The National tribune., 1885-05-21

ness of life; tenacity of purpose; fiery deter
,nnation: oaths, yells, curses, hurrahs. shout
ings: men going down on their hands and
knees, spinning round like tops, throwing out
their arms, gulping up blood, falling,-legless,
armless, headless. There are gbastly heaps OF
dead men. Seconds are centuries. minutes ages
but the thin line of men In blue does not
break.
The Confederates have swept past the Yer
mont regiments. Take them in flank, shouts
Gen. Stannard.
The 18th and 10th regiments swing out from
the TRENCH form right angle TO the main line,
and face the north. They move forward few
steps and pour deadly volley into the backs OF
Kemper's troops With hurrah they rush on
10 drive home the bayonet. The 18th, 10Th
and 2Oth Mass. 9TH Mich, Goth n. L., 10Th Me-,
I5Ist Pa, and all other regiments in the vicin-
ity catch the enthusiasm of the moment and
close upon the foe.
The Confederate column has lost its power.
Picketts lines waver. The soldiers of the front
rank look around for their supports They are
gone-heeing over the field, broken, shattered,
thrown into confusion by the remorseless fire
from the Cemetery and from the cannon on the
ridge. The lines have disappeared like straw
in a candles fame. The ground is thick with
dead, and the wounded are like the withered
leaves of autumn. Thousands of Confederates
throw down their arms and give themselves up
as prisoners.
How inspiring the moment! How thrilling
the hour, Ii is the high-water mark of the
rebellion turning point of history and OF
human destiny,
Treason had welded its mightiest blow. From
that time the rebellion began to wane. My
account of the battle, written on the following
day, and published OF the 9th of July in the
Boston Journal, contains the following passage /:
"The invasion of the North was over, the
power of the Southern Confederacy broken.
There at that sunset hour could discern the
future-no longer an overcast sky, but the
clear unclouded starlight. country redeemed,
saved; baptized. consecrated anew TO the COM
ing ages Ali honor to the heroic living, all
glory to the gallant dead They have not
fought in vain, they have not died for naught.
No man hveth to himself alone. Not for them
selves, but for their children; for those who may
never hear of them in their nameless graves
how they yielded life! for the future; for all
that is good, pure, holy, just, true: for human
ity, righteousness, peace; for Paradise on earth,
for Christ and Cor God they have given them
selves a willing sacrifice. Blessed their mem-
ory eyermore!"
/ rode along the lines and beheld the field
by the light Of the cleaning stars The dead
were everywhere thickly strewn. How
changed the Cemeteryi Three days before its
gravelled walks were smooth and clean, flow
ers were in bloom. birds caroled their songs
amid the trees the monuments were unde
faced, the marble slabs pure and white. Now,
there were broken wheels and splintered cais-
sons; dead horses, shot in the neck, in the
head, through the body, disemboweled by eX-
ploding shells. legs broken, flesh mangled and
torn; pools of blood, scarlet stains on the head
stones, green grass changed to crimson, marble
slabs shivered, the ground plowed by solid
shot, holes blown out by bursting shells; dead
men lying where they had fallen, wounded
men creeping to the rear, cries and grOans all
around me! Fifty shells minute had fallen
upon that small inclosure. Not for a moment
was there thought Of abandoning the position.
How those batteries of Osborne ard Wainwright,
of the Eleventh and First Corps had lightened
and tbunderedi There were scores of dead by
the small honse where the left of the Confeder
ate line had advanced, lying just as they were
smitten down. as if a thunderbolt had fallen
upon the once living massi
An English officer (Lieut.-Col. Freemantle),
who saw the battle from the Confederate lines,
thus says of the repulse: Il soon began to
meet many wounded men returning from the
front; many Of them asked in piteOus tones
the way to a doctor or an ambulance. The
farther got the greater became the number of
the woundd At last / came to a perfect
stream of them, flocking through the woods in
numbers as great as the crowd in Oxford street
still under a heavy fire. The shells were con-
tinually bringing down great limbs of trees,
and carrying further destruction amongst their
melancholy procession l saw all this in much
less time than it takes to write it, and although
astonished to- meet such vast number Of
wounded, had not seen enough to give me an
idea of the real extent of the mischief.
When l got close mp TO Gen. Longstreet
saw one of his regiments advancing through
the woods in good order; so. thinking / was
just in time TO see he,attack, i remarked TO
the General that i wouldn't have missed this
for anything Longstreet was seated on the
top of sHake-fence i'll the edge of the wood,
and looking perfectly calm aud unperturbed.
He replied, The devil you Wouldn't Iwould
like to have missed it very much; we've at
tackled and been repulsed. Look there!'
=" For the first time then had a view Of the
open space between the two positions, and saw
il covered with Confederates, slowly and sulkily
returning towards US in small, broken par
ties. .
Il remember seeing a General (Pettigrew,
think it was come up to him and report that
he was unable TO bring his men up again.
Longstreet turned upon him and replied, with
some sarcasm: Very we'll; never mind, then,
General; just let them remain where they are.
The enemy is gcing to advance and will spare
you the trouble
/" Soon sfterward joined Gen. Lee, who had
IN the meantime come TO the front on becom-
ing aware Of the disaster. He was engaged in
ralIying and encouraging the troops, and was
riding about a little in front of the woods quite
alone the whole of his staff being engaged in
similar manner further to the rear. His face,
which is always placid and cheerful did not
show signs OF the slightest disappointment, care,
or annoyance; and he was addressing to every
soldier be met few words of encouragement
such as All this will come right in the end !;
We will talk it over afterwards, but in the mean
time all good men must rally. We want all
good men and true men Just now etc. .
He said to me, This has been sad day for us,
Colonel, n sad day; but we can't expect always
TO gain victories l saw Gen Wilcox
ian officer who wears short, round Jacket and
battered straw hat) come up to him and eX-
plain, almost crying, the state of his brigade
Gen. Lee immediately shook hands with him
and said cheerfully, Never mind, General ::
all this has been my fault: it is | that have
lost this fight, and you must help me out of it
in the best way you can"
1t was past II o'clock in the evening when
rode up from the CORY field, over the ridge
where the Second Corps had stood like wall of
adamant. Meade's headquarters were in grove
east of the small house where he established
himself at the beginning of the battle The
fire had been too hot at Mrs. Leister's. Meade
was sitting OH great fat boulder listening TO
the reports of his officers brought in by courier.
1t was scene which lives ia memory: dark
forest: the evening breeze gently rustlng the
green leaves over onr heads; the katydids and
locusts singing cheerily; the bivouac fires
glimmering on the ground, revealing the sur
rounding objects; the gnarled trees, torn by
csnnon-shOt; the moSsy stones; the group of
oifieers-WIllanlS Warren Howard This right