Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-09-25

ing somebody 10 take him prisoner. NY
sword was out, and as went down ran
1t 3 foot into the ground right alongside
Of him. he gathered me up and apollo
gized for the slipperiness Of the bank.
and said he wanted to be taken prisoner
bid him sit down and wait till we
came back be may besitting there yet,
for / rushed away after the regiment and
saw him no more.
We came to a second hill rising grad
ually before Us, and on it was another
breastWork. About four hundred yards
Of broken ground interviewed.
A second ire was opened upon Us from
these inner works. We were ordered
back, and reCrOssing the work we had
taken lay down on the outer side Ofthe
eubankment. The breaStWOrE which
had sheltered the enemy now sheltered
US. 1t was about six feet high on our
side and the men lay close against it. In
fact, they Rugged It with the Warmest
affection. Occasionally q hat was pushed
up, when bullet from the second en-
trenchment would perfOrate it with I'M
comfortable prOmptness and precision.
Their batteries also continued to fire,
but the shot passed beyond Us, falling
lower down the hill.
I was now sent to look after the men
who had fallen in the fight. A singular
able satisfactorily to account, was that
those who fell near the foot of the hill
were struck in the legs; higher up the
shots had gone through the head. In
deed, at the top Of the hill noticed no
wounded; all who had been hit there
were dead.
A little house in the field was taken
for a hospital, and as the enemy's shells
came unpleasantly close, and we had no
hospital flag, 1 secured a red handker-
chief from one of the men and had it
erected on top of the building. 1 then
hunted up the surgeons and ambulances,
so that rapidly the wounded were made
as comfortable as possible. The wound
ed were all wonderfully cheerful, and
seemed much more interested in the for
tunes of the day than in their own
hurts.
Glow did you feel in the fight your
self, MAORI" some one asked.
Well, now, boys, that's hard to tell.
You see it was the first charge was
ever in, and there was nothing had so
much curiosity about as to what my
own feelings and bearing would be.
Much to my surprise found myself IN
pleasantly cool. 1 did not get excited,
but felt a great want Of something to do.
I thought if L only had sOmethlng-my
old company to lead on or to think
about. There seemed such a certainty
of being shot that / felt my own turn
was only a little delayed. 1t must come
in a few moments, and I had a vague
wish that it would hurry along so I
could be over with it, and tried to pick
out the place where 1 would prefer to be
punctured.
The alarming effects of the bullets was
less than I expected it would be, and
my strongest sensations of danger were
caused by the sight of the dead and
wounded and by the sudden involuntary
cry of agony Wrung from those who were
hit. The thing I was most afraid Of was
a panic among the men, and when the
Seventh Illinois was ordered to fall back
down the hill I so much feared that the
men would deem it a retreat that 1 en-
tirely forgot the firing, and walked
down to the front of them and talked to
their Major, so that any frightened man
in our ranks might feel treasured by our
matter Of-cOurse" air.
Take it altogether, 1 think 1 felt and
acted pretty much as I do In any unusual
or exciting affair. 1 know 1 found my
self looking for an illustration Of the
effect of shells and wondering if there
was no grander and more life-like illus
tratiOn of musketry in action than a
pack of fire crackers or an Old-fashiOned
Watchman's rattle 1 remember that
did little things from habit as usual.
When I threw off my Overcoat, for ex-
ample, 1 took a pipe which a friend had
given me from my pocket lest it should
be lost; and recOlleCt that I once cor
rected my grammer, WhenI inadVertant-
ly adopted the far Western style Of tell
ing the men to clay down." Yet for all
this was by no means unconscious Of
danger.
Some officers seemed utterly Indifferent
to it. Thus in the fight Of the Thursday
previous, Col. Shaw of the Fourteenth
Massachusetts,, after ordering his men
to lie down, not only remained on horse
back, but crossed his legs over the pom.
mel Of his saddle, sitting sideWise fOI
the sake Of comfort. The enemy's sharp
/ shooters concentrated their fire on him
| he being the only person visible. AS the
! bullets thickened about him, the COIOne
grOWled Indignantly:
"Those internal rascals are firing al
me. I shall have to move" And be
! leisurely untangled his legs and walked
/ his horse to the other end of the line
Our men lay in the trench all right
! exposed to the western wind, which blew
/ keenly around the summit Of the hill
and knowing large force Of the enemy
/ lay within a few yards, able at any mo
menG TO rush down upon Jn6m. Inc
situation was not exhilarating.
That night I was sent to the rear IL
/ charge of the adjutant, who had beer
| hurt by the explosion Of a shell, and by
that means I escaped the exposure
/ Next morning, on returning, as soon as
reached the foot Of the hill was TOLD
that a white flag had been displayed anC
/ that one of our officers had gone into the
/ fort, but that the time was nearly up fOl
/ him to return, when the attack would b'
renewed. We hurried on, expecting In
| a few moments to be In the second as
/ sault We had nearly reached the
| trenches, when the men sprang from the
ditch to the top Of the breastWork, Wav
! ing the cOlOrs and giving wild hurrahs
/ The fort had surrendered.
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