Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1881-02-28
Strange happenings In Battle,

Men mlgut wtlle Iur auudrcd years Ut the
c2Tious phases Of Var snd still leave the subject
| fresh. War is g lottery, aad the prizes arc
| shot, SHE'LL Wounds scd death. Tens Of thou
sirds OF men served years 10 the late war and
| returned hoG1o. 10 Thousand cases recruits
were killed within twenty four hours after
roschitg the fron;. Wal missiles are 90 re,
Spetols of persons, and the soldier who fights
an ell days battle withou, receiving wound
may be killed 10 his ten, at night by the acc
dental discharge Of a mUsket.
Al the battle of FrankIio the first she'll ssnt
RON the first Uoi9n t.id piecs to open fire
killed tWeDty six CoHiederates. TIE next five
shells from this sa@e gun either failed 20 ex.
p!oCe or cleared ;hc adViGclug iiuCs La this
same fight tie horse of Confederate colonel
was cus tqlsro 10 Two by shot sod the rider
csc,ped Luhurt. Ten minutes after Uyiou
officer behlud The csrthwo.kt stumbled aud fell
forward or the ground snd broka bis oeck.
lu ons Of the assaults on 1 ,rt Wagner, in
Charleston Hsrbor, the iron c d fleet assisted
by lsnd batteries eunbering twenty seven heavy
cannoo, bombsded the tort tor two hours be-
lore killing single soldier. From seventy to
eighty heavy csnnen were !uriag three tons of
iron lutc lae iors each minute. and yet no one
mas hurt uptiI over thrte hundred tens of
SOLID doaIl" had teen wasted. As an offset
10 this, witness size Wo.k of single solid shot,
throWu from Federal gunboat Oh tho lower
Mississippi a Confederate f5ing battery
Was Just tsklrE pcs ion, and one piece had al
reuGi Upouri Gre Tbs FEDERAL snot was di-
reced at this piece TnJ big mass Ct iron
sIru>k tha SIX p1u1dcT square ou the rDuzz Q
and upset euu aad carriage. A piece oil tne
uluzz|e Weighing atcut twenty pounds was
OICk % Oft, and this fJw to the iei. ard killed
tTO meni Three ueu were wounded BY smaller
fragments OF flying spiioters. The Dig shot
r'xi struck aud .xpl1dcd cslssOn, killing three
mti anG E0uEdirg two otb9rs. From the
ca!sSop II Iuru 10 !he tight, killed hcrse,
smashed Wlre of Fl Ia piece aud crushed
Lie leg OF sergcscs 10 bloody mass, That
o?e shot So 6la1reatiz d the battery that il
mbtred W. aud dashed away to ever
While beev1 uIdasuoc is necessary 10 reducing
lor,s ard car. hHv.k-, it is doub.iul if there was
u!y prof. 10 the WDik OF the biz guas carried by
tho iron oIads on tbc rivers Whcr nlcClcllan
tell back he lad the ooser oil guoboats aud
somo writer's have cla'm3d that their fire saved
tls army iron capture. So far as tie Con!ed-
crate records show, the loss by tho hundreds of
onormuu5 shells throwu ever the hCats OF our
troops uto the woods by taese greet cannon did
not araauot 10 a hundred ncu. They were a
ncR thioc then, aud the lot Of the awful
crash aud trsmocdous explosion Was demoraiiz-
Ing on tho troops 10 liut.
Union guubost On the White River threw
throe shells ilto Uonfedcrae camp, killed
aearIg fifty men aud routed o force of 500,
Within week attcr thai event the Confederate
Gsuera Shelly planted four ri COS of flying
artillery 90 tho lovee Wlhlu 400 toet OF the
same Ruuboat at aachcr. aud without the least
cover tor msn or guns, kept up the fight for
" + an hour, or uottl the gupboat backed out
OF iG and sea ned aw,y.
Tho charc.S ir oltcry can be figured down
tlnc sod certain pr ceat oi ec.pes is al
lowed l1 steam1os, exp xpl3sion, but he who
goes 10 var has 1othins TO corso!e him, He
may dodge 2G0 pcusds she'll AID be killed by
Two buckshot dc may reooive d z9n bullets
and live oD, or tho first one may bs ,ts He
may ride 10 The widest charge u1hurt, and be
may b. killed hv a stray bullet / C ;ds bis camp
fire. - Detroit Free Press