The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-02-21
PLUNKETT
Relates Scenes and Incidents at
the Battle OF Chancellor sVille.
"A Brave Little Girl Who CIurc to Her Baby
Brother Through q Shower
of Lead
Written for the Constitution.

"Here, said Plunl,ett, as he handed over a
| strip of yellow paper, Ger fellow wrote these
| lines on his trdge-box for er table, and it
was while the balls were flying and the bombs
were bursting, and before he got through they
were ordered forward, and | picked it up from
! where he let it fall in the confusion and I've
kept it, and Browns gals say if he'd Ell
| finished it ii would or been er poem. Here are
the lines
Pines grew thick at Charlottesville,
And shells were falling fast,
The ground was covered Ter with straw,
And twigs and withered grass;
The LATHE ragged, the confeds charged
And drove the ''blue-coats" back,
And held the feld-wth wounded strewn
Amid the battles rack;
The cry Of "tire!" above the din
Was heard and like Storm
The flames rushed DER the battle ground
Der many a soldiers form;
The men in blue took in the scene
With Losror and dlsmay;
Between them and their burning friends
There loomcl a line of gray;
elk bayonets!" the quick command
OF ohcers in blue:
"We'l ave our comrades frC In the fire
Or we will perish, too;'
"Steady, steady." the battles rage,
Was i!ercest Of the day,
But not a single backward step
Was forc'd that line of gray.
81 could tell you er heap erbout that fight"
continued the old man.
Charlottesville is up the river from Fred
ercksburg, and / think it's what was after
wards called the evidences" when old
General Grant got down there. Thar's er
world OF pine land erlong there, but they amt
the long pines like we have in Georgia, they
are kinder stubby like and the limbs come
down nearly to the ground, and I seed Gener-
al Wright on CT horse what they said the la
dies OF Augusta give to him go er sailing
ermong them limbs, and got his long hair tan
gled up Ground them and liked to have got
Snatched often the horses back.
Hooker was the yankee general at Chan
cellorsvile and the boys ermong the yankees
would tell our fellows from ercross the river
how he'd fight, and Mr. Lincoln come down to
Fredericksburg and reviewed the army, and
we could see them on the other side of the
river, and our fellows begin to think that they
wouldn't have old Burnsides to deal with, but
Hooker couldn't do nothing with Lee nor none
of 'em, as long as he had anything like an
army"
but" spoke old man Brown. "Hooker
made Gordon's brigade skin outen the breast
works down at Fredericksburg, and as they
run half bent, the yankees let em have it, and
l never seed the like OF men shot under the
shouder-blade during of the war, but it was
because they were thanked, the reason they
rum
"But," resumed Plunkett, "what was go
ing to tell you erbout was the fire during of the
battle.
The bombshells set the woods on fire and
there was er lots OF fellows burned, and if ever
you seed fighting it was there. The confeds
had just run the yankees back and held pos
session of the field, and when the woods caught
on fire the yankees tried to regain the
grounS' SO as to save their
as well been er butting ergin Stone mountain
for the confeds wanted to save their wounded
too, and they stood Three times the Yankees
charged and they got nearly close enough to
club guns. but they had to go back and pretty
soon the details beat the fire and got it stop
| ped, and everybody was glad Of it, for there
| warn't no old soldier but what wanted prison.
| ers treated we'll, and they were all treated
well, on both sides, as long as they were in
| the hands of men who fought-it was fellows
that didn't fight that treated prisoners bad and
it was fellows who didn't fight that gets so
talnacious mad. Bullets and bombs had er
mighty soothing effect on er fellows temper,
| leastwise it did mino
"But I'll tc1l you one thing" continued
| Plunket, after pause, "thar was er mighty
big difference in the looks of the prisoners cap
| tured in Virginia and these here fellows what
| Sherman had with him. Lees army captured
| or many or fellow that you couldn't tell no
| more what he was talking erhout than Won
| could er duck qua-quaing GROUND. They
| hadn't been over here long, and L may be mis-.
| taken, but don't think they fit like these
western fellows, but they tit well enough
| for me-
| And me too chimed in Brown, unable
| longer to contain himself.
But" continued Plunkett "bayonets
| haht much use in the war, cepting to souze
down in the ground and keep your gun stand
! ing up. You can't find many folks that ever
fought with bayonets, but when the war first
| broke out every fellow that went out had TO
| have a great big butcher knife, and Governor
Brown had some pixies made, to be used in
stead of bayonets, but we soon learned better
| than that.
81 seed or mighty heap of tight places up
! and down that river from Fredericksburg to
! Charlottesville, and one time 1 took refuge
| behind a tombstone that had on it: