Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-02-10
WHOLE NO. 2, ,46O.

! gun and near the enemy. On thl
occasion we marched steadily or
and as soon as the line got closel
under way the enemy's batterie
opened upon us with most furiOu
cannonade. Many batteries hurle'
their missiles ofdeath in our rank
from Cemetery Hill, Round Tol
and Little Round Top, in our from
and on our right. se.
ON THE EMMITSBURG ROAD.
/ AS the charging column neareC
the Emmitsburg road volley afte
. volley of small arms aided with
dreadful effect i'm thinning ou
ranks. We reached the plank o.
slab fence and the column Chamber
ed over with speed as If in STAN.
pede retreat. The time il took t.
climb to the top of the fence seemed
to me an age of suspense. 1t was
not a leaping over; it was rather
an insensible tumbling to the
ground in the nervous hope of es-
Gaping the thickening missiles that
buried themselves in fallen victims,
in the ground and in the fence,
against which they ratified with the
distinctnesS of large rain drops pat
! tering on roof. Every man that
reached the ground in my view,
sank to the ground. Just for mo-
ment, and only for moment, right
there from our right came two
mounted officers, riding at great
speed. One was covered with
blood, the other held his head bowed
almost to his horses neck. On
they sped to-the road at our left. 1
know not who they were. In an
instant one rider, with his horse,
tumbled to the ground, and as far
as / know was one more victim
added to the great number of the
unknown slain. Our stay in the
road could not be called a halt. In
a moment the order to advance was
given, and on we pressed across the
next fence, but many of our COM
rades renamed in the road and
never crossed the second fence,
many being wounded in crossing
the first and in the road.
AT THE FEDERAL BREAsTwORKS.
With our line materially weak
ened by the loss of those that re-
manned in the road, we pressed on
and struck the enemy behind a
fence or hastily constructed breast
work, over which the First and
about one-half of the Seventh Ten
nessee regiments passed. The
rest of our command who crossed
the second fence had not reached
the works because of their horse
shoe shape and because the point
that they were to have reached was
to the rear and left of where we
entered. As we encountered the
enemy in his works all WAS excite
ment. = Our men fought with des-
peration, and succeeded in driving
the enemy from his line. 1t was a
hand to hand encounter, lasting but
d moment, and as victory was about
to crown our efforts q large body OF
troops, moved resolutely upon our
left flank. and our extreme right at
the same time began to give way,
aus did our left. Still we-in the CEN
tre held the works, but finally, be-
ing unsupported, we were forced to
fall back. Those of the second line
never moved beyond that point TO
our assistance. We fell back to'the
lane, which was literally strewn
with dead and wounded. The roar
of artillery continued, and, mingled
with the groans of the wounded and
dying, intensified the horrid cOnfu-
sion in the lane. : a5-. a
IN A VERY TIGHT PLACE. ..is
From the time we advanced few
yards the artillery continually les
sened our ranks, and especially "A
battery that almost enfiladed us
from the right as we neared the
lane-a battery that seemed not to
have been engaged in the first fire.
The artillery, that followed up our
advance attempted Intellectually to
silence this engine of. destruction,
for at least in my part of our line its
effects were equally fatal, if not
more so. than all the rest of the
artillery directed against us. Those
Who regained the lane in retreat
here for a moment hesitated, but
there was no time for deliberation.
The combined fire of small arms
and artillery was necessarily raineCi
upon US.
DECIDING TO RETREAT.
Further retreat WAS as dangerous
as the advance. The first fence was
again to be crossed, hundreds of
yards of open space i'm full view and
within reach of the fire of all arms
was to be passed over before we
could regain shelter. The plank or
slab fence was splintered and rid
died, and. the very grass was
and Withered by the heat
of shell and bullets. Around me
lay forty dead and wounded of the
forty-seYen of my company that en-
tered the scene of carnage with me. |
Col. s. @. Shepherd and and the
other survivors hesitated in the
lane moment. 1t was death or
to remain. 1t seemed
almost death to retreat. Maybe we
could regain our artillery in safety. |
We chose the latter alternative and
on we sped through the open field,
every moment TO be shot
TO the ground. Our condition and |
were not dissimilar to
that of hundreds of Others.
LEE TAKING THE BLAME.
We fortunately survived, and /
now have before me a letter from
Col. Shepherd, dated Feb. g, 1882, re-
ating TO the battle of Gettysburg, in
which he says:
/ remember very distinctly most
Of the facts touching the battle of
Gettysburg to- which you refer. We
,ame out the fight together. re-
member that when we got back to
1ur artillery we met Gen. Lee, who
.0ok me by hand and said TO me
Colonel" rally your men to protect
our artillery. The fault is mine,
put it will be all right in the end"
these were the exact words
used by Gen. Lee or not cannot
;ay, but l can say these were sub
his words.
Col. Shepherd, as L remember, re-
beats the exact words of Gen. Lee.
was standing within few feet Of
hem and remember his using the
words, "ihe fault is mine" at least
vice. AT this moment Gen. Petit
rev came up TO us with his arm
HACK and shattered by grapeshot,
md Gen. Lee addressed him in
bout the same, if not the identical
Words. he spoke TO Col. Shepherd
md further said: General" | am
orry TO see you wounded go to the
ear"
GEN. LEES AGITATION.