The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1879-07-22
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81 A dusty, erissly, srippled man Of any,
leaning . good share ofhh weight Q q > cane
- be walked, : enthe postroAics steps yestsr-
day while be- ats . dry crust Of bread. He
was nibbling away, trying 10 find the sof
aide, when he looked mp and saw that he was
watched. IN s.l affy .Yssfe9geia ag,f
a6ay. Yank, do you call this tna2' he
called out - he chewed away. f43l
AWcli, dry bread isn't much Of q meal"
was the answer. Ha& 81 gpsa istI 2 pBf
" That 30, but when ratiOns ar low and the
commissary wagons IN the rear, you've gotto
I'LL UP on the best Jon have. I've been
camping out longside Of dry bread and water
for . whole month" aflal a1j 9u sEa
"Going anywhere ?" s d Md af1
II reckon. I'm allus goin' somew hsr' and
never igittin' thar $50 .4 -g5 to4 aytl
HlOn the tramp?p d,i. ~ gs.ds
Kinder, though I call it ON the march.
You see,L got fanked by the hard times, and
Pm changing my base. I'm looking for
risin' ground now on which to form a new
batsls line. I've got = brother out here in
Kent County, and I'm marching that way
I" You were in the war p" m5 fai
ii. Wasn't L! Can't l shst my eyes and see
jist how Gineral Pickett looked when he led
us agin your Second Corps down at Gettys-
burgh on the Sd of July? Wasn't it bilin'
down thar that day! Wool! but how one
Of rs got back, behind Wright's brigade alive
is rnore'n I can teli.n H ~
$50 You were under Picktt p,
"Right under Gineral Pickett, and l kin
see the lay of the ground on that day as plain
a. that ERE boss. IfI'd bia lynn back under
the wagons that day, l wouldn't bev got two
bullets in me, nor bin jabbed with q bayonet.
Lord, stranger but l thought l was a goner in
that fight! Il can't talk about it 'thout chills
sweepin' up my back" .,ltFq % fa
|" Yes, it was hot" sssq n ."6 taa45
"Hot! Well, when thirty-nine men out
of a company of fifty are killed dead, and six
Of the other 'ieven are wounded, you may
reckon somebody vas tryin' to hurt we 'uns!
1t was about four o'clock IN the afternoon.
All our guns had been boomin' away for
three hours to break the Fed. center, and
Picket was to send us as q stormin' party.
The regiments fell in like clock work, lots Of
the boys looked awful white Ground the gilIs,
and no one but the officers speakin' above 4
whisper. We knew we were goin' to charge
rifle-pits and old vets behind them, and that
lots of us were goin' over the Emmetsbure
road to stay thar forever. Wah! but I crawl
when think of it !" L4, a1q y5 .U;@o. eA
He tossed the crust away with a look Of
contempt, grasped his cane with a firmer grip
aud said: ~, NV 43n. i,t4 Z
"Pickett led, and behind were Pettigrew's
men. Attention! Forward! And we went
down in steady lines, ever. company dressed
as if on parade, and everybody waitin' for the
ball to open. Booml Boom! You 'uns
opened on US with forty ~cannons, all boomin'
at once and it was awftl, sir, to hear the
screamin' of grape and canister. 1t tore
men to pieces and sent their blood spurtin
on all sides. 1t TOOK off legs and arms, and
the poor fellows shrieked out in awful agony,
March! March! and by and by we rushed
at the guns with a yell. Behind 'em were
the rife pits. and beyond were lines of six o,
eight deep. Sich a roarl Sich screams and
yells and shrieks! Stranger, 1 believe l got
jist as near old Satanss headquarters that day
as a live man can" I,..' g..
"Aad you were driven back! w
"Yes, but the ground was covered with
dead men first. They lay thar in heaps. We
trod on 'em as We surged NJ and fell back,
aud the wounded, driven to madness, caught
at our legs, or struck at us as we ven past.
We were among the guns when I got this bull.
let in the shoulder. Down I went, and l got
this one in the leg. l was hangin' to the
wheel of a gun and pullin' myself up when
somebody chucked a bayonet into me, and it
was months before l got OUT.
Sand now P" ...
swell ! dunno. | AIM of much account,
but mebbe sunthin will turn up by and by.
I'm marching on to see my brother and like
enough I'll 60 into camp over thar"
Sand fhrget your battles ?" . s.
"Forgit nuthin' You un's and we 'uns
are all right now-no more war to ever come
between us, but I'd rather lose this right arm
than to forgit how Gineral Pickett looked
that day as five thousand men behind him
marched down to death. If We fought on the
Union side III divide my crusts with YOU,
and give We the the biggest half of my bed,
but when ye keep step with a mar down TO
the jaws Of death, and go back alone, if We
ever forgit him We are a wolf! That's me,
stranger, and now-attention! File right
march
And he moved away with slow aud painful
step, to pitch his tent again when his old
wounds ached.-Detroit Free Press.