The Sunday herald., 1886-09-12
STORIES OF TiIE WAX.
studyins Confederate Esrthworks at North
Anna.
ny ERANK wILKEs0S.
In Y siarl

IN. Y. star.I
May 20, 1894, the Army OF the Potomac approached
the North Anna River. In front Of the Second Corps
tHnncock's) was tho Chesterfield wagon bridge. and
he y wagon yr,u bridge was projected BY heavy % but
small cartw0fk on our side Of the river The rear
q tnls work was open; y wss ful q men, ,s bn,
ride piisi THE failfosd bridge was protected by
side OF the river. mile beyond fiie river the main
line Of Confcderates lay In their trenches. While
our troops were depoylng the battery belonged to
that overlooked the railroad bridge carthwork, and
tobegln firing at once The oiilcer who brought
rt OF haste in getting Into action, as the infantry
50 he said, Ners y 9ssault both ear eaI,hwSrks |
the other side Of deep stream, but The pace q
which the battery moved caused the smile TO fade
swung @ III into action on the crest Of the ridge. the
sponge stats were unclaimed, and the gunners
KY as a oa No sScona
was concerned. There was loud noiso behind us.
looked back as srr.ng clear on the muzzle Of tne
gun was serving and saw other batteries gaOping
toward u.s. Buges were blown, officers shouted,
and the guns went Into battery alongside OF us, until
brigade si oi Saaps csne marching up
There were not sufficient number OF Confederatcs
on our side Of the river, outside Of the Chester
Seehlve, e, iso ies alone % thirty pieces Of artillery.
We rred rapidly and accurately at the sand bank
and with the usual effect Of doing nothing. saw
shells burst all over the work and Tiny clouds Of dust
rise from II, as though It were big pun ball which
guns fSpe% Slowly Sry gums against Two Old
howl,xers! II was rather Une-sided night, and the
nowiixcrs rather slow, but still they were served.
We could see the Confederate gunners rise out Of the
ground, could see them load and then sink out Of
then raise his hand to No. 4; Instantly cloud Of
smoke would shoot out of the gun, and from II q
us. We were, as / said, firing rapidly, and shell
were bursting over the Confederate earth at the
10 "DS s s an gS' was s
furrowet and torn with shell. The works must have
quvere,i with the steady and heavy shocks. can
tired OF my work, and asked spare man TO take the
sponge star while rested. lie chcerfuy did 30.
and flied pipe with plug tobacco, and smoked and
watched the Confederate carthwork through my
fed glass. had about lost interest IN the one sided
affair, when saw an officer on mik-white horse
ride forth from the woods In the rear OF the Confed
ate work. Confident that he would be torn to bits
'S' 5 and 'sHRHs wsa os s o my rSsS
brlsky over the plain where shell were thickly burst
Ing, and Into the fort. saw him hand paper to
on his horse anu talk and gesliculated AZ quietly as
though he was on dress parade. My heart went out
wished had the aiming OF the guns. lie lifted his
hand In salute TO the visor OF his cap. lie turned his
where shot and shell were iSlckiy coursine. Dust
rose above him. Tiny clouds of smoke almost MD
him from View. Shot struck the ground and skip
ped past him, but he td not urge hts horse out OF
walk. He rode as though lost Ia meditation and
| deaf to the uprOar that ragged around him. lie
was safe. with "ihank God that the brave man
was not killed" rejoncd my gun ndresumed work
at the frucss task Of trying TO batter down sand
| bank.
Below us, to our right. Infantry had taken POSI-
| tlon 10 sheltered rcviDe. There were 1000 men
crest OF the ravinc on the se next to the Chester
| field bridge head, and they continually made mo-
y@s a e
action. They were firing rapidly az the bridge head,
which did not answer. We pounded away at our
o'clock, heard the familiar charging cheer. Look.
