Wichita eagle., 1886-10-07
1ailS = eagle
BEFORE PETERSBURG.
AN ALu-NIGHT HALT IN FRONT or
CONFEDERATE EARTHWORKS.
A Time When tho Second Corps Cooked
and Ate and Slept tho Time Away.
What tho Early Dawn Revealed to the
Eoderals.

And We strobe on through the dense dust
clouds, with parched throats, footsore and
weary. Not grumble did hear. But with
set jaws We toiled on, intent ON capturing
Petersburg before the Army Of Northern Vir
ginia got behind the works. It was @mnrch
march, march. No struggling now. It is fan
better to march tonight than to assault earth
works defended by Lees men tomorrow.
Hurry along! Hurry, hurry, hurry" And
we marched our best. We passed a group OF
soldiers who wore the distinctive badge Of the
Second corps, cooking by tho roadside. their
muskets stacked by their fire. We asked how
far it was to the battle line. Only a few hum
dred yards they replied. Then We asked what
Confederate troops were ahead OF US. They
answered with scornful laugh, Petersburg
militia" We asked what Union troops were
engaged, and they replied, "Somc of Buffers
men" With the dislike all soldiers have for
unknown troops we said heartily, "D-a But
ler's inen We do not know them. We wish
the Fifth or Sixth corps were hero instead OF
them" Many soldiers anxiously inquired,
.'Will Buffers men fight" Then some private,
who was better informed than the most OF Us,
told us that Buffers men had been lying at
Bermuda Hundreds, and that thero were many
negro troops among them. The noses or the
Second corps men were cooked sharply In the
air at this information.
THE COLoRED TROOPS.
Word had passed among us that the Ecgr0
troops had had famous success that day; that
they had wrestod heavy line Of earthworks
from the Confederates, and had captured
eighteen guns The soldiers halted for an In.
slant They examined their rifles and shifted
their cartridge boxes to O position where they
could get at them easily, and they drank
jeeply from their canteens Then belts were
tightcred. blanket rolls shifted, the last bits
of hari tack that the men had been chewing
were bowed and their mouths again filled
with water and rinsed out, and then through
out the ranks nurn,urS arose OF "NoTfor II,
..Put US into it, Hancock. my boy" "We will
end this rebellion tonight" and VIC laughed
lowly and our hearts beat high. Soon we
heard commands given to the infantry, and
they r1arcod of. Ny battery moved for
ward. twisted obliquciy in and out among
the stumps, and then the guns swung into bat-
terry on cleared space.
And then-God, how it anger3 me even
now after an interval of twenty-five years.
and then We wcit to cooking. That night
was made to fight on. A bright and almost
full moon shone shove us. The Confederate
carthworks were In plain view before US
eartbworks which we Enew were bare OF
soldiers There was a noisy fire from tho
Confederate picket, in front of us. So u1l-
nerved and frightened were they that their
bullets sang high aipve Us. We cooked and
ate and fooled the time away. This when
every intelligent enlisted man in tho Second
corps knew that not many miles away tho
columns of the army Of northern Virginia
we're marching furiolsly to save Petersburg
and Richmond and she Confederacy. We
could almost see those veteran troopS-lean,
squalid, hungry and battle torn, with set
laws ard anxious l,Oking eyes-striding
rapidly through the dust, pouring over
bridges, crowding through the streets Of
villages, and ever uIrying on to face us.
And we knew that one. they got behind the
earthworks in our front, we could not drive
them out They did not surrender cannon
and intrenchments to- iisorderly gangs cf
armed negroes They ,Gd not understand
how troops could lose sarthworks when
assailed by equal number: of soldiers Still
we cooked and ate and sat Idly looking into
one another's eyes, questioningly at first, then
iDlpatiently, and then angriiy.
WERE EoT TO FIGHT.
Gradually the fact that we We're not to
fight that night Impressed itself on us. l
walked over to the timber OF my gun, opened
my knapsac,z and took out campaign map
end pair of conpasScs. Returning to the
fire, the map was spread On the ground. As
measured the distances a group OF excited
eoldiers gathered around and watched the
work We had the less distance to march,
about nine hours the start, and allowing for
the time lost at the crossing of the James
river we We're, at II p. m, four or five hours
nhead of .;hc Army of Northern Virginia
"Wil they be in tho works by molninc
meng | asked. and all answered: "By &c,
they wil,' Discouraged, put away TIA
map, loaded q pipe, lighted It and stroliei o..
down the line, stopping at almost every fire
l came 10 to talk to the Infantry soldiers
The rage of thc intelligent enlisted men was
;evilish. The most blood curdling blasphemy
lever listened to heard that night, uttered
by the men yvho knew they were to be sacri-
feed on the Gorrow. The %hoie CorDs wss
Gngrily excited. | returned TO my battery a
little after midnight Seated on the grourd.
rested Ily back against ono of the ponder
Gus wheels OF my gam. Resting there slept.
At early dawn | was awake ard tried TO
examine the Confederate line. Ino.iced that
the noisy, wasteful picket firing of the night
before had ceased, that the main line Of
carthy orks, indistinctly seen in the gray
light, was dead silent. Some of our infantry
came into our slight earthwcrk and VIC stood
gazing into the indistinctness before us All
of US were greatly depressed. It grew lighter
end lighter, and there before lis, fully re-
vcaled, was q long, high linc of in.irnch.
ricnts, with heavy redoubts where cannon
were maSed ct the angles, silent, grim. No
wasteful fire shot forth from that line. Now
and then a man rose up out of the Confelcr-
ate rife pits, and rifle ball flew close above
Us, no longer singing high in the air Sadly
we looked at one another. We knew tha: tho
men who had fought Us in the Wilderness. at
Spottsylvania. North Anna and Cold Harbor
were in the works sleeping, gaining strength
t. repulsc our assault, while their pickets
watched for them While we slept they had
marched. Years afterward, while crossing
northern Dakota il the service OF the North
ern Pacific Railroad company, net Gec.
Hancock, and camped with his party That
night, while talking around the camp fire, l
asked him why he did not take Petersbur:
The night the Second corps arrived there In
reply he told ne that lie had not been ordered
10 take the Town, and added: ".sir. Grant
said he sant me the order. | never received
l." 10 c:.c has ever accused Gen. Hancock
Of lying.--FIaill, Wuseson Ia Chicago Tin,eS
The Memoirs OF Gen. John G Fremont"
which is now preparing for the press. viii
comprise ten large octavos Of over COO pages