The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-12-19

Humors Of the Battle-Field.
IN The ceu.ury.A ecs1M

From The Century, F~
Many humorous Incidents occurred
on battle fields. A Confederate colon
el ran ahead of his regiment at Malvern
Hill, and discovering that the men We're
not following him as closely rs he
wished he uttered a fierce oath, and ex-
claimed:
"Come on! Do you want to live for
ever?"
The appeal was irresistible, and many
q poor fellow who had laughed at the
colonel's queer exhortation laid down
his life o after.
A shell struck the wheel of a Federal
field piece toward the close of the en-
gagement at Fair Oaks, and, shivering
the spokes, dismantled the
"Well, isn't it lucky that didn't
happen before we used up all our am
munition," remarked one of the artil-
lerists as he crawled from beneath the
gun.
When General Pope was falling back
before Lees advance in the Virginia
Valley, his own soldiers thought his
bulletins and orders somewhat strained
in their rhetoric. at one of the num-
erous running engagements that marked
that disastrous campaign, a private in
one of the Western regiments was
mortally wounded by q shell. Seeing
the mans condition, q chaplain kneIt
beside him, and opening his Bible at
random read out Samson's slaughter OF
the Philistines with the jaw-bone of an
ass. He had not quite finished when,
as the story runs, the poor fellow inter-
rupted the reading by saying:
Hold on chaplain. Don't deceive ady-
ing man. Isn't the name of John Pope
signed to that?"
A column Of troops was pushing for
ward over the long and winding road in
Thoroughfare Gap to head off Lee af-
ter his retreat across the Potomac at
the close of the Gettysburg campaign.
Suddenly the signal officer who ac-
companied the general in command
discovered that some of his men, posted
on a high hill i'll the rear, were report
ing the presence of q considerable body
of Confederate troops on top of the
bluffs to the RICH. A halt was at once
sounded, and the leading brigade
ordered forward to c the enemyis
position. The regiments were soon
scrambling up the steep incline, Of
fcers and men CALAMITY racing to see
h could reach the crest first. A
young lieutenant and some half dozen
men gained the advance, but at the end
of what they deemed a perlious climb,
they were thrown into commissions Of
laughter at discovering that what the
signal men took for Confederate troops
were only q tolerably large flock of
sheep. AS the leaders in this forlorn
hope rolled on the grass in a paroxysm
OF merriment, they laughed all the
louder ut seeing the pale determined
faces of their comrades, who, of course,
came up fully expecting a desperate
h~and-to-hand struggle.
1t is perhaps needless to say the
brigade supped on mutton that even
ing.
AS the army was crossing the South
Mountain the day before the battle of
Antietam, General Mcclellan rode
along the side of the moving column.
Overtaking a favorite Zouave regiment,
he exclaimed with his natural bon
homie:
"Well, and how is the Old Fifth this
EVENING""
Illustrate, General" replied one of
the Zouaves. "But we'd be better of
il we weren't living so much on supposi.
ton"
"Supposition ?" said the General, in
q puzzled tone. "What do you mean
by that?"
Its easily explained, sir. You see
we expected to get u rations yester-
day. but as we didn't we're living on
the supposition that we did"
"Ah, | understand; you shall have
your %rations, ZouZous, tonight" re-
piled the general, putting spurs to his
horse to escape the cheers of his regi-
ment And he kept his promise.