Ing to the right saw heavy llne Of buecoated In
rapidly run run at the fort in fairly good line. The
| Confederate pckets fired and then ran TO their
fertilization, which Instantly began to smoke In lets
men In the bluecOated line fell headl0ng, or back
ward, or sank into little heaps. The charging infan
Corps, was accompanied by an officer on horseback
who In the most gallant manner, rode his horse up
ana down the Sharsng ~ ne ana Sravey
men who saw firii. Then the brigade in the ravine
stood up and remained iulet. They were to make
the second assault In case the first failed, suppose,
but the first did not fail; they swept on and ran over
the earthwork, out OF which the Confederate infan-
try ran, and sreamed across the bridge. eur colors
cheered. Aud then fierce, charging yell noaied to
Us from the right, and smoke began 10 curl above
200 or 100 men out OF an eafthwork by Launching
could see % part of The light he Filth Corps was en-
gagged In, and could see that they had hard strug
g!e: IT was as pretty light as ever saw, but the
came mighty near being driven into the river.
We were very anxious about this lighting, as we
always were about heavy fighting that we did not
share in The unseen danger ia the alarming one to
the enlisted men. Before midnight two privates Of
division the Fh Sorps came into ase
battery to gather news: They told us that the Filth
Corps had been surprised; that they had been or
dercd at O'Clock to bvOuac on the line they held
and that at that hour Gen. Warren was soundly
sleeping in house north OF the river AMI near the
regiment had twice crossed the river to carry word
| to Warren from Gen. Grinln that the Confederates
he was unable to see Warren, being refused admit
tancc to his room, aud that on the second visit he
was 30 vehement In his demands that he was ad.
mited to the presence OF the general, VINO snubbed
him, AMI told him that the rebels would not attack;
and after ordering the troops to camp on the line he
Grlnin and reported, and had hardly done so when
| the Confederate assault was delivered. These In
elligent Yankee infantrymen assured us that this
story of the negligence of Warren was true, and
that Grinin's division had saved the Fifth Corps
from r0ut when the battle opened, and that later,
broke 1t with savage blow, Col. Melvy, with
the Eighty-thrd Pennsylvania, caught the Confed-
Of boots and over one
prisoners. sand haggard hungry looking men
they are. too.' said ono Of our Yankee visitors.
| "BOya," he added mpressvely, two are not living
on the fat or the and but looked into the haver-
| sacks of some OF Hils mon as they passed to the
| rear, and none OF them had more than couple OF
handfuls OF corn meal In their CANVAS sacks. How
they fight on corn meal straight is more than can
e eyes IN our
haversack, aud, seeing that we regarded their in
qnisltive glances with hostile eyes they laughed and
| over when they got INTO permanent camp and eat
| the fort which we had bOmbarded the previous day
Two mon with shovels could have repaired the dam.
age 1t had suffered In two hours, and we had buried
| tons OF good Iron In II. Az soon an we drew away
| from the river hank and reached point where VIC
could plainly see the Confederate lines, saw that
Lees soldiers were skilluy inirenched and that the
| Army Of tho Potomac could not dlslOdge them
| That fact was instantly comprehended by the en-.
We threw up parallel inirenchments and impaiienily
waited for tho long range inspectors OF Confederate
battle lines TO discover that the position could not bt
forced The Confederate line was much shorter
| than ours and was shaped like wide open OK bow
They could have speedily supplied troops 70 any
these works. The pickets had been close to them
and they one and all asserted that the position wal
!mpregnable when held by the Army OF Northern
One day, as we lay In our earihworks under
sharpsho0ers fire, ! saw o civilian clad In y long
had queer Idea OF q pleasure trip. To my amaze
ment he rode into the battery AMI asked II wer,
present was, and promptly said 80. swell, u
package Of tobacco your father has sent to you," h,
said, handing me couple OF pounds Of plug tobacco
This, under brisk picket and sharpsiOOterH fire
lie dsm0unted from his horse and stood by Ills side
and talked TO me for moment or two, AMI heartily
wished he would go away lie told me ttat he wal
| a New York Tribune correspondent. lie smiled
pointed to a couple OF dead men, and said az h,
raised his eyebrows inqulringly: "Rather warn
here, eh? sharpshooters got the range, hut, look
Ing toward the woods where those murderOus devlli
iurked, sit Is q long shot" Then he bade me good
bye, and cOOlly mounted and deliberately rode OF
lie was newspaper man, and he was the only maj
from headquarters whom saw on the portion
the lines held by the Second Corpg while we Law n