The weekly sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1886-09-16
STORIES OF THE WAR.
INTERESTING ANECDOTES OF
BOTH THE RLUE AND GREY.

INTERESTING ANECDOTES OF
BOTH THE RLUE AND GREY.
Gen. .. o. Howard's Chief of Staff,
Col. Asmussen-A New Story of the
Battle of Fredericksburg
From General O. O. Howard's arti-
ticle in the September Century, we
quote as follows: Somebody's guns
thundered away for few short min
utes, and then came the fitful rattle OF
musketry; and before l could again
get into the saddle there arose the
ceaseless roar of the terrible storm.
Il sent out my chief of staff, Colo
mel Asmussen, who was the first officer
to mount-'The firing is in front of
Devens, go and see if all is in order
on the extreme right He instantly
turned and galloped away. I mounted
and set off for a prominent place in
rear Of Schurz's line, so as to change
| front to the northwest of every brig
ade southeast of the point of attack,
| if the attack extended beyond Devens'
| right flank; for it was OWNED at once
that the enemy was now west Of him.
| | could see numbers of our men-not
| the few stragglers that always fly like
| the chaff at the first breeze, but scores
of them-rushing into the opening,
some with arms and some without,
running or falling before they got be-
hind the cover of Devens' reserves, and
before General Schurz's waiting masses
could deploy or charge. The noise
and the smoke filled the air with ex-
element, and to add to it Dieckmann's
guns and caissons, with battery men
scattered, rolled and tumbled like run
away wagons and carts in Il thronged
city. The guns and the masses Of the
right brigade struck the second line Of
Devens before McLean's front had
given way, and, quicker than il could
be told, with all the fury Of the wild
est hail-storm everything, every sort
OF organization that lay in the path of
Of the mad current of panic-stricken
men, had to give way and be broken
into fragments
MY own horse seemed to catch the
fury; he sprang, he rose high on bis
hind legs and fell over, throwing me
to the ground. My aide de camp,
| Dessauer, was struck by shot and
! Nj rt:'-' - a few moments T was
as helpless as any of the men VINO
were speeding without arms to the
rear. But faithful orderlies helped
me to remount.
81 rode quickly to the reserve bat
cries A staff. officer of General
Hooker, Lieutenant-Co Colonel Dicken-
son joined me there; my own staff
gathered around me. | was eager to
| HD b.o Do ,,ro,,ll
have held. Buschbeck's second line
was ordered to change front there.
His men kept their ranks, but at first
they appeared slow, will they never
get there
"Dickenson said, oh, General, see
those men coming from that hill way
off to the right and there's the enemy
after them. Fire, oh, fire at them,
you may stop the ffight!'
No Colonel, I said, 4 will never
fire on my own men,
Here is IA new story about the bat
tie of Fredericksburg, says the Allan
ia Constitution.
While Stonewall Jackson's men and
Franklin's division were having
rough and tumble tussle the Confed-
crates pressed the Federals back. and
one Federal soldier jumped into a
gully, threw down his gun and threw
up his hands.
That was surrender.
The confederates pressed on and
passed him Il few feet, leaving the fel-
low in the rear of the Confederate
line.
At that moment the Confederates
met Il stout resistance and the fellow
in the ditch, thinking the tide had
turned ,sseized his gun and went to
work.
Bang.
Who the d. shot me from the
rear exclaimed a Confederate
That id Yankee i'll the ditch.
shouted half il dozen soldiers. "See
his gun is still smoking."
The Captain ofthe company snatch
ed musket from one Of the soldiers
and sprang at the Federal who had
acted 80 badly.
A terrible plunge and the bayonet
WAS enLirely through the Yankee 5"
body and pinned him to the side OF
the gully.
He died.
----.The,s1 state of BuncomDe."
- From tie FagettecsHc O6seroer. q