Arizona weekly citizen., 1886-06-19
THE FIGHT WITH STONES
A AFEoeRAL SOLDIERS STORY oF7.z SECOND BATTLE OF mANAss.e

iho Shsuoc@ssroA Charge on the Ca,
 federate Forces at the RaIlro.a D..
 bankment - The Internal Es,.,-
 Broken Loose-An Interview.
 Suddenly the cannonadin1 Over
 heads from the Union guns ceased and ..-
 were ordered to move on at doubls c-,;,.l
 Bounding over the fence into Inc 'e--N
 ground we were halted again for rb, ,.-I
 to get strengthened, and for the first ,.r-s .,-'
 I discovered the object of our attack a-5
 laughed outright at what searTsI
 comical sight. At a distance of thir-v,,
 forty rods from me was 8 railroad 7-s.,
 perhaps a dozen feet high on our side ,.
 the highest point, and at the ton of ,s'.
 grade was an incessant kaleidOsc0pic --- ping up of slOuch hats and rusket. ..,
 latter of which were all successiyelv v-;.t
 drawn as fast as discharged.
 It did not seem possible that apvcs-.
 could be hit by such firing as th5- --4
 altogether looked ridiculous My frs, --- -
 ceptiOn of its being otherwise was in l-.t
 ing alone the line and seeing blue bra,-.
 fall forward or backward to the rrrr-f
 or reel and stagger from the rank. Bv ,p,,
 time we were once more in motion. a-4r
 experienced what is probably the pr-s.r
 animal sensation of blOodtbirsf-rss+
 Loading and firing as we ran towarf -.s
 embankment, l successively shor,.4
 screamed, laughed, swOre, stamped a75 l whOoped, although commonly one 0f -ba
 most quiet and undemOnstrativs |,
 youths. To see one of my comrades f,r
 made me as angry at him as at he
 enemy, for he seemed to be deser,.rcusa,
 the very point where his assistance WI.
 needed Before we reached the rgs.-,,J
 grade, we had to face grape and csri.-.-
 as well as musketry; but three of rs ,-. l rived there together. Farther back ,h,
 field was strewn with wounded men s-4
 corpses. and along the railroad c!, $.
 our left, the men of Porter's corps ua-.
 contending desperately with the.r l-,.
 invisible. though deadly, foe.
 | THE INTERNAL REGIONS BROKEN L00,r
 My backward glance which revealed
 these things was taken in the hope ott- covering the approach of our fJl.1v.--
 lines, but they were still in the wood, 5e hind The sight of the demolished -s-
 ments in their front caused the sec5sI
 line to hesitate. and in the meantime -l- | few of us who had reached the -rsls crawled to near the top of it and loaded s
 We lay close to Its side, lifting our piece, above our heads and firing over the s-..
 bankment as well as We could withou. special aim Then came the charge of 0rr second line toward us, and it seemed IS though the internal regions had broken loose. The noise was SO tremendous that we could not hear our own voices Oi 1 rr. woods again, where they stopped and com menced firing at the enemy. who Were only separated from ourselves 'bya few feet of broken rock and earth still, ny companions and myself stayed on the el. bankment, partly because it was mos, dangerous to recross the field. and partly in the hope that another line would so5s get up to us. Our ammunition failed and we lay with our backs against the en- bankment, as near the top aS We darti venture, throwing large stones over our heads backward as forcibly as We could among the enemy.
 l can not now tell which side began th.s method of fighting, but ] remember dis. tinctly that we very soon got the worst ot 1t. The big jagged pieces Of blasted rock kept falling about Us, and some of them took effect, to our sorrow. l was myself hit three times, as find by a letter written to my parents a few days afterward. BGt our side of the fight there was conducted under most terrible disadvantage Bul lets from our own troops fin the woods were striking around us, and both my immet- ate companions were soon fatally wounded from that direction. My own haversack and canteen were destroyed by n frRgmeEt of shell and a bullet respectively, and look ing along the side of the embankment, Tn both directions, I could see no active par ticipant in the fight. The men of the First Louisiana were invisible to US, and they had no means of knowing that the fore opposed to them consisted of one man not seriously wounded, with perhaps dozen others so sorely struck that none of them could have aimed a musket or thrown a missile to accomplish any object.
 PERSONAL INTERVIEW WITH THE FOE.
 The groans and complaints of my wounded friends at the fall of stones upon them finally decided my action, and con cluded to stop that dangsr and annoyance Co them by a personal interview with the gentlemen on the other side of the work My appearance at the time could not have been prepOsSessing. Grimed with dirt and powder, and wearing neither hat nor shirt T had given the latter garment 70 8 wounded comrade from whom l hal cut his own in order to examine his hurt-uY blouse was insufficient to hide the desh4- bile entirely. By way of introduction however, lifted the butt of my muskrt ntO the air, pitched it forward on Co tle Op of the grade, and presently, drawing m anxiously long breath, followed my piece. l looked down from the top upon he bayonets and into the muzzles of ;le nuskets of Company F, Montgomery ,uards, of the First Louisiana. The noise If the battle was still SO great that they ould not hear my request to be allDwol o jump down among them, but after Gn apparently interminable instant or two hey understood my signs, made an open ng in the line of bayonet points, and rr eived me with honor and welcome.
 The occasion not being adapted for eX- ensive exchanges of the civilties of social lie, was ordered 10 step down into the Itch, out of the way. Here were few soldiers, wounded about the cad and arms, for whose comfort did That could while the battle progressed Jackson rode along the line lose to us, and the cheering "MOntgOm- y Guards" lifted me into their ranks for view of ~the greatest general of the 'orld," as they called him. But with aeksOn came the order to move forwarl. nd l, as a prisoner, was sent with nard to q rendezvous on Cross farm. ile or two more to the rear.
 On returning to my regiment a few ionths subsequently,, after being ex- hanged, found myself advanced from lnior corporal to orderly sergeant, witha 'cond heutenant's commission in tt5 purse of preparation for me. The captain ad been killed, the first lieutenant dis oled and all the sergeants and c0rporals the battle, down to myself, killed or i1ured for life. On the day after the bal @ my company mustered one officer sut 'ur men for duty out of nearly fifty pre- 1t two days previously.-T. W Haisl- ! Yenowine's News
 An old man at Santa Cruz, Cal. is cut ng his third set of teeth