The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-05-13
The Canrons Mouth.

open rlSul anu 4clt, VilNSio liSH diIu
shout, horses plunge and rear and guns
and caissons dash through and ever
everything until reaching the chosen
spot. A line Of men waiting for the
fight to omen will show pluck and en-
thusiasm with the booming of the first
gun, and the faster the battery is worked
the more impatient will the supports
become for close work. No one will say
that an army could be successful with
out artillery, and yet those who hold
the "cannon's mouth to be king1Qf ter
rors or the jaws of certain destruction
will feel disappointed when they come
across statistics showing how little DAM
age is inflicted by cannon compared with
the musket.
1t is often said of man "He would
not be afraid to march up to a lannon's
mouth" and vet it is not high compli-
ment to his bravery. Just previous to
the first fight at Bull Run a brigade of
infantry made reconnaissance towards
Blackburn's ford to see how the enemy
was posted. A Michigan regiment, in
reserve just outside the fight, was opened
on by six field pieces N plain sight
The firing was rapid and lasted for half
an hour, and yet not a man in the reSi
ment was even wounded. Massachu-
sets troops, advancing into the woods,
fought against cannon mounted on
earthwork for fully twenty minutes, and.
vet all their loss was from the musketry.
On this occasion no less than two hun
bred round shot and shell were utterly
wasted.
During the Sunday fight at Bull Run
e full battery, posted on the left, and
Just outside the fight, kept up contin-
uous and rapid fire on highway three
quarters Of a mile away, over which the
Confederates were marching as they
went into action or changed positions.
Shot and shell could be seen to strike,
and outside of tearing a cover off an
army wagon and killing horse or two,
no damage was done.
At Fair Oaks the artillery fire was
fierce and seemingly destructive. Trees
were rent and shivered, great burrows
plowed in the ground, and shells
screamed everywhere over the battle
field. Yet the loss of life by musketry
was in proportion of twenty to one.
The Third Michigan Infantry lost more
men in five minutes by the infantry fire
than any brigade lost in all day by shot
or shell.
The daily papers used to make a great
ado over artillery duels, which were
pronounced fendish, blood thirsty, etc
At Antietam a Union and Confederate
battery, not more than half mile apart
and in plain sight of each other, had
one of these duels, lasting forty minutes.
The guns were worked FOR all they were
worth, and when the duel ended the
Union loss was horse killed, the
wheel of caisson shattered and two in
fantrymen lying in support killed. A
change of position sent the writer's reg
iment over the ground occupied by the
Confederate battery, and here were
found two disabled horses, dead artil-
lerist and the wreck of caisson. Dur
ing the forty minutes that these twelve
guns were banging away with such lit
tie result, four or five sharpshooters
killed more than dozen men and made
no fuss over it.
Lee had a splendid position for his
artillery at Fredericksburg, vet the
Union troops swept forward unmindful
of the fire until they reached the point
where the Confederate infantry could
begin work. Shells exploded in the air
or beyond the line, round shot took men
singlv and no great damage was done
until grape ami canister came into
play. The Union guns on the other
bank of the river. numbering at least
one hundred and fifty, doomed away for
several hours at 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 battery was
charged by a Confederate regiment.
They came across an open field, in plain
view and on level ground, with six guns
playing away on them, yet they cap
tured the battery with q loss of only
eleven men killed, and four of those
were killed by one shell. \ Union
regiment rallied on the guns, fought
over them hand to hand and captured