, 1884-11-21
THE BATTLEFIELD
a. an Old Soldier Describes It in
His Diary.
Quite Different from The Sentimental
Gush OF tho Orafor-LookinE
over the Rleid-Buryfuz
the Dead


WITHOUT utduin8 ulDu tApni- Aul3 - Lur
veriest bosh imaginable. How many nlen
woull Il have taken 70 thickly strew the bat
tls-held Of Chaplin Hill, or how much biool
to paint it redf Tie ground fought over was
about nine miles in length, and FROM ole to
Tour miles in width. This dooi not include
tbs cavalry Operations. There were not men
enough in both armies 70 'stiow It thicklyi
AZ every one OF them had been killed and
rtrewn around. The diary from which the
sketch Of ths battle was taken contains the
note, OF a tour Of o. portion Of the field the
next day. which are more reliable than the
sentimental gush Of the orator, or tbs iurid
sketches Of the war correspondent;
FIELD HOSPITAL, CHAPLIN HILLS, Ky.
Oct 9.-Fighting Is bad business. 1t Is cruel:
It IS damnahle; but there Is only room
enough In this country for one flag. and that
Gag Is the -stars and stripes Men inns
come and men may 60, but tho old nag shall
stay forever.
Bragg skipped of last nfKht In the direc-
tlon OF Harrodsburg. Our batteries kenr out
feeleTa. but got no esponse and 1t WAS not
long after daylight until it was ienrn4i they
had all gone, bag and baggage, leayi1& their
dead for Us TO bury. They sent in burial
squads last night, but, instead Of looking
after their killed, they went to killing our
pickets, whereupon tho truce was declared
OF, and their squads sent back. All day
long ambulances kept coming in with
wounded that had been Picked up In odd
plaees or overlooked last night.
The rsbel. were kind to our wounded, e.
ways giving them attention, but not until
after their own had been cared for. As they
had posession Of that portion OF tho Geld
whore cur regiment did most Of its Sighting.
n number Of our wounded fcu into their
hands.
In company With two other slightly
wounded men. / went over that portion OF
the aeld whore our division fought The
place looked natural enough. and, save Tor
the number Of twlgs and small limbs cover
ing the ground and tho scars on the trees
there wns nothing to show that anything
unusual had been going IN Hooked in vain
for tho heaps OF doad and tho pools OF blood,
50 much talked about b. stump speakers aud
poets Up on tho Knoll who're we received
tho first yolley We founl three or four bodies.
Then, following the direction nf the regi-
ment as Il changed front. We found several
more. Down In the hollow, where We ham
mered the Twenty second Mississippi hard,
ehere were q good many dead reb
stood up on u log. where l could SOC ali
around for n considerable distance. and l
could only count about a dozen bodies As
near rs We could estimate, our royiment
fought over fifty acres Of ground Our los
Ia killed on the field was about thirty. Sup
posing the robels lost the same, hat would
make sixty, or n little more thnn ons man to
the acre. That Is not very thick strewing.
Sometimes there are two or threa in a place,
but generally they are lying around, every
one TO himself.
There were details from each regiment
sent out to gather up their dead md bury
49,. The fot.w HllIa1 " ~ rornronx - trnrr.
buried under an oak tree on the hillside near
where they fell. Stout stakes were driven
In tho ground nj the head OF each
grave. on which was carved the
name OF the occupant. The names
we're also carved on tho oak tree. to
gother with the number Of the grave. The
bsst We could do was 70 wrap the boys in
their blankets closely, cover them over with
leaves, and then tumble in the dirt II was
not much like a funeral-it was more Of d
business matter. The idea was to keep the
bodies in as good shape a possible. so they
may be recognized II their friends come after
hem.
suppose our folks at home would think US
4 hard LOT il they could zee how indifferonty
we look on a lead man. While out In tho
the cornfsld, near where LOOMS battery had
such a long, hard tussie, l saw them carry f.
lot OF dead rebels up to whers a long trench
had been dug. There must have been fifty
bodies, and when the trench was finished
they commenced putting them In AT first
they were dropped down carefully, but tho
biys got tired, as 1t was "A very unpleasant
Job, and begAn ~tumbling them in with hand
pixies. as they would a log.
S'met-mes one would tumble In face down
ward, and the boys would sing out; About
face "Close up on tie left" -Cover your hlc
leader III you get tired turn over, and tho
like. It sounded a little rough, but these arc
rough times, and this IS rough business: b.
sides, these aro rough mon. They are from
Kentucky, and they Late q rebel ever after
be is dead.
While coming back TO the hospital We
found Ike Green, ~ c company. banging
across the fence dead. He gave out yos.er-
day while we wers on the skirmish line, and
he was not able to get into a wagon. After
getting rested / suppose he started 10 hunt as
mp, and while climbing over tho fence he was
struck with a bullet, and tasrp III stopped.
The ball passed through his stomach and
and spine. he was no coward, else he would
have faced the other way when he had such
a good chance.
Several dead men have besn found Ia boL
low logs or behind logs or roeks. as though
they had besn wounded and crawled ia there
~ HAANLAN 4AA IN.A GAA0 ELA
beside a big irsa with n Bible in his hand.
He had been passed n dozen times and more
during tho day By ambulance drivers and
burial squads, but they all Thought that he
was alive. He had been shot Fl the thigh,
and he had gone to this tres for protection.
Taking his Bible out, he thought, no doubt,
ihne he would hnd consolation In reading il.
but while lifting therea ball cut him through
the back OF the neck deep enough 10 break
the spinal corl. His bead dropped forward
4 little, and there be sat
Over in the open field, where Harris bat
oory was posted, tho ground was torn up aw-
fully. Had We rem lnei there with IL. 4rs
would nave been terribly hammered. Therp
must have Teen at least O dozen dead horses
around Tiers, but somehow thero were not
many men hurt. l guess shells do their most
effective work in soaring the boys. Shell,
how frightfully.
There were a good many aolld shot aud
5heii lying around, ami bullets were thick
enough whcn one got down and looked closeiy
FOR them
Laying sentiment aside and holding your
noEe 50 YOU couldn't smell tho dead horse,
sou would not nave been able 70 eee any
thing about that CID cornleld different from
any other coTnleld. Ia fact. n person not
aware Of what had boon going on there might
easily pas from one end Of the feld 70 tha
other without knowing he was on a b1ttla
,.eid. There il o great deal written about
rtles and battle teids that y not borne out