The daily herald. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1886-1887, 1886-10-14
THE FIGHT WITH STONES.
AFEDERAL SOLDIERS STORY OF THE
SECOND BATTLE OF MANASSAS.

The Unsuccessful Charge on the Con-
federate Forces at the Railroad EN-
banIsment = The Internal Regions
Broken Loose-An Interview.
Suddenly the cannonading over our
heads from the Union guns ceased and we
were ordered to move on at double quick.
Bounding over the fence into the clear
ground we were halted again for the line
to get Strengthened, and for the first time
discovered the object of our attack, and
laughed outright at what seemed
comical sight At distance of thirty or
forty rods from me was n railroad grade,
perhaps dozen feet high on our side, at
the highest point, ard at the top of that
grade was an incessant Kaleidoscope pop
ping up of SLOUGH hats and muskets, the
latter of which were all successfully with
drawn as fast as discharged.
1t did not seem possible that any of us
could be hit by such firing as that, and
altogether looked ridiculous My first per-
ception of it's being otherwise was in look
ing alone the line and seeing a blue blouse
fall forward or backward TO the ground,
or reel and stagger from the rank. By that
time we were once more in motion, and
experienced what is probably the purely
animal sensation of bloodthirstiness.
Loading and firing as we ran toward the
embankment, successfully shouted,
screamed, laughed, swore, stamped and
whooped, although commonly one of the
most quiet and undemonstrative OF
youths To see one of my comrades fall
made me as angry at him as at the
enemy, for he seemed to be deserving us at
the very point where his assistance was
needed. Before we reached the railroad
grade, we had to face grape and canister
as well as musketry; but three of us ar
rived there together. Farther back the
field was strewn with wounded men and
corpses, and along the railroad cut" at
our left, the men of Porter's corps were
contending desperately with their almost
invisible, though deadly, foe.
THE INTERNAL REGIONS BROKEN LOOSE
My backward glance which revealed
these things was taken in the hope of dis
covering the approach Of our following
lines, but they were still in the woods be-
hind. The sight Of the demolished regi-
ments in their front caused the second
line to hesitate and in the meantime the
few of us who had reached the grade
crawled to near the top of it and loaded as
we lay close to its side, lifting our pieces
above our heads and firing over the EN-
bankment as well as we could without
special aim Then came the charge of our
second line toward us, and it seemed as
though the internal regions had broken
loose. The noise was so tremendous that
we could not hear our own voices. OF
course our troops were repulsed to the
woods again, where they stopped and com
menced firing at the enemy, who were
only separated from ourselves by few
feet of broken rock and earth. Still, my
companions and myself stayed ON the EN-
bankment, partly because it was most
dangerous to recross the field, and partly
in the hope that another line would soon
get up to us. Our ammunition failed and
we lay with our backs against the EN-
bankment, as near the top as we dared
venture, throwing large stones over our
heads backward as forcibly as we could
among the enemy.
can not now tell which side began this
method of fighting, but l remember dis
tinctly that we very soon got the worst of
it, The big jagged pieces of blasted rock
kept falling about us, and some of them
took effect, to our sorrow / was myself
hit three times, as | find by letter written
TO my parents few days afterward. But
our side of the fight there was conducted
under most terrible disadvantages. Bull
lets from our own troops in the woods were
striking around us, and both my immedi-
ate companions were soon fatally wounded
from that direction. My own haversack
and canteen were destroyed by a fragment
of shell and a bullet respectively and look
ing along the side of the embankment, in
both directions, 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 force
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
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
to 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
4 had given the latter garment to a
wounded comrade from whom / had cut
his own in order to examine his hurt--my
blouse was insufficient to hide the desha-
billie entirely BY way of introduction,
however, lifted the butt of my musket
into the air, pitched it forward on to the
top of the grade, and presently drawing
an anxiously long breath, followed my
piece. looked down from the top upon
the bayonets and into the muzzles of the
muskets of Company f. Montgomery
guards, of the First Louisiana. The noise
of the battle was still so great that they
could not hear my request to be allowed
to jump down among them but after an
apparently interminable instant or two,
they understood my signs made an open
ing in the line of bayonet points, and re-
ceived me with honor and welcome.
The occasion not being adapted for ex-
tensive exchanges of the civilties of social
life, was ordered TO step down into the
ditch, out of the way. Here were a few
Confederate soldiers, wounded about the
head and arms, for whose comfort | did
what could while the battle progressed
Stonewall Jackson rode along the line
close to us, and the cheering "Montgom-
cry Guards" lifted me into their ranks for
view of "the greatest general of the
world" as they called him. But with
jackson came the order TO move forward,
and !, as a prisoner, was sent with a
guard to rendezvous on Cross farm, a
mile or two more to the rear
On returning to my regiment few
a. -.