The Republican journal., 1882-04-27
NUMBER IT,.
Sketches of Army Life.
SECOND SERIES. NUMBER FOUR.
WOUNDED, AND TO THE REAR.

passing through my left ankle. 1t is impossible
to describe the sensations experienced by a
person when wounded for the first time. The
first intimation | had that | was wounded fell
upon the ground. My leg was numb to my
body, and for Il moment fancied that my foot
had been carried away. But soon learned the
true condition Of my situation Our regiment
was rapidly retreating, and the rebels a. rapid
ly advancing The forest trees around me We're
on fire, and the bullets We're falling thick and
fast If | remained where | was, the most IA
vorable result that | could hope for was cap
tivity, which, in reality, would be worse than
death by the bullet on the field.
stood up. and, to my JOY, found that my leg
was not entirely useless, | could step with it,
and so long as it remained straight | could bear
my weight upon it. But when bent at the knee
il refused to bear me up, and | would fall t.
the ground. Under existing circumstances
determined to retreat, | threw off all my bag
gage and equipments, and turned my face to-
wards the line Of breastWorks, which we had
that morning built. Fea" lent wings to my
flight, and away | dashed. Frequently my
wounded leg would refuse 10 do good service,
and as result ] would tumble headlong upon
the ground; then rising would rush on again.
and doubt if there has beer Il champion on the
who has made such a record of speed "a made
on that retreat through the Wilderness. In my
haste | did not keep 50 fur to my right as
should have done, and consequently was obliged
to cross the lower end of the field over which
we had made our charge. 1t was a sad specta-
Gle, that lonely field in tile forest. Here and
there wounded man was limping painfully to
the rear Dead men, and others wounded too
severely to move, were scattered thickly upon
the ground. As | was crossing the lower cor
ncr of the field, to my surprise and horror the
rebel line of battle came out in its upper edge.
some fourth of mile from where | was rum
ming. Almost at the same moment the rebels
appeared in the field A Union officer whom |
have always supposed to be General Bartlett
our brigade commander, also came ont in the
field not twenty rods from the rebel line.
lie was on horseback; not Il staff officer was
with him. His uniform was torn and bloody
Blood was trickling from several wounds in hi,
discover why our line of battle had not con
nected with the Si,,th corps. The rebels saw
him the moment he emerged from the forest
and called upon him to surrender, while a wild
ven rang along their line aS they saw their fan
cicd prize. But they did not know the man
with whom they had to deal. Shaking his ti>t
at them in defiance, he put spurs to hi, horse
and dashed away. He was Il target for every
rifle in the rebel line. Five hundred guns vert
pointed at him. and five hundred bullets WhiS
tied around him, the enemy pursuing As they
fired. 1t was It brilliant ride for life. with all
the odds against the daring rider Bravcls h,
rode in the midst of that storm. as if death haG
no terror for him. His >teci was noble ami
NAL, and ut Il three minute GAIT bore hi, master
from his pur>litrs. Each seemed to bear {;
charmed life over onc-h9f the distance across
that field had been passed and yet the rider sal
erect upon the >teed That WAS bearing him on
ward With such tremendous speed. \ deer
ditch must DC crossed before they could gain the
cover Of the forest. 4 ditch dug many wears
before five On ~iN feet deep and ten OF twelve
in width. The rebels knew the ditch was there
and sent up Wild ycl Of delight, a> they fan
cicd thr officer would be dc uytd in crossing
ana % fall into their hands. The horse and
rider evidently saw the obstacle AZ the sumo
moment, and prepared to meet it Firmly the
rider >a in his saddle, and gathered the reins OF
his horse with tirm hand. | never bohcld ;
noblcr spectacle than that presented by the gal
liant ~tcrd-his no>trilS dilatcd, his ears pointeC
forward; his eyes seemed to flash with the fire
of conscious strength As he made the fearful
leap. For Il moment | thought they were safe
bur rebel bullets pierced the horse, and turnn.
Il complete SomcrS9Ilt he fell stone dead. bury
ing his rider beneath him as he fell. Again ht
rebels chccred and rushed on. but to my SUI.
prise. the officer, with the assistance of a few
wounded soldiers, cNtriratctl himself from hi,
dead horse, ran across the edge Of the field. ant
made his escape. ! also entered thr woods anC
continued to run 1T the ton Of my speed until
reached the brea>tWorl~ where | found ON
line Of battle. passed beyond these and went
back 4 mile Or more in their rear to our division
hospital.
Many wounded men had already arrived
h.
tables had been erected under the trees around
the house, where the hospital had been estab,
l>hed. Wounds Were dressed and limbs ampu-
tated with Il fearful lapdity. only the most
serious cases Were attended to. GrOans and
shriek> filled the air a> the fearful work went
on Those We're terrible hours. How plainly
they are pictured upon my mind, OF course
my wound would receive no attention where
there We're so many others of dangerous char
actcr. Under 4 tree, without blanket, laid
and listened. The line of battle was now
well formed, and the conflict was raging in
AL its horror. How can | describe it? For
a few moments, perhaps. all would he quiet.
Then upon the right. where the Sixth corps was
in line, there would be I yell, followed by ter
rifle musketry fire lasting forten minutes. while
all along the remainder Of the line there would
be silence. Then suddenly yolley on the left.
Then all along the entire linc-until it seemed
as if the Wilderness itself throbbed under the
terrible conclusions. Thus the battle ragged
that afternoon and night, the day and night
that followed them, and the succeeding day.
At times the firing would seem to be falling
back, the voieS appearing nearer and nearer
then the tides would change. and roll back in
the other direction. All the time wounded
men We're streaming back from the line of bat
tie: and such rumorS as Were in circulation in
regard to the situation of the army. one wound
ed man would say, Just as | was wounded
there came Il report that Lee had seized the
fords in our rear. and there is no way to es-
cape Another would come back with the
story that the rebel army had tlanked our line
of battle, and was in our rear Scores of re-
ports all different, and yet all agreeing that our
army was outgenerallcd, and that we were de-
feated. We thought Of our comrades who had
perishcd by hundreds: of the Northern homes
to be made sorrowful when the intelligence
reached them of their death and of our defeat
We had expected so much from General Grant
and now he was to be defeated as other generals
before him had been. We forgot our wounds
in the midst of these Sorrowful thoughts, and
many of those brave men wept like school boys
over the grave situation.
The third night came, and instnctively we all
Knew that some great movement was being