Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1882-03-09

Meade was prepared to hurl third
of his army against the fort.
RETRIBI-TION.

Meade was prepared to hurl third
of his army against the fort.
RETRIBUTION.
When the Federals blew up the
fort on the ground now occupied by
the Crater, they were checked and
! held there. When the Confederates
captured Steadman by surprise fully
as great, they were checked and held
there. Between the Crater and the
Federal lines was an open space swept
by Confederate musketry. Between
Steadman and the Confederate lines
was an open space swept by Federal
musketIv. When the Federals had
recaptured the fianking works the
! Confcdcrates must await capture in
the fort itself or retreat across the
open space.
ACCEPTING THE ALTERNATIyE.
! Hundreds of the men accepted the
alternative and made the rush over
the cleared space. From the fort to
/ the creek there is gradual slope, so
! that the retreat was all down hill.
Men rushed singly and in squads, but
however they went death was near
them. A Confederate who started
alone had not gone forty feet before
he was hit by seven bullets, as was af-
! terward determined by count. Gen.
/ Gordon was struck once and had his
clothing pierced by four bullets. Out
Of squads of twenty who would start
! together only three or four would
reach the creek. For an hour or two
these retreats continued, piling the
space with dead and weakening the
Confederate force in the fort until it
was finally carried by a rush of the
! Federals. The number of Confedcr-
ates captured was about equal to the
number of Federals take prisoners at
daylight.
HORRIBLE SIGHTS.
When the Federals re-entered Fort
Stcadman their eyes encountered
horrible sights Oh every hand. Near
! " all the Confederates who fell were
therefore terribly mutilated. Some
of those struck by the solid shots
were reduced to a shapcless mass of
bloody pulp. and those hit by the
mangled. A Confederate who waited
until the last and was taken prisoner,
gave me many of the minor details.
He estimated that, during the hottest
OF the fire, rs many as forty heavy
shot and shell fell into the fort each
minute for at least half an hour. AT
times the air was so full Of smoke
and dirt that one could not see ten
feet. One of the COnfederates met
his death in a most singular manner
\ soldier had his gun taking aim,
when solid shot struck it out of his
hands, whirled it through the air a
hundred feet or more. and drove the
hayonet on through the body of
another man-in fact, pinned him to
the earth
STAKED AND LOST.
| Lee had staked all on the play and
lost. That night his force was weak.
er hy Il thousand men. If he had
won-what then: If he had captured
the three other forts, as hoped for
and then fallen upon the Fedora
rear, he might have driven the Unior
army for an hour. He might hay,
killed and captured 10000 men
blown up Grants forts and produced
great confusion, but the end would
ll.iNt tttll Tue StIIlt. Ht TcHti IL
hammer would have been swung agail
and with renewed vigor. The Con
fedcracv had run its career. IIemmc,
in ly sea and land, out of money
. soldiers, recruits, arms and provis
: ions, It's fall was only a question 0
, days when that bold rush was mad
| upon Fort Stcadman.
1 SIXTEEN YEARS AFTER.
z As | rode into the fort in the mel
5 low days of October | found appl
| trees where the cannon once thun
t dcred. A frame house stands in tn
: center of the enclosure, occupied b
$ q colored family, and beans, turnip
J., and potatoes were growing on slop
i and parapct. In one of the emhras
: ures the children had built a pla
5 house, and on the slope in front
n adown which ran rivlllets of blood o
c that March morning, flock of gees
were hunting grasshopers. Canno
balls, fragments of shells, srapcshot:
o bullets and rusty bayonets were sea
q tered among the growing vegetables
n and one could find the rotting pla
). forms of the great guns under Il
= shadow of the growing corn. Blesse
q peace is trying to hide and cover u
Ell the scars Of bloody war.
s NJ. QuAD.
$ Suggestive Texts.
he Some ministers seem to he on Il
1t constant lookout for strange text
lie One, not thousand miles away, HI
p preached from "And | said figs,
S. which was about the sum of what
D. did say; and, again, from ''Tht
of shall be the tall" We do not n