Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1886-06-05

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ling of artillery. It seemed to me that
could hear No 1impatiently tap with spongl
staff on the blackened muzzles of the bras
guns, as he called for canister, and mors
canister, and still more canister. We were
sufficiently near to feel the wind of the guns
looked back We had not advanced far.
The dead lay in winrowS Wounded mel
were staggering over the field, and falling in
ones, twos and threes as they came together
for aid, between the lines of dead The mel
hesitated. They realized that they could moi
carry the works Their line officers tried te
hold them They staggered a few feet nearer
the Federal line. firing wildly the while, t.
be scorched by the hot breath Of cannon and
rifles. They wavered badly, tried to hold
on. then broke and ran for cover. We were
under fire for about ten minutes, and one
third of our division, Reynolds, was killed
or wounded. Stunned, bewildered and hor
ribly disappointed, we gathered in a pro
tected position and were speedily reformed.
We were allowed to rest for awhile
"Of course the planned simultaneous at
tack by several columns had failed. Oh
course they did not get off together. They
went in one after the other, and they were
all whipped Again We were formed into
charging column. Our officers briefly ex.
planned the necessity Of carrying the works
We swore to take them or die in the attempt.
'Ah,' said Thomas, it is easy to swear to dc
things when you are not under fire, but
hard, exceedingly hard, to accomplish them
We rushed to the assault again, again to bt
met by fire the heat of which warped III
out Of line It seemed to me that the air
was so full Of bullets that I could have
caught some by simply grabbing on either
side or above me. We advanced close to the
works, and again we broke and fed for cover
The Yankees, now tn oroughly angry, and
merciless, began to shoot at every living OBJ
ject within range of their rifles Wounded
Confederates, who moved leg or an arm,
were instantly selected as targets, and were
literally shot to pieces.
Darkness descended and still the battle
torn Confederates were formed into charg-
ing columns and launched against the Yam.
kee works. We advanced, stumbling over
our dead and wounded. The latter shrieked
as we trod on their mangled limbs Powder
smoke hung over the field in clouds, which
reflected the lurid fire that blazed along the
Yankee parapets Eight o'clock, 9 o'clock,
$50 and we are still fighting, still dying, still
rampling our dead and wounded comrades
into the earth. Then we gave it up. We
had made five desperate charges. Pat Gle
burnes men had made six and he fell dead
while leading the last Every general officer
in the army, excepting Hood, was killed OF
wounded Our losses had run high up in the
thousands. We stacked our arms and lay
down. All night our wounded comrades
crawled off Of the field and sought comfort
and rest and water among their unhurt
brothers. Men with one leg trailing on the
earth behind them, others with shattered
shoulders, or torn entrails, or CHASTITY flesh
wounds, or with smashed jaws, or eyes shot
out would crawl, walk or be led into our
ranks. where they would sink beside us and
murmur: 4 am glad to get home to you. II
was hell itself, boysr And they would sink
into sleep or death.
ave were awake early the next morning
to discover that the Yankees had crossed the
river during the night, and were probably
were mighty glad they had gone. Hood
had befallen us. He allowed his discouraged
army to remain in camp by that bloody bat
tlefeld. The men, already dispirited and
permitted to roam at will over the corpse
strewn field. I never before or after saw
such a frightful battle ground Many Of the
Jo.l b
of men who had been wounded-legs broken
probably-who had put their thumbs into
their mouths and had chewed them into
shreds to keep from. crying, coward-ike, as
they lay exposed to the merciless fire of the
Yankees, waiting for death to keep them
from voicing their fear. Franklin was the
only battle ground I ever saw where the
faces of the majority of the dead expressed
supreme fear and horror. Dead mems faces
were drawn awry. Their eyes were wide
open and fear-staring. Their very atti-
tude as they lay prone on the ground
with extended, earth-clutching fingers, and
with their faces practically buried in the
soil, told the tale of mental agony they had
endured before death released them. And
then, the chewed thumbs, showing ths dire
full necessity they had to brace themselves
to receive death, was inexpressibly affect
ing
1.-THE repeated disasters we had encountered
under Hood had dampened our ardor. The
unwise rambling of our men OVER the battle
field of Franklin broke their spirit. We
would not fight at Nashville; we lost that
field because the specter of Franklin, ivid,
with distorted features, with blood-stream-
ing wounds, with CHASTITY, horror stricken
eyes, chewing and crunching its thumb.
stalked among US It was in the columns as
We marched. 1t rode astride Of the Napo-
leon guns. It sat by our camp fires. It
stood in the trenches at Nashville. It lay In
the rife pits O nights"
Thomas ceased talking, and looked In
tently and sorrowfully into the fire, as
though he were searching for the faces Of
the comrades he had lost did not intrude
Do his grief, but quietly rolled myself in my
blankets and lay down, not to sleep, but to
think of the horrors of the war and of the
bloody fields in Virginia, On which had
worked at lannon's muzzle
FRANK WnKEsoN.
NEW York, May Is
g. A. R. Suits at Kyle's.