Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1880-10-05
Hideous Face OF War.
SOME AWFUL HORRORS COMMON no TIE
HATrLE-F1ElD.

l
,oud -moutl,cd cannon and the m''r"c'-
ons muskctry have ceased their WORK
that the hdcons face of war shows IT.
self to make men shnddcr and turn away
Soldiers who have not gone over u ba1'o'
field or been one of u burial party, have
missed tho grilnness and awf'lly OF
war.
After Gettysburg, ono Of the Union
burial parties buried eighty Federal sol
dies in one trench. They were all from
- New York regiment, and all seemingly
fell dead at one voIlcy. They WEI"
almost in line, taking up little more
room than live men. All OF them were
shot above the hips, and not one OF them
lived ten minutes after being hit Here
Inv then what was u full company OF
men, whipped b,h by ono single vol''y
~ they advanced to,the charge. Some
had their muskcts so tightly Sraspcd
TINT it took tho full strength OF man
to wrest them away. Others died with
arms outstrotchcd, and Others yet had
their hands claspcd over their heads,
and % nevor-to-bc-forgotten expression
on their faces.
At Fair Oaks the Third Michigan had
jts first real baptism Of fire. The boys
hnd been held back on other OCCASIONS,
md now when given the opportunity
thcy went for the enemy posted III inc
edge of the woods on the donble-qu'ck'
and with yclls and cheers. A part OF
the regiment had to swim acoss glade,
in 40 doing lost fifty or sixty men IN the
spacc of sixty seconds Ono company
lost twenty men who went down TO
rcthcr in one spot and scarcely moved "a
limb after falling. Detail OF five mon
were made from each company to adj
yapcashs sharp shooters, ana OF these
fifty who plunged into the woods as u
skirmish line only six came ont awe
and every ono of these was wounded
from one to three times.
At Cold Harbor u shell exploded IN al
Ohio regiment advancing against bat
tery, and sixteen were wiped out IN al
instant. Ofthcsc nine were blown to traS
mcnts, and the others horribly muIilatcd
The battery was firing thirty or fort
shells per minute, and this was the worl
of q single one. One discharge of crap
in this same night killed fourteen me-
in q Michigan regiment, and q New Yor
regiment, which went in with FOB me
in line, came out with only 3GO. On on
acre of ground the burial party toun
over 700 dead men. In u bit Of wood
where the battle lines had FLASHED, moi
than $500 dead were found in u space Il
wider than square in city and II
morc than three times as long.
Y
At tho battl6ofSavasc Station, duriI
McClollan's change of base, solid sh'
fired from Federal tield-piccc into I'll
head of an infantry column marching |
fours, killed twenty ono men and hor
before its progress was checked. III
first ten men were reduced to bloo'
pulp, and the others crushed and br"'S'
to death. At this same battle " re1
shell exploded under a Federal gun al
killed four artillcrymcn, dismount'
the gnn, wounded two men, and the b
of it flew off at tangent and killed
second lieutenant of infantry who "
eighty rods away.
fredericksburg, as the United Stat
infantry marched in solid masses up +
valley beyond the town, the Conicdcra
opened fire from behind stone WI;
Tho fighting along the line was over
ten minutes, and 5000 FcdcraIs lay dc
within reach of each other. In ma
cases three or four men had fallen o.
each other A shell from u gun on
hill exploded in the midst of some N
Hampshire troops and killed % scrgca
% corporal, and twelve prvatcs,
wounded six others. Before tho I'm
troops crossed the river, and while sh
,ny the town, u shell struck house
exploded in u room where there were
soldiers and a citizen. All were bic
to pieces, and three citizens i'll re
directly overhead were also killed.
Perhaps the most destructive W
made by u shell among troops Occur
atcw miles below Vicksburg. A Fed
gunboat was fired upon by light artll
from the bank, posted in plain vi
There were two six-poundcrs worl
close together, and each had fired
when tho gunboat opened with % 81:
four poundcr. The shell struck bctv
tho two guns and exploded, The
were thrown high in the air and c
4 ia, ,,,,nI n