The Lafayette advertiser. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], La.) 1865-19??, 1878-11-23
A TERRIBLE STORY.
Hon. 1'wo Contetlerates We're Buried
4Alpe and the Hair Of One Of Them
Turned from Jet Black 10 White a.
That Single Doy,

Turned from Jet Black 10 White a.
That Single Day,
tCor Jacksonville (Ala.) Republican,
II your issue Of the l7,h inst. notice
an article. the first sentence Of which
asks the question, Can a persons hair
turn white within shot time z" Hav-
ing seen such an instance, and one that
can be authenticated hry ond al caviI By
persons now living. will give you and
your readers the circumstances rs thew
| occurred, VIXEN, whore and whom they
are.
When Grant sprang the ''mine," Or
"bow.np." a. many call it, in front Of Pc
,ersbu'g, Va. at twilight on the morning
Of thr 3o'h Of July. 1864, the point i'm.
mediately over It was occupied by Vir.
ginia battery. The ditches on the right,
Immediately next 10 the battery were
occupied BY the 22,l South Carolina Vol.
unteers, Col. Fleming. On the left Of the
battery the bitches were occupied by the
18Th South Carolina, Col. w. H. Wallace
(now Judge Wallace, Of South Csrolina),
u which regiment | was surgeon. All
along our hines our soldiers had dug out
bomb proofs, as they called them. These
bomb proofs were generally about four
feet broad, three feet high and seven feet
'ong-larga enough for two o. three men
to crawl into anil sl-ep with comparative
comfort and safety. which they did when
"ff duty during the never to be forgotten
srige, BY every man who participated
therein.
IL one Of the bomh-proofs on The. ex-
trrme right Of the 18th South Carolina
volunteers, and just 10 the left Of the nine
Lieut.. Willard Hill, Company E. and Ser
g"ant Greer, Company A, 18Th South Car.
oIina volunteer, having been relieved from
daty an hour before. were .lseping. The
first they realized Of it was the shock. then
deep darkness. and then a consciousness
that mine had been sprung. and that
they had been buried. how deep they
could not imagine. Their first impulse
| was deep, inde-cribabl- drspair-heart-
si.-k-ning, h-art-rsnding hope'essnsss, that
left them almost powerless for time.
But what could they do? They had
nothing to dig out with but bayonet
that Sergran, Greer had in his belt, and
there WAS but canteen Of water in the
cell. l3nt what was going on above them!
tirant had contaminated that most dia-
toical Of ali th. deeds of terrible war.
/. | WAS within $50 yards Of it on my morn
ing vis, to my regiment. and it was just
1t ,ha, time Of day twiIight-that even
trees can look like ghosts, and tha. added
to the weird scene Of death. Simnltane
ons|y with the deep dead sound and quiv.
rr Of the earth there arose on the air
cloud of dust and smoke, and timb.rs,
shapes and fragments we've flying 10 every
direction then for moment still
ness-.nd il seemed As Il every cannon On
the whole Federal line was ,turned loose
upon our lines. Shells shr+ked through
the air, mnsket balls anil fragments Of
shells in every direction. blowing up The
earth and cutting off limbs from the few
trees that the relentless hand Of war bad
spared. Then came III. charge. N-gro
troops 10 front, with .p!en,liJ:y cap.rison.
"a troops Of the Federal army behind,
Irving them, 4. il we're. 70 the battle cry
of Re,ne,nbr, Fort Pillow" ard ,hs few,
the very f..w, that SURVIVED no doubt r.
member the Crater # Grant full A. well.
High above ali the confusion AMI smok.
aud dust and groans Of the wounded could
be heard the battle cry of the Federal, and
thu words of encouragement Of gallant
offi aer.-tha few that ars lift Of the 18Th
and 22.i South Carolina volunteers, and
If those brave Virg'nians whose battery
was buried in common grave with near
! " every soldier who manned it. But the
Confederate lines ware broken in ,w.in
Federal and negroes had made breast
! works of the t,oullers that were blown up
| by the explosion. But they were not 70
stay there. Soon came Gen. Malone
with ,einforcem-nts and, sitter one Of the
mos, gallant fights Of al the war, he car
ried the works. and the crater turned TO =
grave for i:s csptors. had heard Of
pools OF blood-it was there ! saw them.
Then silence reigned, that painful silence
which always follows on the battlefield
| after death has held high carnival.
Then came til. sad duty ofcouDting up
the cost, Ny brigade had suffered severe.
i.y-the 22l South Caro'ina had lost It's
gallant Col. fleming @nl many 4 brave
| soldier. Ny regiment had los, l63 men.
Two whole companies, A and ., 18th
South CAolina, had not man lift, who
WI. On duty, to tell the tale. One hun
dred sna one Of my men, including CApt<.
MoCo,nish and Bi,dgis, we're dead lin
! deed in the crater or scattered along The
works-and sixty two missing.
| Among the mi<sing are Lieut.. Hill and
Sergt. Greer. W. lett them in their al