The Red Cloud chief., 1882-02-02
Petersburg. Va, During the lombard.
ment.

ment.
There was 4 certain street cOrnr'
which was under the fire Of the Fedora
sharp-shootcr, by day. and at least ;
dozen people were killed there. Cit
z"n- would hurry around the corner by
night. and a sign Of ..Dangcr-Look
out" hung there by day. At length tn,
boys hit upon an idea Procuring !
Confederate uniform they stuffed it Will
straw, arranged a rope and pully I,
work him. and next morning the fun
began. The Yankee >harp>hDUtcr afsl
off saw 4 Peter>burycr standing upright
on that forbidden corner. - if il wcr,
the safest place in the world. WIpinc
his eyes To make sure he Was not d",
cciyed. the Yankee drew a bead on the
reckless intruder and saw him drop. In
ten minutes Il second one appeared. aud
4 bullet, likewise. laid him low. When
night closed down that >harp-shDn,er
must have thought the war was aluro>;
al end. a. In" boys had let him plug the
straw man forty or fifty times. Tn"
bullets passed through him and were
fla,tencd against a wall. and even these
long Years hay" not ctFaced the lead col
orcd spots. On the q VI iay the dum-
my was killed about twenty times. and
on the mex he was detected. The
>~harp>hoot"r had probably secured a
telescope and discovered the cheat.
Deep disgust prevented his firing an
other shot for several DAYS.
The houses on the south side Of the
city under the range Of the hills were
in plain view If n of Grant forts.
and the residents had some wonderful
escapes. On onc occasion 4 woman
who wa hanging out clothes in the
ward had the Cluthcs-ba>kct. standing
got over ten feet way. Knocked sky
nigh 10y a solid shot, which continued
on through the pi@-p"n, broke a soap
kettle, smashed into the wood->hcd and
brought up under the table in the
Kitchen.
Connected with the Tobacco Ev-
change al Richmond i aecntleman who
was living under the hill' in Peters
burg during the p~erilouS DAYS. After
several shot and she'll had passed over
his house his family left it for safer
quarters, but one evening he decided To
return. Everything was quiet for an
hour, and then a shot came booming
ovcr This was enough for wife and
children. but the husband rot mad and
declared he would stay there that night
if every gun in the Federal intrcnch-
mcntS was turned loose upon him. Half
All hour went by, and he was pattinw
himself on the back over his grit, when
the FedcralS suddenly got mad and
opened five or six heavy guns al the
hill. Shot and shell roarcd. Missed and
screamed. and the mans hair began to
crawl. He stuck there, however, until
boom. biSh. crash. came 4 cannon ball
a> biz a his head plump through II
side of the house and out of the other,
and then he flew out doors and struck "a
gait just Il little faster than CREASED
lightning. Singularlv enough, that was
the only shot which ever hit the house,
though dozens fell around it.
After Grant had his guns in position.
and more especially after he began
reaching out for the Weldon Railroad,
he could have Knocked Petersburg 10
pieces in twcntv-fuur hours. He would
probably have done 81 had there been
any excuse for it. hut there was none.
II 'iii''i' y Nv WIZ - biIi' wv
a half away, and Petersburg was held
only 10y non-comhatantS. Nevertheless,
Grant did not propose that anyone M
reach of his guns should sleep soundlv
or forget his presence. Occasional shots
We're, therefore, pitched into the city Ia
check any enthusiasm.
One night during an artillery duel to
the left of the Crater, the Federal guns
We're for n time 50 elevated that every
missile cleared the Confederate lines,
howlcd over Petersburg. and fell
among the houses under the hill. Onc
shell entered the window of Il house
and exploded in the parlor. A part Of
the front of the house was blown out,
one side demolished. the chamber floors
driven through the roof. and the whole
building weakened. The people had
removed, leaving most IF their goods.
AMI a dog Ia watch them. No
could say just where the dog WAS when
the explosion took place, but he was
not killed.
In the winter of 1864 n citizen. who
had unexpectedly received 5000 in
Confederate currency on an old debt,
determined Ia have a good, square din
ner. and company to help eat it. Rye
coffee. bacon. meal. rice and mola>>cS
were about the only provisions in mar
krt. but at a cost of 81 900 the citizen
Scrapcd together enough Ia justify him
in inviting 4 company of six friends.
The guests were in the parlor, the tt
BILE set. and the cook was over the
stove. when a she'll entered the dining
,,.p, ,Ir,,,.k a., IL & a.. ,,
The explosion 80 wrecked the roomthat
no one could enter it. The table, pieces
IF which | saw. could not have been de-
moliShed any better with an N. andthc
plaster in two or three other rooms was
shaken down. While all was excite
ment, and before any n really under
stood just what had happened. a>ccCnd
shell plunged into a lower bedroom in
another part of the house, alightcd on !,
the bed and there exploded. All
the pla>icron that side of the room and
overhead was shaken of. the walls
bulged out, the window glass shivcred
fine fragments, n bureau split Ia
kindlinTS. and Vet a looking-glasS WAS
ploSion was upward and outward, and
save a powder stain and 4 scorch the
bed was not damaged. These two mis-
SileS were the only ones which entered a
house on that block during the whole
and were probably thrown from
gun which had just been put in posi-
ton.
Scores of shot and shell fell upon the
and many pedestrians were
manned and killed. \ solid shot which
hit a chimney and then rolled off the
roof killed a colored woman who was
passing below. \ shell which fell neal
4 negro who WAS working in a garden
him into small pieces and cut the
handle of the hoe off within a foot Of
the socket. \ boy on horseback heard
n whirr and saw a flash. and the next
he knew he was seated astride
Of a dead horse, a cannon ball having
torn the animals jaws off. Escapes
were both wonderful and innumerablc.
AMI when N sees the bullets in win