Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-12-14
AT THE BATTLE OF eRAvELoTTE.
The Famous StaH-Sheridan-One of the
 yU<ry,Jse

The Famous StafE-Sheridan-One of the
 Worlds Grandest Scenes.
 Drawing nigh, we saw the famous staff around the king and Moltke. They had halted on the way from Rezonyille to Crave lotte, at a point from which could be ob- served the movements of the right wing of the German army, and there they remained three hours Bismarck was reclining on blanket doubled md thrown on the dusty ground, where there were remnants of stalks of clover He had French knapsack made of calfskin with the hair on for O pillow, and his head was sheltered by strip of French tent, held by two wooden spikes. His atti tude was that of dejection as well as weari- ness The king wore very long light blue oyercoat and his helmet, and was erect and alert A colored servant was in charge of his carriage. The threo carriages belonged respectively to the king, Bismarck and Moltke
 Standing near the king, his feet wide apart and holding field glass to his eyes, was Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, who was Bismarck's guest, and had ridden to the field in the car riage of the chancellor. The old uniform of Sheridan was dingy beside the new clothes worn by the German leaders, who had been in the field but three weeks, and had not en- countered many rain and dust storms. The hour was twenty minutes after II, and the sounds of battle began to thicken and deepen. The scattering shots of the skirmishers were lost in the roar of firing by regiments, and the tremendous German artillery began to play like some sublime orchestra. There were many dead horses and many blood stains about, and penetrating, sour smell came from them. Between two swollen mon- sters located my cherished chair, and, talk ing the only ''reserved seat' at that stupen- dous performance, adjusted my field glass and was soon absorbed in one of the grandest scenes that mortal ever gazed upon.
 It occurred to me at the moment that no descriptive language could be better than that employed by Henry J. Raymond in writing of the battle of Solferino He said that two storm clouds seemed to have de scended to the earth, and to be pouring their hghtnings and thunderings into each other. The masses of pearly white gunpowder smoke --here pillars of fleecy snow rising to the skies, and there whirling abysses of vapor, vibrating as if electrifed-were darkly Sreaked by burning villages, and the sky bver the French lines, where the iron rain of | the German artillery fell, was spotted with | the tiny clouds puffed by the exploding snelis
 could see the galloping of horsemen bear | ing orders through the fiery mist-the surging march of the troops, block after block of the blue divisions of Germany crowding to the left--the sparkle of steel and of the helmets, | like flashes of starlight on q raging sea-the | long darts of fire from the breech loading cannon of the Germans, which were each | discharged at times almost as fast as cow | boy fires his revolver-I could discern the French positions for near three miles outlined by flickering fire, and pillows of smoke that seemed to swell from series of Niagaras; and heard the awful uproar comprehending a thousand stunning shocks, rising at times to majesty that was beyond all faculty of measurement, and reminded one of tran scendent burst of music-but there was noth-
 ing in all the wonderful pyrotechnics and
 monstrous clamor to tell how the battle was | going-Murat Halstead in The Century.