The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-06-09
AN INCIDENT OF THE WAR.

soldiers, won't you kin this snake g.
Thus spoke in a feeble voice q wounde7
Confederate Brigadier General TO a half
dozen Federal csvalrymen who belonged 70
the command following his retreating bri-
eade. He had been shot in the charge tire
Union forces had made upon his lines, and
was, when he called 10 the soldiers, terribly
wounded and weak from the loss OF blood.
A piece OF shell had struck him in the thigh
and a minnie ball had carried away his right
arm.
He had crawled beneath the shadow os q
great rock IN the edge Of the woods, IN order
to escape from the fierce ravs OF the sun.
which was heating down one July day I'm
1864, and he lay prone upon the ground. n
keep as much out OF the range OF iving brl-
lets as he could. A snake c1awled from ',r-
meath the stone and leisurely drew its slim
length over his face just as the victoriou
cavalrvmen came up. For few moment.
the soldiers were puzzled at his request and
thought that his Sufferines had made him de-
lirious. They soon. however. perceived the
reptile that had Clided over the forehead of
the helpless man and stopped Just beyond
Three Of them aliehted. Two'of the soldiers
raised him up. so that his shattered body
might not he made pathway for the snakes
return. while a third killed it with his sword
Then they carried the wounded officer back
in the yard Of the farmhouse near which the
charge hegan which had resulted so disss-
trously for him and his cause.
It had not been a great action. simply
hot combat between two small bodies q
troops. It might he called an incidentof the
war. when vie we'd in the light Of many great
fights. the story Of which books record. But
these incidents really make M the interest
ing part Of the history Of the great struggle.
Short and decisive encounters and sharp
Skirmishes very often had much 70 do with
the rssnlt Of the great battles which they
preceded. They rarely get in print howev-
ct, except through the newspapers, and are
seldom reviewed except when the soldiers or
officers directly interested meet and talk
about them.
Only few davs ago two gentlemen sto06
in the rotunda Of the Girard House. and re-
told the story OF the Carriers Farm FIGHT,
which took place on the afternoon Of the
Goth Of July, 1854, and recalled the above in
cident Both men were alike in one sense.
a their erect figures and martial bearing
told that they had been soldiers, One Of the
gentlemen was stout, of medium height.
with a large round face. --aan shavan. with
the exception af n small -oatee and nous
tache. A ponde~a7s under Jaw aud the pen
etrating C'ancns from p pair of light blue
ewes bet0kene5 the courageous qualities Of
the man. He leaned on q cane IN such e
manner ss to show that the traces OF the dan
gers. exposures and hardships attendant on
war, sti1 remained with him. In dress ho
resemhled a man from the North, one who
had lived there all his life and was welded
to ITS customs. The other gentleman was
also of medium height. but slimly bEilt Bs
wore a fun set Of dark brown whfskers.
thickly strewn with gray. A broad brim-
med hat, Of such size and style as to st
once proclaim the fact that the wearer wss
of Southern lineage, covered his head. The
right sleeve Of his coat was pinned TO ths
lapel and It was empty.
The larger man was Major General ". T
AveriU Of the Federal army, and the other
Brigadier General Robert D. Lilly, who In
the late war succeeded General Jubal A
Early in command of the old brigade he first
organized and commanded for the Confed-
eracv.
I Joined the group and found that these
men, who had opposed each other so often
during the late war, had met by accident at
ter this lapse Of time, and were engaged in
fighting the battle Of Carter's Farm over
again. The arm which belonged in the
sleeve which hung empty on General Lfly's
breast had been shot away in the fight by
the troops which Averill commanded, and ne
was the officer who lay in the shadow Of tn
rock wounded, while the Union forces, VII,
had inflicted the injuries upon him. were
pushing his troops beyond the wOOds.-Pbil-
adelphia Press.