Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1880-08-18
THE NIGHTMARE or WAR.


cool. green woods A. our hacks,
the birds were singing. the butter
flies Autteriug about on erra;ic
wing. and COW stood under a
tree 10 our right and 'azilv chewed
her cud and switched away The
flies.
Il was midsummer. and the
scene was - quiet and peaceful
tina, our ewes would have grown
sleepy bad We not known that ten
minutes more was 70 change il in
70 a raging bell. In the woods be-
hind - We could hear The tramp
Of regiments and tr;-ades-in the
forest across the peaceful meadow
regiments and byiga3es Of the
enemy were coming into position.
One could have crossed the mea-
dow and scarcely notice any Of the
preparations for the bloody strug-
gle ready to begin
Now came the dreadful silence
which always falls upon al army
lust before the fame Of destruc-
ton i lighted. Il Is this silence
that makes men turn pale and
tremt,e II it Is only Eve minutes
it seems q whole day. There is
no loud talk-uo words Of jest.
The most reckless man feels the
weight Of that ominous silence.
II the line j 70 he dressed. the or
der Is given in low voice. and the
men step softly. The horses feel
the oppression a. well a. the men.
Some move uneasily about-others
stand perfectly quiet. ears pointed
forward and eyes searching the
woods beyond.
Crash! Bang Roar"
The opening Of the battle comes
as suddenly as a ,bunder-clap, and
there Is q movement Of relief up
and down the lines. The spell is
broken in an instant, and men
and horses are anxious 10 move.
The songs Of birds are replaced by
the roar Of guns. the sleepy haze
in the air gives way 70 a cloud Of
smoke. and peace stands aghast as
the murlerou, shells strike in solid
lines and scatter men or fragments
Of men over tie grass and even
among the limbs Of the trees.
We are ready to move. but we
stand a. if on parade. The bril-
-ade 20 the left swings out and the
one to the right j slowly hidden
By the smoke. Bullets are singing
over cur heads sai throwing up
dir; IN front, bu; We are held there
uuti. the curses Of the men be-
come loud AMI deep.
al Of a sudden the roar i in
creased. The enemy has planted a
battery on O bill 20 our left, and is
pluuEiuE sho, and she'll into the
flank Of al the troops on our right.
Down our front sweeps an avail
auche Of destructic-. clearing our
oxu lines. but SCATTERING others
beyond.
Nov we move AMI change front
20 face the battery. The line in
front Of u stalks grizzly into the
smoke. and the lins behind q:
makes it, presence known by q
steady tramp. tramp. tramp
One cannot tell whether ii is q
single regiment or a whole brigade
moving of 10 charge the battery
for the smoke has now dTifte6
down upon us until the tenth mar
70 the right or left can barely be
counted. We can hear no order
but the line goes straight ahead M
I'll clear Of a dip in the meadow
and then it suddenly springs for
ward. Men cheer. hut in that aw,
full roar the voice Of a man could
lot be heard ten feet away.
Men fall to the right and left
The line stumbles over corpses a
il hurries on. There are flashes il
the smoke-cloud. terrible explo
sions in the air, and men are step
ped on or lesped over as they
throw up their arms and fall upor
the grass and scream out in agony
Of mortal wound. II is a night
mare Of death. The rank and Ole
hear no orders, see no officers, and
yet they push on, the line now
dressed as II on parade-again
bent like craving serpent. Bay.
onets are Fixed, but we are right