The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-08-03

AAAAA arp va NhH
of the War.
Atlanta COHShhutiOR,
twenty-five yesrsl A quarter Of a CEN
tury has passed since the first battle Of
Manassas, What an awful scene 1t was,
that frst battle. AT home it was awful
when one man was suddenly killed, II
startled q whole community, and the news
OF it was carried from neighbor to neigh.
Dor until 1t was the talk Of the county.
Here were men, young men, healthy and
strong and brave, shot down by the score.
Many were dead and many were dying,
and they were all around me. The pine
thiCket and the open field close by, where
the Eighth Georgia and Fourth Alabama
fought side by side, was speGked with
them. That pine grove and field was a
terrible shock to me, for my friends were
there and some Of my kindred. The dead
seemed asleep with their arms near by. The
wounded asked for water, Their surviving
comrades had left them to pursue On en-.
envy that was 8 ill fighting, though retreat.
ing, w hurried to the branch for water.
We rode to the rear for help for ambu-
lalCes. We found the wounded all along
the route and the news was that Barlow
and Bee were killed and Col, Gardner was
wounded, and q prisoner, Shout after
shout was heard as the front advanced and
the enemy retreated, Everywhere there
was wild hurrying to ndfro. AmbulanCes
went on the run TO the battlefield, Cour-
iers with orders flew in hot haste over hill
and plain, Generals with their staff gal
Hoped from hill to hill to overlook the
movements Of their troops who were surg.
ing and swaying at double quick and yell,
ing like wild UomanChes as they drove
back the enemy and broke their columns,
The air was filled with smoke. The min
ME balls ratified through the pines orspent
their force against the fences or upon the
ground. The GsHnonRding was inCessRnt
aud Was continued long after the enemy
was out OF reach. Tho terrible sound Of It
lent wings to their fight and they left
everything behind them.
Night shut down upon the scene and
brought rest-rest to the weary, but not
to the wounded, All night long we
watched and waited, and nursed and
ComtoIted them as best We could. The
surgeons knife was busy, and as n poor
fellow was attended to and moved aside
the doctor wiped the Precipitation from
bis brow and hurriedly said, "Next."
There was not a groan nor a moan as
arms and legs were hastily amputated.
| don't believe that the boys had much
feeling then. Tho excitement and the
victory had wrought them up to a pitch
that smotherod feeling, They talked and
laughed and cried as the surgeons dressed
their wounds. l cav DR.. Miller cut q ball
from Jet Towards hip that had come
nearly through from the other eide, and
Jet stood up to have 1t done, and as
tho ball dropped into the doctors hand
he seized It and said, II wouldn't
take q thousand dollars for this" It
wan Sunday. What a day for such deeds
OF carnage. The next day was devoted TO
the dead. Our own dead were buried In
spols selected by their friends and some
rude heRdboard marked the name. The
Federals were lined in trenches with head
to feet in nameless graves. They were
thick in some places, 80 thick that one
could step from corpse to corpse. It was
the third day before some Of them we're
buried, and they had swollen and looked
fat and blOated, aud some other clothing
had bursted with swelling flesh. There
was q company Of Zouaves in Turkish
costume, WHO looked like q race OF giants
sleeping there. Dead horses strewed the
ground, and they we're swollen too and
their legs stood out without touching the
ground, and the bu2zards sat upon their
heads and Toasted upon their eyeballs as
the sweetest morsel to begin with. Artll-
lery horses fell dead upon each other and
were cross and piles and the harness had
to be cut away.
The soldiers are having reunions now,
and l am glad to see they are becomings so
universal at the South. 1t Is sad to see
how few Of a company have survived the
perils OF the war and the suTer perils Of
death since tho war. One by one they 60.
But let them meet and take comfort, and
let their hearts twine together as they
talk over the sad but glorious past. A
reglment-will make about o company
now, but in q few more years II will take
a brigade. But few are under forty.ive,
and many have aNwound that has never
healed or a disease that will not cure.
God bless them all, and inspire their
children to love their country as their
fathers did,