Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1880-10-09
Hideous Face OF War.
SOME AWFUL HORRORS COMMON TO TIE
BATTLE-FIELD.

of company might be whipped out,
and the other half fight OIL without the
knowledge of it. 1t is only after the
loud-lnOuthcd cannon and the murder
Gus muskctry have ceased their work
that the hideOus face of war shows it.
/ self to make men shudder and turn away
Soldiers who have not gone over battle
field Or been one of Il burial party, have
missed the grimncss and awfully of
war.
After Gettysburg, one 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 volley. They were
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
lay then what was a full company of
men, whipped out by one single volley
as they advanced to the charge. Some
had their muslcts so tightly grasped
that it took the full' strength Of a man
to wrest them away. Others died with
| arms outstretched, and others yet had
their hands claspcd over their heads,
and acknowledgement expression
OIL their faces.
At Fair Oaks the Third Michigan had
its first real baptism Of fire. The boys
had been held back on other occasions,
and now when given the opportunity
they went for the enemy posted in the
edge of the woods on the d0ubIc-quick,
and with ycls and cheers. A part of
the regiment had to swim acoss q glade,
in 80 doing lost fifty or sixty men in The
space of sixty seconds. One company
lost twenty men who went down to
ge,acr in one spot and scarcely moved a
limb after falling. Detail Of five men
were made from each company to adj !
vance as sharp shooters, ana of these
fifty who plunged into the woods as a |
skirmish line only six came out alive
and every one of these was wounded |
from one to three times.
At Cold lIarbOr shell exploded in an |
Ohio regiment advancing against Il bat
terry, and sixteen were wiped ont in an
instant. Ofthese nine were blown to frag-
mcnts, and the others horribly mntilated.
The battery was firing thirty or forty |
shells per minute, and this was The work
Of a single one. One discharge OF grape
in this same night killed fourteen men
in u Michigan regiment, and New York |
regiment, which went in with 1O3 men |
IL line, came out with only $50 On one
acre Of ground the burial party found |
over 700 dead men. In a bit of woods |
where the battie-lincs had FLASHED, more
than 200a dead were found in a space no |
wider than square in a city and no
more than three times rs long
At the battle ofSavagc Station, during
ricClellan's change of base, solid shot
fred from Federal feldgpiece into the
head of an infantry colnlpn marching by
fours, killed twenty-one men and horse
before its progress was checked. The
first ten men were reduced to bloody
pulp, and the others crushed and bruised
to death At this same battle a rebel
shell exploded under Federal gun and
killed four artillcrymcn dismountcd
the gun, wounded two mcn and the but
Of it flew Off at tangent and killed
second lieutenant Of infantry who was
eighty rods away.
fredericksburg, as the United States
Infantry marched iii solid misses up the
valley beyond the town, the Contrdcrates
opened fire from behind stone wall.
The lighting along the line was over in
ten minutes, and 5000 Fcdclals lay dead
within reach of each other. In many
cases three or four men had fallen over
each other A shell from a gun on the
hill exploded in the midst Of some New
Hampshire troops and killed sergeant,
4 corporal, and twelve privatcs, and
wounded six others. Before the Union
troops crossed the river, and while she'll
ing the town, she'll struck house and
exploded in room where there were five
soldiers and citizen. All were blown
to pieces, and three citizens in room
directly overhead We're also killed
Perhaps the most destructive work
made by shell among. troops occurred
a few miles below Vicksburg. A Federal
sunboat was fired upon by light artillery
FROM the bank, posted in plain view.
There were two six-pounders working
close together, and each had fred a shot
when the g'nboat opened with sixty
four FOUNDER. The shell struck between
the two guns and exploded. The guns