Sharp County record., 1881-02-03
Soldiers Under Fire.

| whenever you Cdu Huu d SOIulCl NHO'
under fire, aims low and shoots to make
every bullet wound or kill, you will find
fifty who are nervously throwing away
ammunition, seeming to reason that the
reports of their muSkets will check or
drive the enemy. And yet this ner-
vousness need not be wondered at, for
they are playing a game of life and
| death.
At Malvern Hill seventeen soldiers,
belonging to an Ohio regiment, took
cover in a dry ditch, which answered
admirably for a ritle-pit. A Georgia
regiment charged this little band three
times and were three times driven back.
The fire was low and rapid and the loss
in front of their guns was more than
100 killed in ten minutes. Regiments
have been engaged for an hour without
losing over half that number The fire
of these seventeen was SO continuous
that Mcclellan forwardAd a-britade 10
their support, believing that an entire
regiment had been cut off.
At Mine Run the writer was Just in
rear of New York regiment which was
suddenly attacked. A single company
of Confederates, cut of from the regi-
ment and lodging about to rejoin it,
suddenly debOuched into field and
found itself face to face with the Union
regiments. Fighting commenced at
once. A regiment fought company,
both lying down for cover. | lay so
near a Third Sergeant that could
touch his heels and watched his fire.
Every time he pulled the trigger he
elevated the muzzle of his gun at an
angle of forty-fve degrees instead OF
depressing it for the enemy lying down.
| saw him repeat this operation four
teen different times The man next to
him fired as many bullets plump into
stump in his front and the man on the
other side shot into the ground about
ten feet away. Others must have been
wasting bullets the same way; but that
little company was shooting to kill. In
that ten minutes of fighting the New
Workers suffered a loss of thirty-six
killed and wounded and then a bayOnet
charge doubled them back and opened
gap for the little bands escape. |
walked over the ground and found one
dead and one wounded Confederate.
Not a gun, blanket, knapsack or cam
teen had been left behind.
Any soldier will no doubt fight better
under cover than he will in the open
field, but cover does not always insure
good fighting. At Pittsburgh Landing
5000 Union soldiers Skulked under the
river Dank. safe from the encmy's fire,
and many of them threw their guns in
to the river rather than fire shot.
Again at Yellow Tavern, five of Clusters
men dismounted and lying behind a
fence, held five companies of cavalry
at bay for twelve minutes and killed
twenty-four men and this without get
ting a scratch in return.
At Mine Run Union regiment went
into the fight with sixty rounds of am
munition per man, making total of
perhaps 1000 bullets. This regiment
was placed TO act as a check to any adj
vance of the enemy in certain direc-
ton. They did not see thirty Confed-
crates during the whole day and yet it
was twice more supplied with ammuni-
ton. IL fired away at least $4,000 bull
lets and yet oniy killed two rebel skir:
mishers.
One cool man will do more execution
with his musket than thirty men firing
at random. One must have a will strong
enough to crowd down all emotions,
and oblige his hands to cease trembling
at the word. Out OF every regiment,
not more than one hundred men were
fighters. These shot to kill. The
others shot at random and killed only
by accident. Thirty cartridges would
las. a good fighter for -all=daY iight.-
The ordinary soldier would fire out his
sixty in an hour and a half, and like
enough have his eyes shut half the time
when he pulled the trigger. member
of the Second Michigan Infantry hit the
case pretty we'll at Blackburn Ford.
When the skirmishing began he counted
his cartridges and SAID:
Just sixty of 'em, and I'll fire three
a minute and have these fellers licked
in just twenty minutes to a tick!"-
Detroit Free Press.