Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1878-10-24

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with reinfoscenaenlz Aa after one of
the mcsf gaIlant l nj al the war.
he carried tie wo. ana he crater
turned 10 : grave - <apsoFs. had
heard of pools of u ~ VS. there
that saw Them. TIE EiIsBee reigned
that psinfsll silence hE> always fol-
lowe Cd the baftle-6EI afler death he's
held high carnival.
Then came the sad suly Of cosnting
up the cost. My bsi bad suffered
severely. The TweN seond South
Car0lina had lost ils Ilanl Colonel
Flemine, ard lzssls u e8sdIes.
My regiment had lost 1e3 men. Two
whole companies, A and c, Eighteenth
South Carolina, had not man left who
was on duty, 10 tell the tale. One hun
dred and one Of my men, including Cap
tains Mccormick and Birdgis. were dead
buried in the crater or scatteredalong
the woFks-and 60 missing.
Among the missing are Lieut. Hill
and Sergeant Greer. We left tkem in
their almost living grave; Greer digging
with lis bayonet, while Hill passed back
the dirt with all the desperatioi of des-
pair. They hear not, heed not the bat
tie that is raging above them but toll
on. Often hope would spring up in
their hearts to give way only 70 despair.
Hill has often told me how when he
awoke 10 consciousness Of bis condi-
ton, the thoughts that flashed through
his brain like lightning; now te thought
il he could only see one ray of light, or
breathe the fresh air again; that il he
could only let his wife know how and
where he died, that death would be a
relief to him. Almost suSocated for
want Of fresh air, they worked on; al
last it seemed to them that something
had dcrushedthem; they had dugthrough
the loose bowlders. and the light burst
upon them. They both, overcome with
the sudden transition from their sufoca-
ton and despair TO light and hope,
tainted. How long they remained
there they know not. When; they
awoie from their swoon the FIRST sound
that broke upon their ears was the clash
OF arms and the quick rolling roar ofthe
battle as it ragged around and above.
Almost in q siupor. trying 10 realize
that they could again see the light of
heaven, and hear the voice of a living
creature, they lay still until they recov-
cred their minds enough TO know what
was going On. Hill has often told me
that when he knew and, realized that it
was battle, the soss las the sweet
est music that = gseosRd rs
ears. At last the Y0I victory rose
high above everytlisse else. They
knew that somebody lad vanquished,
and that somebody was victor, who they
knew not. They emerged from their
awful retreat, weak, worn IN body. and
with mind almost crazed. 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 il may seem, they were the
most sadly changed men that ! ever be-
held. Both were fine looking soldiers
before; now they were weak, with
sunken cheeks and eyes. Lieut.. Hill,
whose hair "a hours before was black.
without single grey hair in it, (as he
was only 30 years old, was now al
most white as snow. Whether it turned
from horror at his condition. or the
deathly heat Of bis suhterranean bed
or both, do not pretend 10 say. Isim-
ply give the facts, not as | heard, but
as | saw them, and he slill lives TO ver-
ify that this is no romance, but one of
my experiences in a war whose first
gun ] heard fred and the last gun OF
which sounded the requiem Of the lost
cause when ] was at my post on duty.
HUGH ToLAED, NJ. ID.