cided to make the attempt. Leaving ;
the reserve in charge of The First Ser
geant, Istarted out to grope my way as
best could. 1t was nearly midnight
before the work was accomplished. A I
do zen times lost myself, and only by ,
continual signaling did pick my way s
around. The men were alert, and ner- !
vous-ready to fire at the least provo J
cation. Great care was necessary in :
approaching them. I have had plenty !
Of disagreeable work in my army ex-
perience, but nothing so pokefish as
this.
Hardly had reached the reserve !
when the Vidette in the rear challeng-l I
ed, and soon the Division Officer of the
Day rode NJ, again. He informed me !
that the troops had all been ordered to !
the left, at Petersburg, and were then 7
on their way th1ther; and directed /
that my company be gathered in, as =
quickly as possible, and follow after. +
his directions were Follow this road t
then follow that for a mile, and turn '
to the left-thaG will take you to 3
Prince George Court House keep the +
Court House road four or five miles. +
516n bdk6 u cfOSS-TOdu TO the t6IG NIl1 z
you reach the Jerusalem Plank Road =
that will take you to Petersburg. Hur- 3
ry up, or the Johnnies may scoop all :
Of youl' Evidently he did not meant
that the sJohnnies" should catch him, +
for he ga1Ioped off without giving me q
an opportunity to inquire more min .
utely regarding the route was to fol- f
low
There was no help for it and wan '
dered off in the wet and darkness; and, t
after nearly two hours stumbling t
about, succeeded in assembling all the d
men. The rain came down again, and 1
it was with great difficulty that they {
could keep together.
To the reader who is not familiar .
with campaigning, it may be proper to
explain that on marches like this the :
troops march four abreast, with the !
First Sergeant at their head, the Cap :
tain by the side of the Sergeant, touch +
ing him with the right elbow.
/