Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-05-31
THE MIDNIGHT .SEARCH
Leaf from IA War Diary.

Major Jack is missing was the sad re
frain which passed among the enlisted men
of the regiment. The hard and powder
stained faces grew pinched with sorrow-
grief that swelled up 10 the level of shoul-
der strap and gold braid. Dearly beloved
was our splendid major, who was general
ly spoken Of by his first name, and camp
backbiting and petty jealousy could not
live in the light of his frank smile.
The day before, Warrens Fifth Corps
had cut the Weldon railroad four miles
from Petersburg. There had been cold
spade work the first day, and hot fighting
the second 1t was worth fierce struggle
to loosen that bulldog clutch from so i'm
portant an artery of life to Petersburg and
Richmond. Hills corps struck us about
noon without a note of warning except the
wild scurry of the pickets. The advance
line was routed by an onset that swept on
like spring freshet The fugitives were
received by the support behind their breast
works, and these in turn fell before the
desperate men in gray. For few mo-
ments the situation was awkward but the
lines were reformed under cover of heavy
artillery fire, and the tide of battle again
rolled to the front. After few hours the
Confederates were pressed back till they
only held the first line of rifle pits which
they had taken.
Amidst the madness of battle no man
had thought Of another, and it was only
when night fell that we knew that Major
Jack WAS missing Right well had our gal
liant fellows earned the supper and pipe
which with the sweet rest under the stars
often make battlefield bivouac as CRATE
full as palace with it's purple and fine lin
en-. But a drop of gall embittered the cup
and spoiled the brief nepenthe. Had the
major been killed or captured Perhaps
even now he might lie helpless, sorely
wounded, despairing of succOr, and but a
short distance away. Every heart bound
cd when it was known that search party
beyond the pickets would go out at mid
night. Most of the wounded had been
brought in and sent back 10 the hospital
tents Even the scant chance was worth
taking, though it grazed the peril of death
or capture Had it been other than Major
Jack. consent from brigade headquarters,
50 reluctantly given, would have turned
the other side of curt refusal.
Six files, with two non commissioned off
GERS and Lieutenant, were detailed. On
Is side arms were to he carried, and each
man was equipped with a small dark Ian
tern. The moon was nearly at its full, but
it was only at intervals that its beams
pierced the heavy rolling clouds blackening
the sky. With the set of the midnight
watch the little party stole out of camp
from the midst of their sleeping comrades,
and passed the pickets, who were bidden
to watch closely for our return in the shin
ing of the bull's-eyes among the trees.
The enemy lay sleeping on his arms less
than quarter of a mile away. What hid
den surprises, what silent ambuscades,
4 "a FssNFu a~f
mise. The ground was mostly thick woods,
with here and there dense clumps of un-
derbrush 1t was in this belt of timber
that some of the bloodiest fighting of the
afternoon had ragged Now, instead of that
pandemonium, the indescribable hell of
noise and fury, which the business of bat
tie means, all was peace and silence except
for the night sounds of nature The mel
ancholy call of the whippoor- will, the occa-
sional croak of the frog, the cry of the
tree toad, or the distant hoot of an owl
was borne on the night. The mystery of
the forest, with the dead men lying there
in the dark, made us shiver with an awe
more oppressive than fear of shot or stab.
Spreading out in open order we crept
stealthily on, every step shod with caution,
and our lanterns opened to light the ground.
The fruit of the battle harvest soon lay
thick before us. Amidst the pillars upbear-
ing their roof of bosky darkness white
faces stared from the matted turf which
many generations had woven close and soft.
Blue and gray, they slept together like
brothers in the sacred reconciliation of
death Some still gripping their muskets
some naked handed as if in the supreme
moment they had flung away all emblems
of hate some stark and straight, ruled
even in death by soldier discipline some
stretched on the grass with the easy grace
of children tired of play some gazing up
ward, wide-eyed some half turned, with
profiles silhouetted on the night, as if to
drop parting kiss to the earth they should
tread no more-but ON every face marble
calm, broken alone by the unspeakable
message which the dead man tells to the
living, though his lips are dumb. We
hardly breathed as we peered into those
pallid masks, rude and battle hardened as
we were.
Invisible fingers seemed to clutch each h
man by the throat, until it became more
like nightmare than waking experience,
This fancy, | remember, became almost
terrible when it was necessary to touch the
dead in Olsen angling heap of bodies for
the grisly search could not be slighted. As
time passed, wind arose, swelling slowly
into greater volume as it stirred the leaves
into inarticuate murmuTs, making the
woodland morgue "a whispering gallery.
Our sLperstitious fancies grew till they be
came almost unbearable, and our lanterns
showed the faces of the living to be almost
as wan as those of the dead over which we
bent. No one of us but would have felt
thrill of relief at the hiss of lead 10 break
the spell laid by the place and the hour
But we never hinched from the duties of
our quest. Three hours of this tense strain
on mind and body passed and still we had
not found Major Jack, closely as we scan
ned the ground where our regiment had
done its hardest fighting. The search had
failed
The order to return was almost on the
lips.
"Iieutsnant,n whispered the sergeant,
who had reconnoitred a few rods ahead
with his lantern and returned there's
terrible heap of bodies out yon in the open
glade. Hadn't we better look there too ~
We had hitherto been in the shadow of
thick forest The opening in the woods
shone as light as day, for the moon had
sailed out Of the clouds into an undimmed
white splendor There was increased peril