Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-07-03
A BATTLE PICTURE.
bringing Field battery into Ac


Did you ever see battery take position?
=. III hasn't the thrill Of a cavalry charge, nor
the grlmneSs OF a line Of bayonetS moving
slowly and determinedly on. but there is pc
cunar excitement about ii that makes old vet
Grams rise In their saddles and cheer.
we nave been lighting at the edge of the
woods. sEvery cartridge box has been emptied
once ana more, ana fourth OF the brigade has
melted away In dead and wounded and missing.
MOI cheer Is heard In the whole brigade. We
S know s mat we are being driven foot by foot.
nne VIII 60 to pieces and the enemy Will pour
through the gap.
Here comes help,
Down the crowded highway gallops a battery.
Withdrawn from some other position TO save
ours. The field fence is scattered while you
S co., count thiIty, and the guns rush for the
riders 10 each gun. over dry bitches where a
farmer would not drive wagon through
ciumps OF pushes. over logs foot thick, every
team nsrae s On !ne gaiop every rider lashing his
US !oIget the foe In 'front.' The guns Jump two
Ieet nigh as the heavy wheels strike rock or
log, oat not horse slackens his pace, not
ca!Loheer loses his seat. Six guns, six Gals
sons, Sixty horses, eighty men race for the
prov OF the hill as II he who reached tt first
would be knighted,
A moment ago the battery WAS q confused
moo. we LOOK again, and the six guns are in
gosiliol, Ine aetached horses hurrying away
, Inc ammunition ann. chests open, and along our
me runs The command, Give them one more
voney and fall back to support the glns,r We
have scarcely obeyed when boom, boomi boosny
olens the battery, and jets OF fire jump down
fought and deSpaired. "
The shattered old brigade has chance to
Dreathe Ior the first time in three hours as we
form line OF battle behind the guns and lie
ooNn. what GRIM cool fellows those cannon
GERS are: Every man is a perfect machine
bullets plash dust into their faces, but they
90 not Vince Bullets sing over and arou nd
them. but they do not dodge. There goes ono
10 me earth, shot through the head as he
sponged his gun. The machinery loses Just
one beat-misses just one cog In the wheel
ana then works away again as before
Every gun is using short fuse SHE'LL The
ground shakes and trembles-the roar shuts
long, and the shell 60 shrieking into the
swamp to cut trees short off-to NOW great
gaps in the bushes-to hunt out and mangIe
men until their corpses cannot be recognized
as human. You would think tornado was
bowling through the forest. followed by pillows
OF flre. and yet men live through it-aye, press
forward to capture the battery! We can hear
their shouts as they form for rush.
Now the shells are changed for grape and
canister. and the guns are served so fast that
all reports blend into one mighty roar. The
shrek OF Shell is the wickedeSt sound In war
but nothing makes the flesh crawl like the de-
moniac singing, purring. whistling grapeshot
and the serpentltke hiss OF canister. Mems
legs and arms are not shot through but torn
Off. Heads are torn from bodies and bodies
cut In two. A round shot or shell takes two
men out OF the ranks as it crashes through.
grape anu canister NOW swain and pile the
dead on top each other.
Through the smoke We see swarm of men,
1t is not battle line, but mob OF men desper-
ate enough to battle their bayonets In the flame
OF the guns. The guns leap from the ground
almost as they are depressed on the foe and
shrieks and screams and shouts blend into one
awful and steady cry. Twenty men out on the
battery are down, and the firing is inter-
Iupted. The foe accepts it as sign of waver-
Ing and come rushing on. They are not ten
feet away when the guns give them a last
shot That discharge picks living men Off their
feet and throws them into the swamp, black
eDed, bloody mass.
Up now. as the enemy are among the
guns! There is silence of ten seconds. and
then the flash and roar OF more than three
thousand muskets. and rush forward with
bayonets. For what? Neither on the right
nor left nor in front of us is living foe! There
are corpses around us which have been struck
by three, four and even six bullets. and no.
where on this acre of ground is a wounded
man! The wheels Of the guns cannot move
until the blockade OF dead Is removed. Men
cannot pass from caiSSon to gun without climb
ing over w1nrOwS OF dead. Every gun and
wheel is smeared with blood-every foot OF
grass has its horrible stain.
Historians write OF the glory Of war. Burial
parties saw murder where historians saw
glOrV-DptrOf Free Press