The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-03-20
. "REMINISCENCES gEgaHH!!lEgEIggGMEEEgg az war.
a araphis Portrayal Of the TsrStnie SUI.
ferings that Followed q Day Of
ing HeroiRm.

These are anniversary Gays. LWonOy-
two years have passed since Fred
e~ricksburg." OF what then was not
much is left but memory. Faces and
forms Of men and things that then were
have changed-perchance to dust. New
life has covered some; the rest look but
lingering farewells.
But, whatever changes may beautify
those storm-svept and barren slopes,
there is one character from which they
can never pass. Death gardens, haunted
by glorious ghosts they must abide.
No bloom can there unfold which does
! not wear the rich token of the Inherit
ancs of heroic blood no breeze be waited
that does not bear the breath of the i'm
mortal life there breathed away.
OF all that splendid but unavailing va
Ior no one has told the story; nor can L.
The pen has no wing to follow where.
that sacrifice and devotion sped their
flight. But memory may rest down on
some night e too quiet and sombre
with shadow to be- wildly depicted,
and vet which have their interest from
very contrast with the tangled andllurld
lights of battle.
The desperate charge was over: We
had not reached the enemy's fortifca-
tons, but only that fatal crest where
we had seen the line of battle mount
but to be cut to earth as by a sword
swoop of fire. We had that costly hon.
or which sometimes falls to the "re-
serve"-to go in when all is havoc and
confusion, through storm and slaught-
er, to cover the broken and depleted
ranks of comrades and take the battle
from their hands. Thus we had re-
placed the gallant few still struggling
on the crest, and received that wither-
ing fire, which nothing could withstand
by throwing ourselves fiat in q slight
hollow of the ground, within pistol
shot of the eneTny's works, and mingled
with the dead and dying that strewed
the field, we returned the fire till it
Redeemed into night, and at last fell
away through darkness and silence.
But out of that silence from the bat
ties crash and roar rose new sounds
more appalling still; rose or fell, you
knew not which, or whether from the
earth or air; a strange ventriloquism,
of which you could not locate the source,
a smothered moan that seemed to come
from distances beyond reach of the
natural sense, q vail so far and deep
and wide, as if a thousand discords
were flowing together into a keynote
weird, unearthly, terrible to hear and
bear, yet startling with It's nearness;
the writhing concord broken by cries
for help, pierced by shr1eks of paroxysm;
some begging for a drop of water some
calling on God for pity; and n On
friendly hands to finish what the enemy
had so horribly begun; some with de-
~lirious, dreamy voices murmuring loved
names, as If the dearest were bending
over them; some gathering their last
strength to fire a musket to call atten-
ton to them where they lay helpless
and deserted; and underneath, all the
time, that deep bass note from closed
late their agony.
Who could sleep, or who wouldl2 Our
position was isolated and exposed. Of
ficers must be on the alert with their
command. But the human took the
mastery of Il official sympathy of
soldiership. Command could be. de-
volved, but pity, not. So with a staff
officer I sailed forth to see what we
could do where the helpers seemed so
few. Taking some observations In or
der not to lose the bearing of our own
position, we guided our steps by the
most piteous of the cries. Our part
was but little-to relieve a painful pos
ture, to give a cooling draught to fever
ed lips, to compress q severed artery,
as we had learned to do, though in
bungling fashion; and apply q rude
bandage, which yet might pTolong the
life to saving; to take a token or fare
well message for some stricken home;
it was but little, yet it WIS an endless
task. Whe had moved toward the
right and rear of our own position-tha
part of the field Immediately above the
city. The further we went tile more
the need deepened and the calls multi
piled. Numbers, half Weakening from
the lethargy of death or of despair by
sounds of succor, begged us to take
them quickly to a surgeon, and
when we could not do that
imploring as to do the next most mer-
ciful service and give them quick dis
patch out Of their misery. Right glad
were we when, after midnight, the
shadowy ambulances came gliding along
and the kindly hospital stewards
with stretchefs and soothing appliances,
let us feel that we might return to our
proper duty.
And now we were aware Of other fig
ures wandering, ghost like, over the
field. Some on errands like our own,
drawn by compelling appeals; some
seeking lost comrades with uncertain
! stems amid the unknown. and ever and