The National tribune., 1883-04-05
THE LAST R0LL-CALL,
And the Story II Told Of the Fate
Of Company G.
[Bgc B. Le'cis.l

that morning. drums beating. flags flying, anC
men shouting and women weeping farewell
It was May, 1861, and we were going 70 th'
'front.'
month later. when the roll was called OF
the heights OF Georgetown, there were only an
even hundred in company &. Death hac
claimed the three even before they had snufeC
wars powder breath.
And month later still the roll was called
on the morning of Manassas. Footsore, hun
CRY, excited, and anxious, the men answered
AYE and aye, and there were ninety
responses, making Just a hundred, with The
three company officers Would We fight?
saw oar captain looking down the line There
Were printers. lawyers. mechanics, students
farmers and day lab9rers IN company q, and
not man knew what grim war was.
Down across She meadow, up along the edge
of the wood and there we rested aud waited
till the fight opcned-Waitel half an hour
longer than that, and then came The order to
move. il was like a dress parade IS we moved
by tho left flank, down across the old posture,
and into the edge Of the blue cloud Of powder
smoke floating on the morning AR Only the
men Is faces were white. and their eyes anxious,
as they caught Che roar of small arms, aud felt
the ground treiable und the discharge OF the
heavy cannon, which were throwing shot and
shell iaeo the hillside above as.
Down went company 10 the edge Of the
forest, spread out like a fan and the skirmish-
ers were hidden by smoke. The rattle OF
muskeFTy increased; they had found targets
for their bullets. Standing Ia line We looked
down into lle smoke cloud, tTembied q LITTLE,
and then came the order TO 90 forward. March
march and the smoke hid Us, ana We struck
the Confederate line OF 5atIle thrown out IN
front o. au carthwotk.
Crash crack roarl The line Wavered. fell
back, sllrang forward again with a cheer, and
we Were al theTe-all but those dead or
wounded It was like a wild dream For
ward -forward-now at the earth-
work, now hurled back By the sheet OF lame.
and En2lly driven back 10 stay. 4 Thousand
men bad been fighting three thousand, aad
there could be but one result.
The roll was called on Arlington Heights
and seveaty-four men responded seventy
four from ninety-seven-tWe tWeuty-fhree of the
rank aad file of company q left dead along the
Little creek which meanders past banks Of
willows, over beds Of gravel around gray old
trees which have felI the blasts of cen ur.es
We had no wounded-all dead-aIl living an
der the s,aoke-stained leaves OF the dark forest
1t was SID, and and yet glorious. There Wouid
be thirteen widows in the little hamlet, and
ten sons and brothers would BE- wept for, but
we had been tried in the balance. and ce.atlny
q bad made the whole regiment famous
WINTER came and war was chsIncd lor a
while. When the south wind b.cW the frost
away, aid war shook eli its lashings, there were
but seventy men TO answer roll call With
mu1iel drums and arms reversed. we had fol-
lowed the others 10 their last sleep and they
cared not whether il was war or peace The
Peninsular campaign was not for us. bat The
thunder Of Jacksans cannon as ne swept down
on 10 AIs.naSsas a second time called Us out lie
Was The Hail. we the grain-it was no longer a
battle. bat a slaughter. In the gray morning
hls columns came feeling through the woods
and oFcT the fields 20 fnd US. We heard him
coming. There was weak brigade TO oppose
Ten thousand Confederate musk Is but Ii we
c0nld hold him cne hour more, help Won "a come
CoIalslng u went cropping through the woods
Jhai morning 10 meet death. There were but
slxty-eight OF Us then, and it was pDor. thin
skllml 81 line which crept under the trees. and
1llghIe1led away the birds Just singing their
morning songs. We cFouched down beside a
fence, and saw heavy line Of gray come over
the hlli aud half Way across tine open field and
then Death took command. We staggered their
line, aad as it bent back and twisted about
like huge serpent u his death struggles. we
checrcd until the forest leaves danced ard
quivcrcd- The hae siraigbfened, and with
answering cheer ii came gorward-iiTe hundred
muskess 10 sixty-eight. And vet We held cur
own Jet them come and men fought hand 10
hand over the fence, with ciuabed Ianskeis and
bs0Od-sialnea naroaets. Each r.Il had It's stain
OF BIO q :. each corner had It's harden of dead
and wuunaed. They hurried Us back. and tLien
the great battle opened all around rs
was List sergeant thrn, and when we fell
back ] was IN command. Along the fence
where death had struck lhe,a down Law ,.7,flju
both EeGtenanfs, aud thirteen Of the rank and
lle--si-teen 0ut Of sixty-eigat. The filty-two
refTeaea behind tie line Of battle Joined our
Regiment and again and again before nighl al
we gave Jackson $ veterans snot for saat It
Was - be, and when night fell Che brave NY
tive Ncre living anharaed.
Alter Manassas they filled rs up to eighty
i've, blS somehow we went or counting fiftv-
two. and fell as iffbe strangers were illrTld RS
Ny commission as captain came one day. as.d
TIC tive licateDaBfs were cnen Eghs had brayalv
won tAe.r shoulder straps
At sharPsbnrg We numbered forTv-nine-
foTty-Ilisic Old veterans, : mean Thc ether
three laa been killed On ricket As we de-
plgyed ~ the left 0f the fiizc. and fled across
the fields ] wondered Il the new Iaen would
90 Is credit. We werc eighty strong as Z. COM
pany, and over thirty Of tie men had never
been under fire Lees artillery was Douudiuc
a. or columns baif An hour before our briaale r
got the order 10 move. Meadows fields. groves.
knobs, fences and a creek-aad We knew f:,af
Lee was standing on the defensive, and had
strong position When The work came J could
see that s0lae Of the new men trembled. bu.
the oiG lerty-nlne took up theiT l1ia9sacks and
lei 1Dt9 Line as ii We were breaking cafnfl.
Down across the fields We went following tie
double line OF skirmishers and rs last we
struck the enemy. He had a fence. a long
ditch and line Of willows. and he did not
yield until we crushed nm lr weight Of l,um
bers. As he retired we followed. men ftiiipo
dead every moment Unknown to Us. a weak
three thousand were piercing Lees line He
saw has danger, and d bzttery wheeled into the
gap opened Ca ilz, and fhe left and centre of
our brigade swung back under the fearful rain
OF grapeshot and sieii. The right caught the
order 10 retreat, aiid 10 20 forward Some fell
back others le2pe5 the ditch with Wild
cheer and charged the battery. Company @
led. Half way 10 the guns We left the recruits
DenInds and only the foTty-nine kept on Men
could pause and retreat from that charge, and
no one would cal them towards.
The smoke and the flame hid us for 2 mo-
ment and then we reached the guns leaned
over them, crawied under fheTa shot stabbed.
shouted and hurrahed. The whole battery
was ours! We seized the guns to drag them
of when heavy line Of battle came down
through the gap, closed it up, and men fought
hand-:o-hand over the cannon. over the cais-
sons. over the great heaps OF dead on the grass
LESS than three hundred FedeEals were tight
ing tive thousand Confcdersatesi II could not
last long. After moment we were driven
back, over the ditch, beyond the fence. into
the Federal line Of battle
Pretty hot in there, captainio sbouied n
brlgadier, as the torn and mangled remnant
halted TO reform.
Pretty hot" 1t was the work of fiends