The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1878-02-15
THE THREE SHOTS.
A SOLDIERS REMINIsCENCE OF The LATE
CIVIL WAR.

war. Did say story? No, it is no story
but fact as actual as that the war com
menced and ended. An additional fact is
that it will give to the coming historian of
the great rebellion an interesting incident
TO grace his pages and some data to help
his judgment. The writer was personally
present., and was modest participant in
the scenes he describes, and can and will
vouch for the tIuthfnlness of his recollec-
tions. 1t is aslo written in furtherance of
that spirit of harmony which is beginning
| now to be the blessing of the country and
to do justice to the memory of some brave
men who are now in that cond tion which
Colonel OHara so feelingly describes, that
On Fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents spread;
And glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac OF the dead.
The scenes and incidents of these inem-
! orable days should be, by all who partici-
| pated IN them. committed to imperishable lie
| print, and not left to the misconstructions
| of the misiiness and uncertainties of tIa-
| dition.
| The seventh day of November. 1861. was
| gloriously beautiful. Long before the usual
! time for reveille, the officer of the day had
notified the proper persons, and soon our
! chicory was boiling, the whole camp was
! on the qni vive, and as each one of us drank
! our hot liquid out of our tin cups we
| asked each other, ''What is tip now r'' 1t
was phiy Jndt was aroused.
! Picket's regiment of infantry, the First
! Tennessee, lay beautifully snoring in their
| bivouac. The Tennessee Mountain Rifles,
| Capt. White, the Mem phis Light Dragons,
! under Logwood, and the gallant company
| of Ballentiue every one of whom WAS a
| gentleman and a soldier were soon ready
I for action. The morning broke bright and
beautiful. | recollect the day well. No
vember has been universally abused for its
| inclemency. This day did not deserve il.
! Nature certainly was in her sere and yell
| low leaf, but the air was as balmy as the
! last kiss of spring on the brow of summer.
We waited few weary minutes, when
| we smelt the religious presence of a staff
| officer, Polk was in command, and soon
| the racket of ''boois and saddles'' sent
! every man into stirrups, aud The battle of
! Belmont, on the Confederate side, had
| begun. News had reached Gen. Polk that
! Grant was approaching Columbus by the
! Paducah road, while the fact was thai hat
! gentleman was quieti. dropping down his
! force on the Mississippi on transports, un-
! der the convoy of the guuboats Conestoga
| Tyler and Lexington. Well, the Tennes-
see Mounted Rifles were ordered out on the
| Paducah road, and after brisk gallop of
! hive miles found nothing on shore, but saw
! plenty on the water to have the order given
/ To change the head of column, and so came
! back the same way. But before we could
/ report at the Episcopal residence, Grant
| had come around Milliken's bend and re-
| ported in person, we might say, to the
| Bishop 10y landing his troops just above a
! small hamlet named Belmont.
THE BATTLE.
The Bishop thought he was a fool, and
| paid no attention to things in the bend for
some time, as he supposed, the country
had all been secuted over, there was no
| passage for artillery through .he morass
+ behind Belmont, where a camp of about
| 1,500 men aud Belzhoover's battery was
stationed. 1t is a low country, and a com
| mon joke among was that they were
sent over there To keep us from shak ing, as
| large number of tbem had the fever and
! ague, and the Arkansas variety of it at
that. We were wrong in this, for when
the time came for work we shook more
| than they did, and no men ever stood
| more nobly to their guns until driven into
| the Mississippi by those fighting devils
! from Illinois and Iowa, under McClernard,
| Buford. Logan and Foulker. They fought
| for every inch of ground until they had to
go over the banks, and any one who has
! ever boen there knows that only a Cough
| could stand such water, even under the
pressing influence Of cannon and rifle balls.
Soon Polk came to his senses and learn
ed too late, that Grants advance was Sc
rious, and on the wrong side of the river
for him. He was again
| "Mounting in hot haste the steed,"
| and we were ordered across the river,
| which we crossed under murderous fire
! from our own captured battery and the
| guns which had been brought by Grant
| Frank Cheatham led the advance, and the
| Federals soon found themselves in the tolls
| and the victors of but an hour ago found
themselves the vanqusheG. and had liter
ally - cut their way through the trans
ports, under the protection of the gunbuats,
| which kept up an inceSsant shelling. The
| Tennessee Rifles were early in action, and
| followed closely the flying enemy. The
Sixth Iowa fought like devils, but had to
! give back. Three skirmshers of the rifles
! soon came within range of the transports
| aud hot work it was, as the double-ended
gunboats were belchng shells every in
| stant. Crash after crash down came the
| limbs of the trees, the rifle bullets added
their spiteful whz 70 the thundered tones
of the Columbiad, and Colts revolver spoke
to the Sharpe's carbine. 1t seemed as if
pandemonium bad got on pyrotechnic
! spree, and that fire and lead had seized the
world. Still the three skirmisbers had
pushed on. but finally dropped behind
| large cypress log. It was safer to stay
| where they were than get back. This CON
diticn of things could not last long. Up
spoke one of the dare-devils: ''I'm goin'
to have a shot at that fellow who's doing
I IL L d
| full shell the mex, instant
So saying he leveled his Sharpe's rifle,
which had never before failed him, and
| blazed away. The bullet cut the standard
of the deck within half an inch of its Oh
| iect.
'Tll take another one. What's the
matter with me ?''
Once more the barrel crossed the log,
and this time the bullet must have gone
! through the clothing of the imperiurbar. .
smoker, as he slightly changed his position
to give some orders, but to the marksman
! exposing the brass buttons on his waist.
Never a better mark in the world. - al
most yelled the desperate marksman, ''aud
that mans my meatl'
Carefully, calmly, coolly, that rifieman
who had and could take off turkeys head
at two hundred yards with his rifle, drew
bead upon his tarset-the six inches be-
tween the buttons behind-and missed
just theu shell came crashing TO the spot.