The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1884-10-09
SIEGE OF HORROR
The OLD VIRGINIA PENINSULA.
Tam No, THE whip. Poor. WIN marsh
Bomb Proofs Dead Man. Tree
The Owis SHARP shooters
War IN Fact, Etc.

pers and In organization, advanced iron
he camps In front of the capital city Il
retrieve the lRurels that had been lost a
tho first Bull Run, II found on reaching
contreyille that the extensive fortified
batteries which were supposed to DO op
posed to their advance were "a sham, ant
that tho heavy guns alleged to b,
mounted thereon were but wcll-mad,
"Quakers." Gen, Mcclellan also dis
covered that Gen. Joseph T.. Johnston
his astute opponent, was, aiter burninl
all stores not capable of being removed
far on his march To the southwark anC
out of reach for an Immediate blow. Il
Is only necessary 10 state that the tnioI
general ret"aced his steps and prepareo
to strike Richmond 10y the way OF the
peninsula. johnston's army by easy
marches was removed TO the vicinity o
Richmond, and about this time the act
ual intentions of Mcclellan became do,
velOped, for alarming reports and urgent
appeals for aid came from Gen. J.. Is
Magruder, who then held the peninsula
ut Yorktown with about 1000 men and u
very inefficient force OF artillery. In the
opinion of competent Judges II is certain
that had Mcclellan pressed forward
boldly ut this time, he would with but
little difficulty and loss have arrived he
fore the Notifications of Richmond when
they were In n very incomplete state for
cilrrtual resistance. However that may
hc, MagrIier was given II breathing
spell ia which To fortify am,
strengthen his position, and Johnston
hurri,dly packed five or six hrigades L
steamboats,, which troops arrived JUS, in
the nick OF time to Illustrate n projected
assault OF Magruder's lines, which
would have inevitably crushed them
had not the reiniorccments arrived SO
opportunely. All! who that participated
therein, on the Confederate side ut least,
eau cver forget tho
MISERY ENDURED IL THAT MEMORABLE
SIEGE.
The line of entertainments of the de.
Tense between the Two rivers, the York
and the James, was perhaps Our or five
miles long, and there was not a spot of
ground in the rear for n mile that was
not constantly searched by the annon
shot and rifle balls of the Federals. As
the force then present was not more
! than sufficient To man the breast-works
in case Of n sudden attack, and
one was expected mQmentariiy,
it was necessary to have the
regiments within easy reach. There
are no such things as hills and hnllows
in that GOd-fOrsaken country; ii is as
Hat As a billiard table, and to have en-
camped the troops on open ground would
have subjected them to q certain loss
that would have been criminal OF the
part of the General. Those, then, a the
regiments not in the trenches were com
PEELED to huddle in the bomb proofs lust
behind them, and if hell has any worse
tortue than was experienced by the mel
in these hideous dens, then | want to
join the church Immediately. Dark,
foul-smelling, without ventilation,
swarining with vermine, the floors Of
rough-split slabs, covered with tw,
inches OF muII and filth, it was almos,
imnoSslple 10 get rest for a moment,
even when overstrn."..ed nature gave
way to semi-urconsciousness. Added
g this, the dens were so crowded
at all tines that il was dill.
cult TO iinI Il place to sit down,much less
ta recliDe. 1t was only on rainy, dark
nights, when the crackle of the sharp
, shooters ceased TOR awhile, and only an
occasional cannon shot crashed through
the brushwood that the tortured troops
would venture out to breathe the tresiieI
mir. This misery continued for a week
ut a time before a relief was sent, and
during that time the men had not IN
morsel of warm food or a drop OF warn
drink, for all the cooking had to be done
two miles in the rear, and 1t WAS strictly
forbidden to attempt to light Il fire il
or near the trenches. Numbers were
Frustrated with chills aud fever auG
other forms of malarial sickness, and
solennly assert that on several occa.
sions during the purgatorial experience
in these foul holes men rushed out III
frenzy, preferring instant death to the
slow torture, and they generally got
what they sought for. There was
soAiE OF TIE FINEST SItA"PSUo0rINr
done in the siege hat The war .lavei
oped. 1t was said, i know not with
what truth, that ON the Federal side
there were a number OF English sports.
mon of high degree, who, getting tired
of shooting tigers in India, had come
over "tO take a pot shot at the rebels
At any rate, old soldi ers will recollect
tho story of "dead PANS tree" This
was a huge tree sit datsd fully a thous
and yards from the Confederate
trenches, and among its limbs, forty oil
fifty feet from the ground, a Fedora
sharpshooter had made himself An i'm
pregnable nest, SO 10 speak. His view
of the roar oil the Confederate work.
was confined 10 a limited space on &C
count of jutting points OF woods, anC
it was almost sudden deatu for "a mar
to walk slowly across thai
space. Everybody who orcs=in passed
it on a run. Ono day ONE Nor
of the Seventeenth Virginia Infantry
were set to work to dig u covered way
across this fatal spot, and forgetting
themselves, restel for q moment by sit
ting on the side of tn, ditch. Instantly
Mr.. SnarpshooLer got in his work by
clipping The heel Of ono and mortally
wounding another with n bullet
Every means were tried to get rid of thit
champion shot, ven to training a rifeC
battery on him, but If he disappeared
for a time, he Away came up smiling
perched in his eyrie, when his particu'
lar ground was invaded. During the
siege, he must have killed and wounded
fully a dozen men.
The discomfort in the trenches was al
most as painful and demoralizing as the
life in the bomb-proofs. On ccOun o
the constant sharpshooting by day and
by night, and the frequency of the can
non shots, the reliets were divided into
six hours on and six of. Now
it rained almost every day, while the
siege was maintained, and the whole
country is marshy and swampy, water
being struck almost anywhere two feet
always had q DOT II a half up to two
foet of water in them. The troops were
%unprovided with sufficient clothing for
this work. such heavy baggage as over
coats, extra blankets, etc., having Deui
left behind. To stand thigh-deop in
water for six hours, in the early spring
nights, chilled to the bone and afraid to
move almost for fear of getting a bullet
through the head, was a very unpleas-
ant experience. But it was a relief al
least from the h2rrorsef the hcmb-proof
If there Is a place on Garth
MORN IN%FsTaD WITH OWLS,
great white owls, hig horned owls,
Screech owls, auu al ulher 1 OF owls
then it has never been SGT down In the
books. No sooner Ind night fallen than
they commenced their ''who-whoing'
and b~lood-curdl,ng shrieking and laugh
ing in and amonytne tall jumpers which