The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1880-05-06

the thread of my own experience y, the momen, OF
three years of cenhnement. torture, and ind:anity. su !.
fered at the hands of the BEST government the world
ever saw" For convenience l use the third person
III the following narrative. p A. :.
AT COOL AkBOR.
Thus ended the battle
OF Cool Arbor. or Coal Harbor. as it is
differently spelled. Burnside had been
roughly MISUNDERSTANDING his tenn
porary surprise and capture of a portion of
Breckenridge's line. Grant is said to have
ridden along his lines after battle a pict IRE
of detection. The men also were moody
wondering among themselves if this bloody
buttlng against Lees breastworks was to
slaughtered. On the following day there
was no fighting, but the picket-6re gave
great annoyance. The hostile lines were
less than half a mile apart in many places,
and by climbing into the tree-tops the Yam
kee sharp-shooters managed to pick off one
or two of our men every few hours. Lieuts.
Grey, and S., were shaking out their bedding
at sunrise, when a well-aimed shell from q
small canno which the enemy had brought
to the edge of the woods during the night,
split the blanket between them, and killed a
man several hundred yards to the rear. The
breadth of a hair in the sighting would
hdN NlilCu Ouc, II tuC. QUIET OF us, ana
saved the man coming up behind.
Shortly after dusk, a dreaded order came,
viz-Take your company out to the rifle
pits, for twenty-four hours" The dread
was not so much the danger, as the fatigue
and loss of sleep. 1t seemed as if we had
had neither rest nor sleep for months.
Therein Grant had a vast advantage over
Lee, since he knew there was little proba-
bllity OF the latter assuming an offensive
movement whereas our men were obliged
to toll all day in strengthening the works,
and were kept on the alert all night by real
or false alarms. Rarely did they fall into a
nap ere a sudden outbnrst of musketry at
the rif1e-pits would call the whole line to
perhaps IN a drenching rain, after which it
was not easy to drop asleep again.
AMONG HI HooTING OWLS.
About . p. m. orders came directly from
headquarters for Lieut.. S. to hold his line
at all hazards, even if every man were bayo-
Melted in the rit1e-pits; as it were better to
loose two or three dozen men in checking
q rush of the foe, than permit the main line
to be surprised III their night-caps, SO to
speak, as had happened Oh Breckenridge
front. This, OF course, put an end to all
hope OF even a momentary nap during the
night. Ihe men were uneasy many of
them being conScrlpts from nearly every
Southern state AMI ready to fire or run. or
both. at the swapping Of q twig. The line
OF rife pits extended through the depths Of
q woods, densely grown up with young
pines, whose continual soughing and rustl-
ing under the nigh wind, aided by the
melancholy " Uho-o' jcho-oi -
OF the Swamp-Owts, served to excite the
nerves Of the men, unused as they were, 10
S,r,B ctr,,.ticp. and nvYoo+i n r r, ro.air-o n
fatal bullet from some slulking foe at any
n
At iay-break Lieut.. S. despatched a man
to inform Col. Berkeley of his suspicious.
and the significant >oun Is heard during the
night; adding that he was so confident the
evenly were IN motion be would himself IN
dertake TO scout the woods in front to ascer-
tain the fact. Gen. Hunton happening TO
be present, carried the message to Matte =.
Pickett, who at once authorized the scout
But you must be very cautious. =. said
Col. Berkeley, coming down to impress his
off before you know it. and | should really
hate 10 loose you "Would you :-veIl,
[ "a rather opposed to it, myself.
HUNTING BLUE-BIRDs.
Taking a short rife, of the "Mississippi'
pattern, and directing Sergeants Ihos. Farr
and Johnny James, in whose pluck be had
full confidence. to accompany or follow him
at a little distance to the right and left,
keeping a sharp eye in all directions for
concealed Yankees, Lieut.. S. set out upon
his last military expedition. The morning
was damp and disagreeable the skies very
dark, and a dripping mist settling amid the
timber SO that one could scarcely see for
twenty PAGES around him. Creeping through
the thicket, like an Indian on a trail, the
youth suddenly came upon an unpleasant
reminder of the nature Of his undertaking.
The figure Of man lay half concealed amid
the bushes!
DEAD ANIL THE BUSHES.
But there was no need to spring back, and
cover him with the rife He had fired his
last shot. Moreover he wore the Carolina
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