The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1878-11-16
From the Jacksonville, Ala, Republican
A TERRIBLE STORY.

I
such an instance, and one that can be au
thenticated beyond all cavil, by person,
now living, l will give you and your read
ers the circumstances as they occurred
when, where, aad whom they are"
When Grant sprang the "mine," O.
"blow up, as many call it, in front Of
Petersburg, Va, at twilight on the morn
ing of the Both Of July, 1864, the poinr
Immediately over it was occupied by Z
Virginia battery. The bitches on the
right, Immediately next to the battery
were occupied by the twenty second South
Carolina volunteers, Col Fleming. On
the left of the battery the bitches were oc
cupied BY the Eighteenth South Carolina
Col. w. II. Wallace (now Judge Wallace
of South Carolina, of which regiment
was surgeon. All along our lines our sol
diers had dug out small bomb proofs, as
they called them. These bomb preofs
were generally about four feet broad, three
feet high and seven feet long-large
enough for two or three men to crawl into
and sleep with comparative comfort and
safety which they did when off duty, dur
ing that never-to-bc-forgtten siege by every
man participated therein.
In one of the bomb proofs on the ex-
trcme right of the Eighteenth South Car.
olina volunteers, and just to the left ol
the mine, Lieut.. Willard Hill, Company
E. and Sergeant Greer, Company A. Eigh-
teenth South Carolina volunteers, having
been relieved from duty an hour before were
sleeping. The first they realized of it was
the shock, then a deep darkness, and then
a consciousness that the mine had been
sprung, and that they had been baried
how deep they could not imagine. The
first impulse was deep indescribable des-
pair-heart-sickening, heart-rending hope
lessness, that left them almost powerless fol
time. But what could they do? They
had nothing to dig out with buta bayonet
that Sergeant Greer had in his belt, and
there was but a canteen Of water in the
cell. But what was going on above them ?
Grant had consummated that most diabol.
ical of all deeds of a terrible war
/ was within $50 yards of it on my
morning visit to my regiment, and it was
just at that time of day-twilight-that
even trees can look like ghosts, and that
added to the weird scene of death. ST.
multaneous with the deep, dead sound, and
quiver of the earth, there arose in the air
a cloud Of dust and smoke and timbers
men and muskets, and all manner of shapes
and fragments were flying in every direc-
tion-and then for moment stiffness
and it seemed as if every cannon in the
Who'll Federal line was turned loose upon
our lines Shells shrieked through the air
musket balls aud fragments of shell fell in
every direction, plowing up the earth and
cutting off limbs from the few trees that
the relentless hand of war had spared
Then came the charge. Negro troops in
front with splendid caparisoued troops
of the federal army behind, driving them
as it were, to the front, like sheep to the
slaughter, with the battle-cry Of "Remem.
ber Fort Pillow" aad the few-the very
few-that survived, no doubt remembered
the crater of Grant full as we'll
High above all the confusion and smoke
and dust and groans of the wounded, could
be heard the battle-cry of the Federals
and the words of encouragement of gallant
oficers-the few that are left of the Eigh-
teenth and Twenty South Carolina
volunteers, and Of those brave Virginians
whose battery was buried in a common
grave with nearly every soldier who manned
it. But the Confederate lines were broken
in twain. Federals and negroes had mad,
breastworks of the powders that were
blown up by the explosion. But they were
not to stay there. Soon came Genera
Malone with reinforcements, and, after
one of the most gallant fights of all the
war, he carried the works, and the crater
turned to a grave for its captors. l had
heard Of pools of blood-it was there that
| saw them. Then silence reigned, that
painful silence which always follows on the
battlefield after death has held high car
nival.
Then came the sad duty Of counting ur
the cost. My brigade had suffered Sc
verely. The Twenty-second South Caro-
lima had lost its gallant Col. Fleming, and
many brave soldier. My regiment had
lost l63 men. Two whole companies, A
and G, Eighteenth South Carolina, had
not man left who was on duty, to tell tn,
tale One hundred and one of my men,
including Captains Mccormick and Bird
gis, were dead-buried in the crater OIL
scattered along the works-and 62 missing
Among the missing are Lieut. I'LL and
Sergeant Greer We left them in theii
almost living grave; Greer digging with
his bayonet, while Hill passed back thC
dirt with all the desperation Of despair
They hear not, heed not, the battle that i.
raging above them, but toll on. Ofte-
hope would spring up in their hearts ia
give way only to despair. Hill has otter
told me how, when he awoke to con
sciousness of his condition, the thought:
that flashed through his brain like light
ming; now he thought if he could only see
one ray of light, or breathe the fresh ali
again; that if he could only let his wifo
know how and where he died, that deatl
would be a relief 20 him. Almost suffoca
ted for want of fresh air, they worked on
at last it seemed to them that somethin.
had crushed them; they had dug through
the loose powders, and the light burs
upon them. They both, overcome will
the sudden transition from their suffocatioI
and despair to light and hope, tainted. How
long they remained there they knew not
When they awoke from their swoon I'll,
first sound that broke upon their ears wal
the clash of arms and the quick rolling roai
of the battle as it ragged around and above
Almost In a stupor, trying to realize tina
they could again see the light of heaven.
ard hear the voice of a living creature
they lay still until they recovered theil
minds enough to know what was going on.
Hill has often told me that when he knew
and realized that it was battle, the sound
was the sweetest music that had evei
greeted his ears. At last the cry of vic
tory rose high above everything else
They knew that somebody had been van
quished and that somebody was victor
who they knew not. They emerged from
their awful retreat, weak, worn in body
and with mind almost cIazed. They
knew not how long they had been there;
they did not even know their old comrades.
Nor could they realize that it was the
same day that they were buried.
They were brought back to me, at the
field hospital, more dead than alive, for,
strange as it may seem, they were the mos,