The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1885-04-30
seven miles in the rear. But we were In for
it-thats ali there was of it.
have been asked to describe a battle.


can give You but very, very faint idea
OF battle Imagine 10000 men on eacn
side, ~ pieces of artillery on one side, OF
ON the other and all actively engaged III
trying to destroy the other. say to you,
Won cannot comprehend the booming of the
artillery, the whizzing of the shells, the
crashing of the shot through the ranks OF
men and timber, the roar of the fire of the
infantry. the singing of the balls of the in
fantry and cavalry as they pass lncon-
yeniertiy close to the ear of the soldier, the
cry of the wounded, the shrieks of the dying
the hurrying hither and thither of Aids and
Orderlies. of troops, of wagons, OF cannon, OF
a1nbulances-all of these 20 to make up the
pandemonium called battle, to which Is
always added the cheers of the victorious
This is as near rs / can give you descrip'
ton of a battle To be appreciated In Its
awful grandeur its must be witnessed. The
spectator should he participant.
As / said, il was about 5 o'clock when we
reached the scene of the conflict II took us
perhaps 20 minutes TO form line and adj
vance 10 the edge of the clearing. During
all this time the rebel artillery was sending
a constant stream Of shot and shell into our
position. When we got to the edge OF the
timber they added the fire of the infantry to
that of their already severe artillery hre.
Our division had secured a very strong posi-
tion behind a fence, logs and trees. Inc
rebels made three or four Intellectual attempts
10 dislodge MS, but failed. Soon, however,
the cavalry and Fourth Division, not being
so favorably situated, gave way and left us
unsupported on the right or left. The
ground Was such being covered with pine
underground, that cavalry could do little.
The retreat Of the cavalry and Fourth d.
vision left our division of / 200 men contend
ing with Kirby Smiths forces. The rebel
loss IN front of this division was fearful.
When the Third Division was almost sur
rounded il fell back, first in good order, but
when it became entangled in the wagon
trains and retreating cavalry the orderly re-
treat BECAME & rout, one that Gen. Ransom
said was worse than Bull Run.
Nov the folly and want OF skill on the
part OF the commander were apparent to all.
The road was blocked up by wagons that
should have been seven miles III the rear In
stead Of the fine division of the Nineteenth
Corps As it was, it was impossible to re-
move the artillery or anything else to the
rear. So there it was, wagons, artillery,
horses, supplies, and everything the rebels
wanted. All they had to do was to take 1t
away. Over 200 wagons and 20 pieces OF
artillery were left on the field. Thus ended
the battle of Sabine Crossroads in the de-
feat of the Union army, composed OF as good
soldiers as ever fought.
TRYING TO GET TO THE REAR.
A short time before the division gave way
i was wounded. and went to the rear to
house that was selected as hospital. l had
been there but q few minutes when / saw an
officer with the colors of my own regiment
going to the rear. / knew it was all over at
the front, ana there WAS no possibility OF the
division holding out longer. About the same
time an ambulance came along, and l got
into it, and with five others we started for
the rear. We soon came to the road blocked
upwith the wagons as have described. We
started through the woods for the rear. We
had not gone far-not more than a mile
when we were brought to standstill by
finding ourselves on point Of land where
Two or three ravines or washouts came to-
gether While we were considering what to
do, our deliberations were brought to an
abrupt termination. A Texas cavalry regi-
ment came within range and commenced
firing on onr train. Splinters were flying in
every direction. / told all who could do so
to get out get behind the bank, and when
the enemy came up give themselves up. /
got out with the rest of them, but the ex-
citement YES that Is the right word to
use-and the dread of rebel prison neryed
me up to try it again-tO make one more
effort for liberty. l crossed the ravine and
secreted myself in pine thicket that was so
thick that tie cavalry could not go through
it, and waited until they had passed. Then
came out and followed them going farther
to the left, so as to get around their left flank.
For an hour or SO had walked i'll the direc-
ton of Pleasant HILL and had arrived in the
neighborhood OF place called Pleasant
Grove. 1t was at this place that Gen. Emory,
with the First Division of the Nineteenth
Corps, made his stand was at this time
on the left and IN the rear of the rebel posi-
tion, and in range of our own guns.
THE BATTLE OF PLEASANT GROVE
was being fought by Gen Emory and such
Of the defeated troops as reached his line
To avoid The danger of the shot and shell
from our own guns, l went farther from the
road and entered a rayine, and then i think,
without eXaggeration, l had
THE BIGGEST SCARE OF MY ARMY LIFE.
When too late to get out of the scrape,
short turn of the rayIne brought me face to
face with three or four citizens with their
families and their shotguns in this hollow
for safety. / confess to you now that /
cannot describe my feelings. You may pos
sibly be able to imagine them. bold front
and prompt action was all that was left. So
/ walked straight up to them, asked for
some water, told them to change their posi-
tion up the hollow to safer place, and went
on my way thanking my lucky star for
third delivery that day
So / continued my walk until about 10
O'Clock at night, when i determined that l
had passed the rebel lines and that would
90 to the main road if / could get there
The noise OF battle had long since died out,
and as it had apparently remained station
ary, was confident our people were not
being driven back. All this distance five
or six miles had been through dense pine
forest, a good portion of the time after night,
with nothing but the moon to guide me-
But about 10 o'clock j found road that
seemed TO go TO the main road; this j fol-
lowed perhaps mile when i saw fire
short distance ahead of me. This | ap-
preached cautiously, and when near it |
heard the command given to an Illinois cav
airy regiment TO mount-the officer giving
the number. ] don't think ii ever gave me
as much pleasure 10 hear any name before
or since as it did on that night 10 hear that
Of Illinois pronounced. AS the regiment
had at one time been in our brigade, was
at home among friends. That night went
back TO Pleasant Hill in an ambulance, and
from there TO New Orleans. At Pleasant
Hill / took an inventory of myself. and
found that / had IL builet-hOles through