The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1883-10-25
miscellaneous.
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A GREAT ARTILLERY DUEL.

zine moral erect is tremendous,
generally, but the physical results
don't amountt to much" remarked
the gallant little soldier, General
Thomas F. Neill, one peaceful
evening, under the shady trees just
beyond Chain Bridge, where we
were bivouacking shortly after the
second battle of Bull Run.
'That is to say" observed a pert
lieutenant, "your brains tell you
that you that you are all the time
urging you to run away"
sYes, sir; yes, sir" said the gen.
eral sharply. sit has that effect
upon nervously constituted people"
The subject of artillery fighting
was under discussion, and the late
great artillery duel at Rappahan-
mock Station was being talked
over, having been brought forward
by the presence in our little party
of Captain Jamison, Of General
McDowelPs staff, who had been
participant in that noisy affair, and
to whom General Neill appealed for
description of the affair Of Au-
gust 20, 1862.
"Well,'' said the captain, as he
dug the point of his saber seabbard
refectively ito the soft turf 81
can tell you something of my own
experience and impression. because
I was kept moving about too much
to see any considerable results in
our locality.
"You see the battle of Cedar
Mountain was just oyer, and the
results were anything but salts
factory. There was no use in de-
nying the fact that General Pope
had been again outgeneraled and
outnumbered, and on the 18th of
August we received efnite>infor-
nation that the whole Confederate
army'was advancing on sin over
whelming numbers, and we were
ordered to fall back. Tents were
struck at 4 P. NJ, and then came
one Of those long waits which are so
annoying to the soldier. For eight
long, tedious hours the troops
waited for the interlninable wagon
train to get out of the way. At
last, about midnight we moved out
into the road to march a quarter of
mile and halt an hour, then start
and halt again. Allnight long the
staff were busy riding about try
ing to keep that endless train NOV
ING. so that for one, at least, when
morning came, was literally dis
gusted, played out, and wanted to
90 home There was one prolong-
ed and unanimous howl at General
Siegers wagon train, eleven miles
long, which was keeping US back,
and which we knew was not at all
retarding the movements Of the
alert enemy behind us.
''Rain had fallen plentifully du-
ring the night, and the sun came
out hotter and hotter as it mounted
to the zenith. To aggravate the sit
uation we were halting every few
minutes. Add to this that the men
were suffering for water. With the
coming of daylight the staff found
another nuisance. If the soldier
couldn't march straight ahead he
could straggle and forage, both of
which he did with an unanimity of
sentiment that was hugely disgust
ing to the tired staff, who had to
spur exhausted horses back and
forth with irate messages from the
general to the brigade and division
commanders to know what they
meant by deploying all their men
as skirmishers.
81 think this was the hardest
days march / ever experienced,
and night brought neither rest nor
food. I was leaning against a tree,
giving my horse rest in lieu of food,
when Lieutenant Shepp, of SiegePs
staff, rode up and said:
Halo, Cap, you look ausges-
pielt. Let's get lost and hunt
something to eat
sIts a go, my noble Roman.
Lead on
Getting lost in this sense SIM
ply means taking yourself off with
out leave to seek creature comforts
and when you bob up serenely'
again you explain with all the
cheek of a lightning g-rod agent that