Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-10-12
HUMoRs OF THE BATTLEFTELD,
Some Incidents Amid the Bloody Scenes
of War.

Many humorous incidents occurred on
battle-felds, says the Century. A Confeder-
ate Colonel ran ahead of his regiment at
Malvern Hill, and discovering that the
men were not following him as CLOSELY as
he wished, he uttered fierce oath and
exclaimed
Come on Do you want to live for
everw
The appeal was irresistible, any MANY
a poor fellow who had laughed at the
ColoneFs queer exhortation laid down his
life soon after.
A shell struck the wheel of a Federal
feld-piece toward the close of the engage
ment at FAIR Oaks, and shivering the
spokes, dismantled the cannon.
''Well, isn't it lucky that didn't happen
before we used up all our ammunition?"
remarked one OF the artillerists as he
craWled from beneath the gun.
When Gen. Pope was falling back be-
fore Lees advance in the Virginia valley,
his own soldiers thought his bulletins and
orders somewhat restrained in their rhe-
tOric. At one of the numerous running
engagement, that marked that disastrous
campaign, private in one of the Western
regiments was mortally wounded by a
shell. Seeing the mans condition. a
chaplain knelt beside him, and opening his
Bible at randem read out SIMPSONS
slaughter of the Philistines with the Jaw
bone Of an ass. He had not quite finished
when, as the story runs, the poor fellow
interrupted the reading by saying:
'HOld on, chaplain. Don't deceive a
dying man. Isn't the name of John Pope
signed to thatP'
A column of troops was pushing for
ward over the long and winding road in
Thoroughfare Gap to head off Lee after
his retreat across the Potomac at the close
of the Gettysburg campaign. Suddenly
the signal officer who accompanied the
General in command discovered that
some of his men, posted on a high hill in
the rear, were reporting the presence of a
considerable body of Confederate troops on
top of the bluffs to the right. A halt was
at once sounded, and the leading brigade
ordered forward to uncover the enemy's
position. The regiments were soon
scrambling up the steep incline, officers
and men calamity racing to see who could
reach the crest first. A young Lieutenant
and some half dozen men gained the adj
vance, but at the end of what they deemed
a periliOus climb, they were thrown into
commissions of laughter at discovering
that what the signal men took for Con-
federate troops were only tOlerably
large flock of sheep. AS the leaders in
this forlOrn hope rolled on the grass in
paroXysm of merriment, they laughed all
the louder at seeing the pale but deter
mined faces OF their comrades, who, OF
course, came up fully expecting desper-
ate hand-tO-hand struggle.
1t is perhaps needless to say the brigade
supped on mutton that evening.
AS the army was crossing South Noun
tain the day before the battle of Antietam,
Gen. 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
evenng?'
'First-rate, General" replied one of
the Zouaves. "But we'd be better off if
we weren't living so much on SUPPOSE
tion.'
"Supposition?'' said the General, in
puzzled tone. "What do you mean by
that?"
sit is easily explained, sir. You see we
expected to get our rations yesterday, but
as we didn't, we're living on the SUPPOSE
ton that we did,"
sab, understand; you shall have your
rations, Zon-ZOus, tonight" replied the
General, putting spurs to his horse to es-
cape the cheers of his regiment. And he
kept his promise.