The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-07-22

I -
committed suicide
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Geftvssur=-
/ From q spirited Gettysburg letter
printed in the Hisr-0csaa, we quote
/ these paragraphs:
Standing on Cemetery Hill, facing
+ the whole sweep of the country be-
fore Us is the battle field A portion
of it belonged to Thaddeus Stevens.
I Down il front to the left, is McPher-
sons barn, from behind which was
/ fred the first Union shot in the bat
tie; its owner, Edward Mcpherson,
( is the Veteran Clerk Of the House of
I Representatives. Close by is the
wood in which Reynolds fell In the
citizens cemetery, directly south Of
/ where we stand, General U. o. How
/ ards corps, the Eleventh, lay. Some
of the copings and monuments were
shattered, the mounds were trOdden
fat, and mere destruction would have
( occurred had not Howard ordered
I the headstones 10 be laid by the
graves.
In yonder little white house, to-
wards the Emmcttsburg road, Meade,
commander Of the Union forces, fixed
his headquarters. Lee had none: he
tented on the field amongst his troops.
On the right, on the slope leading to
/ CuIp's Hill, the Eighth Louisiana
fought, driving and. driven, a regi-
ment composed of the New Orleans
roughs, uniformed in blue and yellow
zouaye dress, aud known, less for
their striped costume than their IN
eontrolIable ferocity, as the "Loui-
siana Tigers" The woods that cover
this slope were literally destroyed
bv the shot. StalWart oaks were
shot through and fell, others stand
/ lifeless and perforated with holes,
] and every storm lays some Of them
low.
Toward the left, on the Emmetts-
burg road, is the famous peach or
chard where so much fighting was
\ done The original trees, then sap
I lings, are dead since, but the demand
for peaches grown on the ground is
so great that others have been plant
ed, and hundreds Of cans are sent
away every season. On the opposite
side Of the road new barn stands on
the site Of the old one which was
fired by rebel shells, when filed with
their wounded, who all perished there.
Behind the peach orchard is another
barn, in whose shadow Gen. Sickles
leg was shot of, and opposite that
point, on the other side Of the road,
the rebel Gen. Barksdale received his
mortal wound
Near there, too, IS the wheat field
that, ike the peach orchard, was the
theatre Of terrible carnage On the
morning Of the second day it stood
tall and golden, waiting for the now
er's hand By night it was a morass|
Of human flesh and blood. On the
ridge to the east, and only a dozen
rods from US, the only hand-t0-hand
fight Of the battle occurred. 1t was
toward night OF the second day
I Some regiments Of Ames divisions
had been driven in from their posi-
tions in the lower field and made a
stand here. The rebels followed
them so swiftly and closely that in an
instant almost from the first alarm
the two parties were face to face. It
was one Of the most terrible scenes Of
tho battle. The men fought with
hammers, shOyels, pistols, ramrods,
stones, clubs, even their hands
They were Ike fends, not men, but
they held their ground. The very
( grandest sight of those awful three
DAYS was an attack made and repuls-
ed on the afternoon Of the third
Gradually retiring from its original
position, the Union line of battle
had formed along the stone wall
stretching at our feet from Cups
Hin, on the right stretched cat as
evenly as the ground would permit,
to the summit Of Round Top on the
left. Encouraged by his success,
and coguizant that some decisive
movement was imperative, Lee or
r dered general artillery attack on
: the Union lines, 70 be supplemented
BY a grand infantry attack that
would break and hopelessly route
: them.
: From one p. n to three probably
the greatest artillery duel ever W.T.
messed in the world ragged over the
Gettysburg meadows Cannon to
! cannon the thunder poured forth IN
: iuterruptedly, shaking the earth aud
darkening the burning summer sun.
r Then there was silence. And while
: the powder-stained gunners stood by
their guns waiting 10 see what Dext
would come, line Of battle headed
: bvLongstreetemerge from the grove
! below and faced toward them A
: second and still = third came-solid,
q unbroken, majestie-moying Ike q
: tidal wave.
2 Then the Union artillery opened
t on them the most terrible storm OF
shot and shell that ever men walked
I through, but unwavering, untalter-
ing, trampling over the dying and
the dead. they came swiftly, steadily,
grandly. Every Northern soldier
held his breath; each felt that the
n supreme moments Of those dreary
a years Of hardship and defeat had
, come. Silent, erOuched behind walls,
: sheltered BY trees, with their fingers
s on the triggers Of their mgskets. they
: waited with maehine-like obedience