Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-10-06
s4Aeps4ooreas AT PETERSBURG.
r~cons.aera.e Tells of some Expo

An Ex-Confederate Tells OF Some Expo
risnOes While in the Trenches.
GTbe narrowest escape ever had, . said
= yvelI-known lieutenant Of police In Bal
timore. Gwas In front Of Petersburg.
aNy regiment was in Pickett's division
Of I,ongstreetis corps. and another Fellow
and were in trench together. We were
AZ the front Of the line. The other Fellow 3
name was Dick. The trench was ABOUT
six feet deep, and there was q groove CUT
In the top of the front, through when we
did our shooting at the Yankees. Wnen
we wanted to pop away we'd lay the gun
barrel along that groove, get quick slght
on the enemy, pull the trigger, ana then
inmp down. Dick was pig headed sort
Of a chap / told him dozen times ne
didn't have sense enough 70 hoto MS neau
on his shoulders.
There was lot of Yankee sharPshooE
ers in front Of us, and cautioned DICK 70
look out how he exposed himself ten
YOU il was dangerous for even so much as
aynan' ear to get in sight OF those fellows
Iheard the bullets whistling lively over
our trench, and knew by the
sound that they were torceu
balls. A forced ball, you know Is
a bullet from a bree ch-loader. 1t Is
little bigger than the diameter OF the gun
barrel, and consequently it goes out Win
greater force than the ball from muz-
Zle-loader. The way we could distinguish
between the two kinds Of guns was, that II
Il was q breech-loader the bullet got 10
YOU before the report; but II IL was
muzzls-loader the report got to you De-
fore the ball. Most all Of the Yanks USED
the breech-loader, and you can just bet
your boots we were mighty careful no"
we got in their way.
aAs was saying, the bullets were
whistling pretty lively over our trench l
was loaded, and was about to put my gun
In the groove and pick off q blue-coa1.
Dick was standing in front OF the groove
uniting in a charge. He had his eye at
the breech of his gun examining 1t, ana
the side Of his head was turned toWaru
the groove. While he was standing there
it was not more than half minute al
topether-one of the forced balls came
singing through the groove and bored
hole clear through his head as big as a
walnut He fell dead. l stepped across
10 him, and in doing so passed In front OF
the groove. Just as l got on the other
side of the trench another bullet passed
through the groove and buried ITSELF IN
the rear wall Of the trench. Two other
balls followed it, and buried themselves
in the identical hole made by the nrst
bullet. The sharp-shoOter who did that
neat Job was half-mile away.
pretty good shooting" suggested one
of the listeners.
II should say So" said the lieutenant,
with all expressive shrug Of the shoulders
"Some of those Yankee sharpshooters
were marvellous. They had little tele-
scopes on their rifles that would fetch
man up close until he seemed to be about
only 100 yards away from the muzzIe'
I've seen them pick man of who was
mile away. They could hit so far you
couldn't hear the report Of the gun. You
wouldn't have any idea that anybody was
in sight of you, and all Of a sudden, with
everything as silent as the grave and not
a sound OF a gun, here would come SKIP
ping along one of those forced balls ana
cut hole clear through you.
"How we used to lay for these sharp
shooters, though" he said, chuckling at
the remembrance. "We'd keep lookout
for every little puff of smoke. She sharp
shooters, you know, mostly climbed trees
and hid themselves in the branches. so,
every time they'd shoot there'd be n tell
tale puff of smoke come out of the tree.
Just as soon as we'd see one of those little
puffs of smoke the entire battery would
rain shot and shell into that tree, and
we'd make it so hot for the sharpshooter
that he'd either tumble or crawl out,
d cad or alive. The best shooters were in
the Union army. Most Of them came
from the west, and many Of them had
been scouts in the Indian country. They
rarely missed man ut the distance OF
a mile. Indeed, they could hit any object
as big as pie plate that far away."-Chi-
cago Ledger.