The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1877-08-23

falling, but 50 quick was he that before
1t had reached the ground, he seized
1t from the standard-bearer. and
throughout the remainder of the bat
tie carried it himself. This gallant
act, performed in full view of the line
OF battle, was greeted with such Con
federate yell as not even the Internal
roar Of the guns could drown. Gen
Pickett while tarrying unnecessarily
long, as some Of his staff thought, at a
point where the death missiles came
thIckest, was urged by captain of his
staff to move to some other portion of
the field where the danger was not so
great and operations could be equally as
well directed. The captain said to
him: General, | don't believe that
even fly could live here two minutes"
Strange to say, that although through
out the artillery combat and the sub
seqUent charge General Pickett most
recklessly exposed himself, vet neither
he nor any member Of his staff was
struck. The General afterward said
to me that on the day after the battle
he felt that he would have no right to
resent the insult if some one should ac-
cuse him Of cowardice, because he was
not among the killed, wounded or cap
tured. For" said he, "when men
hear that almost my entire command
persisted, and that l escaped harm,
they will be 10th to believe that | did
my duty" The charge was never
brought against him.
THE DESPERATE CHARGE BEGUN.
The combat between the artillery Of
the two armies must have been two
hours in duration. Throughout all of
/ it the officers and men Of that portion
of the line where / was were stretched
fiat upon the ground, with their heads
toward the firing. The water in our
canteens had long been exhausted, and
no more could be had until the battle
was over. Not Il breath Of air was in
motion, and the sun shone down upon
us intensely hot. The bursting Of in
Vulnerable shells added to the heat.
Ny company, numbering about fifty
men present, lost four killed and some
fifteen wounded while in position. The
enemy's shot hurled among us and
clipped off the clover heads by our
sides. The fire was so terrible that
when a man sang out Wounded! :"
the ambulance corps would not 90 to
his relief To have taken any one to
the rear while the firing was in pro-
gress would have been almost certain
death. At last the Federal batteries
began to slacken their fire, and not
long afterward they ceased entirely
Soon the Confederate guns ceased fir
ing, too, and then all knew the SUI
preme moment had come. Each sur
viving commandment Of a company
sprang to his feet and ordered his men
into line All who could got into line,
but there were many dead and wound
ed and sunstrickcn poor fellows left
forward was given and Obeyed with
alacrity and chcerfulncss, for we be-
lieved then that the battle was practi-
cally over, and that we had nothing
to do but to march mopposcd to Gem
etary Heights and occupy them. The
, ascent to the crest of the hill, which
!, had hitherto concealed us from the en-
cmy's view, was made speedily and in
good order. While making the ascent
it was seen that the supports to Om
right and left TANKS were not coming
forward. as we had been told they
would. Mounted officers were seen
dashing frantically up and down their
line, apparently endCavOring to get
them to move forward, but we could
i see that they would not move Their
failure to support us was discOuraging
but it did not disheartcn us. Some OF
our men cursed them for being COW
ards, but still our charge was kept up,
and no man fell out. Soon we were
past the crest of the hill and out of
sight of them. Before Us stood Gene
terry Heights, Of which we could get
occasional glimpses through the riffs
in the cloud Of powder smoke that en-
!; veloped them. We could not see
whether or not there were troops to de
fend them against us.
Somewhat further on, perhaps a
hundred and fifty yards beyond the
crest Of the hill we had just passed, a
post-and-rail fence some five feet high
was encountered. This fence was
quickly mounted, and at Il little dis
lance beyond it my regiment, and !
suppose the whole line Of battle, was
halted for the purpose Of rectifying the
alignment. From the time the charge
began up to this moment not Il shot
had been fired at us, nor had we been
able to see, because of the density OF
the smoke which hung over the battle
, field like a pail, that there was any
: enemy in front of us But directly af:
: terward, Just as the line started for
ward again, a shot, fired from some,
| where on our left, struck the centre
company OF my regiment, and, emilia.
ding its left wing as it did, killed and
] wounded large number Of men and
l officers. The smoke now lifted from
: our front, and there right before us
t scarcely two hundred yards away, stood
Cemetery Heights in awful grandeur
5 At their base was 4 double line of Fed
eral infantry and several pieces Of ar
: ti1lery posted behind stone walls. anC
, to the right and left Of them both ar
f tillery and infantry supports were hur
riedly coming up. We fully realized
I then that Pickett's three little brigades
: already greatly reduced by heavy cas-
ualities, was making, alone and with
I out the possibility Of succor, a despcr
| ate charge against the whole power o.
2 Of the Federal army.
AN APPALLING SITUATION.
The situation was now indeed ap
palling, though it did not seem to an
pal. The idea Of retreat did not seen
to occur to any one. Having obtain
! ed view Of the enemy's position, the
! men now advanced at the double
quick, and for the first time since the