The Red Cloud chief., 1886-02-05
REMINISCENCf3 OF 4 Bat
TLEFlELll.

Probably the scene VI these vents
(the battle OF the Crat.r) is more visited
than any other spot among the battle
fields in the -ou'hcas, OF Virginia The
man who owns the farm charges visitors
q quarter a head. and conducts them
about. Bullets and other relics are still
plenty. picked up several bullets in
the ~plorrhc.i fields. aud also n piece .:
shell in,:d, the Crater itself. There is q
building full of relics Kicked up By Mr..
Griffin the owner Of the pace Three Of
them arc particularly interesting. One
is made by TIVE bullets meeting in the
air. striking point To Point in exact
range. The r. .nlt i 4 DISC of lead ~
large rs Il silver dollar. and about IL
thick. with the base Of the Yankee bu!-
LET showing in the center o n one si,s
and the Rebel bullet on the other. Had
these bullets PASSED each other the fate
Of the men urging them would not bs
hard to reckon.
Another queer rchc i Il Confederate
muskct. in the barrel of which two bull
lets met. splitting the barrel open like i
banana peel. There the two bullets can
be seen.
The Rebel bullet had got about one
third Of the way iii when it met the
prying Yankee bullet on its way in
and then there was trouble at once. o.
course the Yankee bullet had no business
in there, or at least il should have wait
ed until the other got out, but il I'm
doub,cdly was better for the holder OF
the gun that il went in the barrel than
in his eye.
Another relic which tells q CHASTITY
story is a Union cross belt plate. These
plates, as many will remember. were
circular, and worn on the cartridge box
strap, and SO came about over the heart
while the belt plate was clliptical and
came about over the stomach. Both
bore the letters ~. s." Through the
plate picked up had passed a bullet.
making \ huge hole. and of course the
ball must have passed into or through
the body Of the wearer.
One musket shown has the marks Of
eight bullets upon il. Two of them are
flat,cncd into the iron of the barrel and
remain there. 1t was evidently pretty
lively times in the vicinity of the soldier
who carried that gun.
There are thousands Of other relics
cups, cantccns, sabrcs, %bayonets. pistols,
shells. shoes. pictures, letters. etc. max
ing Il most interesting collection. There
have been tOns and tons of lead and
iron carried away from the field, by
relic hunters and the supply seems in
eXhaustible. Every fresh blowing and
rain discloses them, and you can hardly
dig in vain in the leaves and dirt in any
direction. Indian arrow heads, axe
heads and other Indian relics are found
also, and Il little deeper any quantity OF
teeth, shells and huge bones Of old
ocean monsters are plenty. II is Il locali-
ty with Il history that did not BEGIN
with the Crater fight.
One Gay while Mr.. Griffin was show
ing a party of northern men around,
one of them said: Il am reminded of an
incident that occurred here. | had
charge of a gun over there in the works
near Fort Morton. One Sunday while
there was no firing going on, ana we
were lOafing about. | saw Il man come
over that hill by the cemetery and come
down across tl,i, slope toward the rear
vi tut iAittS. lAiN At
bic and serene II irritatcd me.
and made .}|r'mv mind to see how
could come TO him. and We all
.huckled at the idea Of soaring the life
cut of him. l took good aim and landed
, shot six feet from him. You ought TO
seen him get up and cit. lie was
he Scar;c>t and most demorallzcd
Johnny Rcb you ever saw. lie wcn on
It a rate that would run Il dog to death.
and We roarcd with cheers and laughter
see him dust"
80 YOU are the man tlii: fired that
shot. are you?:" asked Griil.n.
''Ycs; do you know ANYTHING about
II"
well, | think | do was the reply.
u was the fellow You shot at. l WAS u
al coming will, something for my
athcr, who was IN the WORKS. i did
lot suppose that there WAS IL Yankee
DOL enough or mean enough to shoe. a
'annOn ut one little boy carrying grub
o his father. But YOU don't cNageeratc
he scare. didn't grow another inch
n Il Cincinnati Commercial