The Worthington advance., 1882-02-02

For toll and grief are forgotten,
And lite is . heavenly thing.
The music ends, and ehiver.
Fol- my soul has returned to earth.
And the silence falls like sorrow
Which blAnches the face Of mirth.
Harper for February.
THE FIRST DAY AT GErTYS BURG.
From Harry N. Kiener's ..Reoolleotion, Of .
Drummer Boy" in January st. Nicholas
Colonel, close up your men and move
on as rapidly as possible"
1t IS the morning Of July !, and We are
crossing bridge over stream, as the staff
omcer, having delivered this order for us,
dashes down the line to hurry up the regi-
ments IN the rear. We get up on high
range OF hills, from which we have mag
nlhcent view. The day is bright, the air is
1resn and sweet, and the sun shines out of
an almost cloudless sky, and Is We gaze
way on yonder down the valley to the lett
| IN mld-air: Very small and miles away, as
the faint and long-boming boom" of the
exploding shell indicates, but it means that
| something is going on yonder away down in
tne valley. in which, perhaps, We may have
hand before the day is done. See! An
other, and another! Faint and far away
comes the delayed @boom!" "boom?" echo
ing over the hills as the staff officer dashes
along the lines with orders to double
| quick! double quick!"
Four miles Of almost constant 6ouble.
| quicking is no light work at any time.
| least of all on such day as this memoir
able first day Of July, for it is hot and
| dusty. But we are in our own state now.
| boys, and the battle is opening ahead, and
it is no time to save breath. On We 20,
now up hill. now over stream, now
checking our headlong rush for moment,
Tor We must breathe little. But the word
comes along the line again, "double- quick"
| Will, while the cannon ahead seem to be
getting nearer and louder. There's little
said IN the ranks, Tor there is little breath
Tor talking, though every man is busy
| enough thinking. We all feel, somehow.
that our day has come at last-as indeed il
has!
We get in through the outskirts Of Get.
| tysbure, tearing down the fences of the
town lots and outlying gardens as we 90:
we pass battery of brass guns drawn up
beside the seminary, some hundred wards
in front Of which building, in strip of
meadow-land, We halt, and rapidly form
| the line Of battle.
General, shall We unsling knapsacks?"
shouts some one down the line to our di-
| vision general, as he is dashing by.
Never mind the knapsacks, boys; it's
the state now!"
And he plunges his spurs up to the row.
els in the tanks of his horse, as be takes
the stake-and-rider fence at a lean and ia
away.
@Unfurl the flags. color r-puard,"
Now forward, double"
Colonel, we're not loaded yetv'
laugh runs along the line as, at the
command LOAD at will-load" the ram
rods make their merry music, and at once
the word is given. Forward. donbIe.
quick! !" and the line sweeps up that rising
ground with banners gayly fying. and
cheers that rend the air-a sight once seen
never to be forgotten.
we drummer boys sit on our drums. and
watch the line golngin with cheers. Forth
WITH We geta smart shelling, for there is
evidently somebody else watching that ad-
have elevated their guns little too mncS
so that every shell passes quite over the line
and blows up the meadow sod about ma in
all directions. 40 -
Laying aside our knapsacks, We 20 to the
seminary, now rapidly filing with the
wounded. This the enemy surely cannot
know, or they wouldn't she'll the BUILDING
so hard! We get stretchers at the ambu-
lances, and start out fer the line of battle.
we can just see our regimental colors wav-
ing In the orchard, near log house about
three hundred ahead, yards and We starr
cut for it, on the lead and Daney behind.
There is one of our batteries drawn up to
our left q short distance as we run. It is
engaged in sharp artillery duel with one
OF the enemy's. which we cannot see, al
though we can hear it plainly enough, and
straight between the two our road lies. So
re go, Daney and l, at lively trot, dodg-
ing the shells as best we can, till, painting
Tor breath, We So. down our stretcber m.
ler an apple tree in the orchard, in which
ander the brow Of the hill We find the reQi-
ment lying, one or two skirmish lines
ahead.
1 count six mon Of Go. O lying youder in
the grass-kil'ed, they say by single she'll.
Andy calls me away for moment to look
after some poor fellow whose arm is off at
the shoulder; and it was just time I cot
away, too. for Immediately a shell plunged
into the sod wherel had been sitting tears
ing my stretcher to tatters and plowlng up
great fnrrow under one of the boys who
had been sitting Immediately behind me,
end who thinks THAT was rather close sha-
Hng, wasn't it now2" The bullets whis-
t!ing overhead make pretty music with
their ever varying zip! Zip! and we
could imagine them SO many bees, only they
have such terrible sharp sting. They tell
ne, too, OF certain cavalry man dennis
Buckley, 9Th Michigan cavalry It was. as I
afterward learned-let history perserve the
brave boys name) who, having had his
horse shot under him, and seeing that first
named she'll explode in Co. with such
disaster, exclaimed, THAT is the company
tor mel" He remained with the regiment
oil day. doing good service with his carbine
and be escaped unhurt!
Here they come, boys: we will have to
go IN at them on charge guess!" Creep
ing close around the corner of the log
house. 1 can see the long lines of gray
sweeping up in fine style over the fields;
but l feel the colonel's hand on nv
shoulder.
Keep back, my boy; no use exposing
yourself in that way"
AS get back behind the house and look
around, an old man is seen approaching
ouS line through the orchard in the rear.
he is dressed in a long. blue, swallow
tailed coat and high silk hat, and coming
up to the colonel, he asks:
'~AAN yoA Aoe aA OAu C0up AA0 EU0 uHV0
a chance to fight in your ranks, colonel?"
Can you shoot?" INQUIRIES the colonel.
oh, yes, can shoot, reckon" said
but where are your cartridges?"
I've gotem here" says the old man,
slappine his hand on his pantaloons
pocket.
And SO, "old John Burns" OF who,r
every schoolboy has heard takes his place,
in the line and loads and fires with the best
OF them, and is left wounded and insensible
on the field when the day is done.
Reclining there under tree while the
skirmishing is going on in front ard the
SHELLS are tearing up the sod around us, I
observe how evidently hard d-pressed is that
battery yonder in the edge Of the wood,
about SO yards to our right. The enemy's
batteries have excellent range on the poor
fellows serving it. And when the smoke
lifts or rolls away in great clouds for mo-
ment, We can see the men running and
ramming and sighting and firing and wab-
bing and changing position every few min
utes to throw the enemy's guns out of range
little. The men are becoming terribly
few. but nevertheless their onns With a