The National tribune., 1888-05-03

thus relieve the men who were temporarily
helpless. The assault had been made by the
12Sth n. Y, Goth Conn. and 18th n. II.
Skrmishing and sharpshooting were, of all
the military movements, best suited to our
tastes and habits of life, and it was with feel
ing of relief that we advanced over the field.
The terrible results of the conflict soon began
to show themselves in the dead and dying men,
cast-away arms, haversacks, canteens and cloth
ing. The wounded were being helped to the
rear as fast as the hospital corps could operate
under the destructive fire of the enemy, but
the life-blood of many one was ebbing away
too fast for assistance. Many poor soldier we
stopped 4 moment to move to an easier or safer
position, or give them drink of water, for
Southern sun was fercely pouring down his
heat upon the open field. And yet, with the
MEMORY OF ALL THOSE HORRORS
of suffering and the maugling of human flesh
until mother would not know her own son,
we are told by those who staid at home, How
glorious to die for ones country" If the lack
of sympathy, of the soothing touch OF love and
affection. of all the civilized methods Of relief
for suffering, or amputation of mangled limbs,
constitutes glory, then it is indeed glorious. 1t
was depressing scene, one we hope never to
witness again-a scene that wildly brings to
the mind of the thoughtful the fact that how
ever much we claim for our advance in civiliza-
ton, we have not yet scared above human sac
riGce. Our comrades We're just as much sacrl-
fees to tlle god of war as the Pagan offerings
of 1000 years ago.
The bullets flew around us from the delib
crate aim of the sharpshooters, and wounded
several Of our men before we crossed the field.
The ground was full of ridges the field having
been planted in cotton the previous year, and
when the fire was too severe we would drop
into the hollow and partly shield our bodies.
But the delay was only momentary, our con-
tinual advance making it harder for the sharp
shooters to hit a moving mark. and we soon
reached the skirts of the large ravine which
we knew lay between us and the enemy. Some
of the branches or tributaries slOped downward
gradually, and were, some of tfFem, filled with
thick growth of cane, which formed n perfect
cover for numbers of men. Some of these
branch ravines had springs of cold water run
ming out of the bank. and around these we
found hundreds of men completely cowed and
dispirited from
THE HUMILIATING DEFEAT
of an hour before, and not daring to show them
selves to the enemy. From our habits and
former surroundings we could not feel so COM
pletely helpless as they, although we sincerely
sympathized with them in their loss through
what we knew to be no fault of theirs. After
filing our canteens and cheering up the diSpir-
tied men, we moved forward to our duty within
easy range of the Notifications, and soon silenced
the destructive fire.
We feel that it is no more than just to men
ton the unfiinching bravery of the Goth Conn.
| and 18th n. H., for nine months service who
never wavered in crossing the open field, lead
! ing the assault One company in the former
regiment losing IS killed and eight wounded
! from the effect of one shell. We had laughed
| at and ridiculed them for their cowardliness in
not supporting US on the 9th of May, until in
Tetort they told US several days before that
| We will show you Michigan fellows that we
can do something" And well did they redeem
! themselves, but all to no purpose. 1t was not
/ their fault, poor sufferers, that they did not
! gain glory or, as it turned out even thanks.
The assault was
COMPLETE FAILURE,
and, in connection with the 9th of May, tend
ed to destroy the remaining confidence in the
| geneTalship or judgment of our commanders.
! The loss of Dwights Division was heavy upon
] those directly engaged, the proportion of killed
] to wounded being larger than on the 9th of
| May. The divisions of Augur, Grover and
Emory, although accomplishing more than we
| did, were driven back with severe loss. Paines
/ Brigade was reported as entering the enemy's
works, but not being supported were forced
back with loss of a portion of the 4th Wis.
as prisoners; Gen. Paine losing leg, while
/ the brigade loss was more than one-third of
! those entering the action From what we could
gather from the other divisions, their move
ments had been planned fully as badly as ours,
and, to use plain language, we were suffering
under an ignominious defeat. To state plainly
! what is meant there were regiments in every
division who thoroughly explored the lay Of
1 the ground between us and the Notifications,
completely around the place; but instead OF
| this information being used in planning the
assault Of the 14th of june it appeared to be
| totally ignored, and an imaginary condition oil
things used as a basis for orders.
As night closed in the field was cleared up OF
| all wounded the dead buried, and the 9th
| Mich. advanced to the last ridge, before spoken
Of. facing the sallyport, to which the river road
led up out of the bottom, and only about 200
yards from the enemy. A force Of contrabands
were set 20 work behind us on the highest part
of the ridge throwing up a rifc-pit for our pro.
lection as soon as it should become day. We
were
UNEASY ALL NIGHT,
expecting to be fired on by the Confederates, as
il did not seem possible that all Of our digging
could be done unknown to them. Not shot
was fired until daylight began 10 show objects
plainly, and then we had to take shelter in The
rife-pits partly prepared, SO as TO protect our
selves from the shower of rifle-balls that wa,
poured into us. We soon returned the fire Will
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