The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1880-07-23
rrhe petreli Free fross.
THE CANNOs,s sIOrTiI.
sIen wac piavr Been There and Yet Died
of Oid Age.

batAlc 50 tAcltluH Us W bIt u bAtt3AC
OF flying artillery take position.
Troops open right and left, drivers
lash and shout, horses plunge and rear,
and guns and ciassons dash through
and over everything until reaching
the chosen spot. a line OF men wait
ing for tho fight to open will show
pluck and enthusiasm with the BOOM
ing of the first gun and the faster the
battery Is worked the more impatient
the supports become for close work.
No one will say that an army could
bo successful without artillery, and
yet those who hold the "cannon's
MOUTH 10 be king Of terrors or tho
Jaws OF certain destruction Will Gel
disappointed when they come acres,
statistics showing how little damage
is infllcted by cannon compared with
the muskei.
Ii Is often said or mon, "IIe
would not re afraid to march up to
the canon's mouth, and yet II Is not
Il high compliment 10 his bravery.
just previous 70 the first fight ut Bull
Run a brigade of infantry made a
reconnaissance towards Blackburn's
ford tosce how the enemy was posted
\ Michigan regiment In reserve Just
outside the fight, was opened on by
six field-pieces III PLAIN sight. The
firing WIS rapid and lasted for half
an hour, and yet no man in the regi-
ment Was even wounded. Massachu-
sets troops, advancing In the woods,
fought against cannon mounted on an
earthworls for fully twenty minutes
and yet all thcr loss was from the
musAelfy. On this occasion no less
than 200 round shot and shell were
utterly wasted.
During the Sunday fights at
Bulls hun, full battery posted on
the left, and Just outside the fight,
kept up continuous and rapid fire
on a highway three-quarters ofa mile
away, over which the Confetlerates
were marching rs they went into ac-
iion or changed positions. Shot and
shell could be seen 10 strike, and out
side OF tearing the cover oil au army
wagon, and the killiEg Of horse or
two, no damage was done.
Al Fair Oaks the artillery FIRE was
flerce, and seemingly destructive.
Trees were rent and sblvered, great
furrows plowed In the ground, and
SHELLS screamed everywhere over the
battlefield. Yet the loss of life by
mu-keiry WAS in proportion Of 20 TO
/. The Third Michigan Infantry lost
inose men in ilve minutes rs the In.
faniry fire ,han any brigade lost tn an
day 10y shot er shell.
The daily papers used to make
great ado over artillery duei-. which
wef0 pt0n0ugced bloodthlr=iy, etc.
At Aniletain Unions and Confederate
battery, not over half Il ale apart
ard in plain sight nf each other, had
one Of these duets, lasting forty min
uteS. The guns were worked for all
ihey were worth, and ,sheu the duel
ended the UHinu lnSs was horse Kill.
cd, the wheel 81 q ciass0n shattered
aud two infantry men lying 10 support
killed. 4 change uf position sent the
writers regiment over the ground &C.
cuI it,I 10y the Confederate battery,
aId hare were found two disabled
Il. rse-, ii -aead ariilierist aud the
v r,ek 81 enirsou. During the forty
minutes that these twelve guns were
banging away with such little result,
four or five sh2rpshooiers killed moro
than a dozen men and made no fuss
over 1t.
Lee had splendid position for his
artillery ut Fredericksburg, yet the
Union troops swept forward unmind-
ful~of the fire until they reached the
point where the Confederate infantry
could begin work. Shells exploded
in the mir or beyond the line, round
shot took men singly, and no great
damage was done until grape and
canister came into play. The Union
guns on the other bank of the river,
numbering at least one hundred and
and fifty, doomed away for several
hours ai the town and at Lees troops
above, yet they did not cripple the
enemy as much as the fire from a
single infantry regiment.
At Savage station, when Mcclellan
was changing base, Union batteVy
was charged by a Confederate regi-
ment. They came across an open
field, in plain view and on level
ground, with six guns playing away
on them, yet they captured the bat
terry with loss Of only eleven men
killed, and four Of those were killed
by one shell. A Union regiment ral-
lied on the guns, fought over them
hand to hand and captured then, and
in ten minutes each regiment lost
one hundred men.
It is popularity supposed TO be a for
lorn hope when men rush forward on
O battery, but any old soldier would
take his chances there sooner than
trying to dislodge infantry from N
stout rail fence. At second Bull Run
the writer's regiment swept forward
to capture some field pieces which
had got their range down fine and
were creating considerable havoc.
There were four cannon, ,and they COW
cred about the same front that the
advancing regiment did. They used
shell at first against US, and in twelve
or more rounds we lost only three
men. They then changed to grape
and canister, and before reaehing the
guns our total loss was fifteen men.
i We marched square at the cannon,
preserved a good front, and theartilI.
erists could not have had a better
chance. Had we been advancing on
one hundred infantry behind fence
or in riAe-pits our loss would haYe
i been foAr times as great.
/ At Gettysburg more than 400 can-
non belched away for hours shaking