The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1882-04-09
A SOLDIERS ADVENTURE.
A High Private Iu the NoRr Rank
TELLS About the Hattie Of ChauCeIIors-
vile Ia Army Slang.

Were you at Gettysburg
Gettysburg I bet you; lost leg there. Get
tysburg When Early got on our flank there the
first day, and doubled MS up aud sent us whooping
Into the town. things looked mighty blue for awhile.
got this clip from shell, and was laying on the
field, aud about night the Johunies picked me up
with lot Of other felers aud carried us into barn,
and a reb surgeon told me that my leg was goner.
knowed that well enough, and | wasn't very far
gone, because got strap out Of my haverSack rs
soon as was hit and strapped round above my knee
aud didnt lose much blood. tell you, he was Just
as tender as man could be- When he got out his
tools and give me the stun Just went OF In n sleep
and woke up all right, but kinder wandering.
knowed that was leg less but didn't take It all
In for awhile, aud then felt as though was Just
bound to so, and got kinder dumpy and down In the
mouth the next day. and prayed like the devil, but
the reb surgeon come In again and give us all big
snlftcr, and that kinder livened me up again. lie
made the steward bring us plenty Of water and told
us that he hadn't no ice but we must keep water on
our stumps and drink all we wanted; and you bet n
wounded man can drink water enough TO bust an OK.
remember Just as well as yesterday that he asked me
who was In command Of our army. told him Meade
was. IIethought was mstaken-it must beMcClellan.
Aud thon he asked me how many men we had, |
told him the durndest e--Says |; About two hum
dred aud fifty thousand lie looked at me kinder
curious and went out Of that barn. and sent fsller
of on mule, and bme-by he come back riding be-
hind lot Of stan onlCersl could seem through the
barn door-and ono OF 'em had leg, and was
strapped In his saddle. His orderly unstrapped him
and give him his cruches and he III the barn on
his clutches and asked for the reb surgeon, and he
brought him to where was laying. lie was a bloody
good-lookng oncer can Just tell you. lie had big
mustachc and swore like hll but he was as Kind as
man could he lie says: MY man, whose command
were you iny' told him was In Reynolds's corps.
and then he asked me, In careless kinder way, how
many men zen. Meade had. And told him that
when Hooker marched NJ through virginia IIaeck
sent seven eight corps from Washington TO Join us
In Frederick and that put about two hundred and
Atty thousand men under Meade. Well You bet he
was surprised, but he tried to hide 1t, and talked TO
his StaIi In quiet way, and then they went away,
and asked the steward who that ohccr was, and he
told me 1t was GEN Ewell. Wen, thinks |, 'l've
gammontd Gen. Ewell the wuSt he was ever gam
moned before and II I've got to die In this yer barn
feel id sorry FOR 1t, and hope TN have little
time to make 1t all right bafOre GO. felt kinder
dubious about dying with such a lie as that In my
mouth but never say nothing further then. There was
a-layln next to me handsome young eller who was
lieutenant in a Nreini, regiment who wasn't
much hult-just flesh wound in his arm-who asked
me what was my regiment. l told him was In the
1924 Pennsylyany. He Just raised mp little and
says: What :! and says again: 'The 4o2d Pennsyl
vany' lie give little whistle, and says to a Chum
of his who was laying next to him with wound In
bic foot; Gracious. Cap, men must grow on trees
mp IN .his country Four hundred and ninety two
regiments ron one State what's tho of us
people paayorng alout this thing any longer. We've
got TO put the nggers IN. these ID IankS will
drown us out with men?''
nAnd were you at Chaucellorsvile?n
'Yes, sir; and the way Gen. Lee Just bunny fug-
gled Old Joe down there--Jeeminy Christmas Why
do you that tho books tell cock and bull story
about old Joe being knocked down with shell when
he standing the porco of the housea Chan
ceorsyille? That all poppycock. What's the use
of telling such truck that can't tell you just
what was the matter. But give him corps or two
and he good egg; the whole army was too many
guns for him. But he better than Whiskers; lie
was the wust pin in the box. Outside of the Ninth
Corps of us cared for burnside, hut the
men did like Old Joe. Wunst when we had review |
when Burnside was in command, and he rode down
the lines there weren't cheer-not cheer In the
whole army Il had been Little Mac or Old Joe the
would have yelled their livers out. Old Goggles
was a kinder quiet cuss, ana the men didn' know
whether 10 like him or no, but he was always on
hand He got the newspaper fellers down on him
somehow, and he blamed much for not |
bouncing the Johnnes for all he worth the last
day at Gettysburg after the reb charge was broke up
"You see pard, 1t Just twenty year ago, come
next December, when that chnckle- headed Whiskers
carried over the bridges down to Fredericksburg,
and Bob Lee Just lag halnd the heights a-laughing
at us, and he shook the stuhag out of before we
knowed It, Well when we got back you can Just bet
the army was In mighty bad way-Oncers reslgning
and men deserving by the hundred-and the bottom
nearly fell ont of the whole thing, TN Hooker was
put in command and things picked up bully right
away. You see, we a-laying just where we was
along the sppahannock-before the Fredericksburg
fight, and staid there till April when stoneman,
with about ten thousand cavalry was sent OF TO get
on the JOhnnies' and slather things and away
he Went and he done just nothing at all, pard; so
let's drop him right here and lie the most
unfortunate cuss and never done anything anywheres
except try to pull wires get the command of the
Army of the Potomac.
"a few nights before that our regiment was down
to the river picket, and hollered Johnny
II he had any tobacker, and he says, Yes And
he says You got any coffeeS And says, Yes
And says If You say So III come over to- night,
when the captain ain't around. Aud he says, IAN
right And when 1t got good and dark padded
In Il skif, with haversack full of coffee, and
the Johnny was there, and he told me he sorry
but he hadn't no tobacker. Aud says, An right
pard; but you bloody welcome to the coffee. It's
add shame to make men march and fight and never
give them no Coffee And we just sit down there In
the night and had long talk abont the war, and no
bad feeling nor nothing like that tell you, pard,
1t was Just where man happened to be; II that
Johnny had been M North when the war come he d
been under Old Joe, and If ia been down South l.
been under Gen. Lee. SO what difference did It
make? Tho WEI had to come anyhow s'pose ;,
Just here the veteran made crooked mark In the
sand with his crutch and then said, "You see, pard
that was the riyer.''
..What rIyerF,'
"Why, the Rappahanpock and we Law along here
Just across there was fredericksburg The river
runs away M wonder and splits In two like this and
this the left Is the Rapidan. Now, Old Joe
Matched out plan that good but he slipped
nm on II before he got through You see the cavalry
under soneman was to start about two weeks before
the rest of us and raise the devil In the Johnnies
rear Tbesecond the Third the Fifth the Eleventh
and the Twelfth Corps was to march away round here
and get TO Charlottesville ON Lees rear and Uncle
John sedgwIck was TO cross right over below the
town, where Franklin went over at the Fredericks-
burg fight with the First and sixth Corps, and make
ont as though our whole army was a-going TO attack
Lee In front lust as we did under burnside Them
five corps started Oh April o. 1863 par,l and marched
Ila tbtndar and an ,hay