News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-05-08
AN ARMY PANIC.
HOW SOME WERE GCCASIONED IN
THE LATE WAR.
A Slight Disarrangement of Affairs May
Cause Serious One.

The panic which seized upon por-
ton of the Federal army at First Bull
Run, says NJ. Quad, in the Detroit Free
Press, and resulted in demoralizing the
whole was repeated many times after
ward in both armies. Place a regi-
ment in ever so favorable a fighting
position and give it the best officers in
the service, and one thing more is
needed. Unless men are driven to des-
peration they will not fight their best
until possible disaster is provided for by
an avenue of escape to the rear. Troops
can be quickly and steadily half-faced to
meet flank attack, but if it continues
long panic is almost certain to be the
result. The soldier fears his retreat will
be cut off. Even if he has no thoughts
of retreat, this feeling forces itself upon
him and demoralizes the bravest troops.
The slightest cause has led to gravest
results in battles. Let a battery change
position with rush, running through
brigade, and those men must be handled
firmly to prevent falling back. Gals
sons IN search of ammunition have
stampeded regiments ime and again.
Let one regiment fall back hastily to Sc
cure new position, and it is a cool line
of veterans indeed which will open to
to let the men pass and then close up
firmly after them. 1t is not the fear of |
being killed that unnerves a man fight |
ing in the ranks. Men who have fired |
seventy-tve rounds at close range have |
been afterward stampeded by the fear
of being surrounded and captured.
With veteran fighters the fear of being
made prisoner is perhaps stronger than
that of death itself. A man falling dead
as line advances produces no conster-
nation. The gap is closed as quick as
the men on either side can move up.
But, let a man be wounded and call out
at the top of his voice, as was sometimes
the case, and sort of quiver runs up
and down his whole company. Let
second and a third be hit, and it requires
the stern 'Steady, men!'' of the cap
tain to prevent disorder in the ranks.
The teamsters were the direct cause
of more than one panic. Being non
combatants and unarmed, they were, of
course, helpless, and for this same
reason easily frightened. Let one single
shell fall among the wagon-train, and
nine out of ten wagons were bound to
move. If one teamster abandoned his
wagon, others were certain to follow his
no matter how slight the dan
ger.
When Gen. Sturgis had his fight at
Guntown, Miss, the wagon train was by
some bIunder brought too near the front
md parked near open fold As the :
lighting grew hot the Confederates
brought forward a single section of artil-
cry and got the range of this train.
Four or five shells did the work. A panic
seized the teamsters, and the few who
got their wagons out of the field aban-
This action blocked the road, preventing
any movement of artillery along the
and in half an hour there
was panic among the men who had
all along been fighting with the greatest
bravery. The panic resulted in rout,
entirely uncalled for, and the Confeder-
ates gathered in from 900 to 1,2O0 +
prisoners, eighteen pieces of artillery,
230 wagons and ambulances, 500 horses
and mules, and rations and ammunition
in immense quantities. The bursting of
five or six shells half mile in rear of
the lines of battle lost Sturgis that fight,
and came near being the destruction of
his whole command.