The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-09-16
A Wilderness Episode.
A Battle Between Invisible Armies-The
Firm Contest in the Jungle.
["J. R." in Chicago Trlbune.l

had wood nights before, Out none III Wnlcn inc
enemy, as we'll as ourselves, were so complete
ly concealed as in this. 1t was not even Indi-
an fighting. never did any Of that but at
one time had been very industrious reader
OF dime novels, and if my recollection ID accu-
rate, in these veracious accounts of border war
fare, the scalp locks OF the aborigines were at
least, occasionally exposed. Here nothing
could be seen of the enemy or their doings but
the white smoke that belched out of bushes
and curled and wreathed in fantastic designs
as it slowly aoated upward through the hot
air. The tremendous roll OF our firing effectu-
ally shut out all other sounds. Here and there
man toppled over and disappeared, or spring.
ing to his feet, pressed his hands to the wound
ed part and ran to the rear. Mems faces were
sweaty black from biting cartridges, and a sort
of grim ferocity seemed to be creeping into the
actions and appearance of every one within the
limited range of vision. The tops of the
bushes were being cut away by the pounds OF
lead that tore through them, and we obtained
occasional glimpses of gray, phantom-like
forms crouching under the bank of cloud on
the opposite side.
/ have not now, and never had definite con-
ception of time or space in the battle of the
Wilderness. Looking over the ground, as
have within the past week, find that points
which in my recollection are very near each
other, are actually separated by considerable
distances, while others which appear from
memory to be removed from each other by
great intervals, comparatively speaking, are
near neighbors in the topography Of the field.
As to time, there is no appreciable lapse be-
tween sunrise and noon, while within that
ipfa ar n n
merits which seem to stretch away into hours.
For instance, know from the recorded time
of contemporaneous events that our occupancy
of the position taken at the time we reached
the line and commenced firing must have been
quite brief; yet multitude of little incidents
occurred there which it seems impossible to
compress into the few minutes of our stay.
All at olce, without any preliminary indica-
tions, there was great rush forward. i never
knew from whence came the impulse which
drove the line ahead, but with tremendous
yell and mighty surge the blue clad mass
plunged forward, bearing the confederate line
before it as pebbles are borne ON the ragged
front of an avalanche. 1t was one OF those un-
accountable things which create themselves
for particular emergencies. heard no order
given, and when made inquiry afterward
learned that none bad been given. It seemed
to be spontaneous conviction, flashed with
electric speed through the minds of the men,
that that opposing force had been there long
enough, and that fate had decreed them as the
instruments of its removal. Possibly the inf1u-
ence of the terrific charge OF the Second corps
and Wadsworth's division of the Fifth corps,
made about this time, was the cause OF the
movement. Before they had exhibited simply
a stubborn endurance; now they were impeiled
forward by fiery vigor, and, ike hounds on
the trail of wounded deer, In full cry they
dashed on.
A few hurried steps and we were at the po-
sition which had been occupied by the oppos-
ing line, but they had taken council Of
prude ice and were making themselves exceed
ingly scarce in the immediate foreground.
Here and there slouched hat dodging about
among the .rees was all that was visible OF the
force which had given us such warm recep-
ton; and even now, while on the run, there
were enough who made occasional halts and
sent back their cylindrical compliments to
make the result anything but agreeable to the
pursuers. We were among their dead and
wounded and as we swept along noticed
that most of them wore new uniforms and that
their soft felt hats had been but a short time
out of the box. Some, in their dying agony,
we're clutching the ground and the branches OF
the bushes that drooped over them; some were
trying to stand, and staggered about with
b'ood gathering like a red sweat on their torn
faces and falling drop by drop on the green
leaves. / stepped inadvertently on one who
as his soft, yielding body rolled over, glared at
me with his glazing eyes as l passed on. 1t
was wild whirl A few details came with
startling distinctness out of the confused pic
ture as the dark rocks lift their sharp outlines
above turbid, trembling stream. Our own
tire had mainly ceased, and over the roll of
musketry that came up from other parts oil the
line, above the cheers and yellS that peoDled
the gloomy environment as with shrieking
DEVILS rose the rustliDg tread OF thousands OF
eager feet. This hunting OF human beings
was royal sport, and none of us in that moment
of rabid exultation would have believed it pos
sble that but short distance in the future lay
our own rout. Now and then we overran lit
tie patches of "Johnnies," who were permit
ted to make their way to the rear, or slip
through to their own line, provided they chose
10 .ake that slight risk
ssWell end the war recht here. leftnantl"
was shouted in my ear by Davy Mills, stall
wart Scotchman of my company as he lum-
bered through the brush at my side.
/ "We will that, Davy," gasped back in re-
ply; for notwithstanding the fierce excitement
of the thing, had a sort Of dim consciousness
that both wind and legs were giving out, and /
thought if there was 10 be much more OF this
galloping over rough ground l should have to
prop my back against tree and take a rest.
Through the trees came glimpse OF open
sky. Thank heaven, we we're coming to
clearing, and there was promise OF d1sentan-
Cling ourselves from this horrid network and
getting full inspiration of fresh air. In the
woods the atmosphere was horribly hot, and
was so favored with the vapor Of gunpowder
that one could taste the sulphurous gas We
knew nothing of the grand pyrotechnic re-
ception we were to receive in the clearing, or
| protection of the timber. In the open ground
| 10 front rose little hillside, at the summit OF
| which was an extensive plateau The few fly
| ing Confederates still in sight skurried up the
| slope and disappeared. In a moment we came
| to the edge of the clearing, dsorganized yell
| ling mob. A narrow, swampy stream, branch
| of Wilderness run, skirted the foot of the hill
| side and wound away to The left, following the
| semicircular conformation of the ground. The
| slope was sparsely dotted with small pines and
| clumps of underground, and the red clay OF
| the fallow field showed dark and forbidding
| in the open spaces between them. To the
1 right and left rose a dense wall OF timber
| From the right where Burnside was supposed
| to have gone in with the Ninth corps, came no
| sound of battle-only an ominous silence which
| promised no good to US, because we were the
| extreme right flank of the force in this part OF
| the field, and were, in military parlance, "in
| the air. From the left came the long thun-
| dering roll of the Second corps and Wads-
| worth's division of the Fifth corps, who were
| driving the right wing of Lees army up the
| plank road Almost directly in front, on that
| road, a solitary gun at brief intervals sent
| shot hurting down the highway, and we could
| hear the crash whe. it struck the timber. Our
| FIRE had practically ceased, though few of the
| more enthusiastic were cracking away at the
| vacancies in the atmosphere where our friends
on the other side had disappeared. Out into
the clearing came our line with momentum
| which was not exhausted until we reached the
level ground at the top of the slope. There
i the brigade halted in the. same unaccountaoe
fas ion in which it had started on its charge.
No effort was made to reform. We simply
came TO full stop and employed the time in
recovering our broken wind.
|