The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1890-06-26
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A Story of the bravery Exhibited at this
Rnttlc of Saycn plneA.

A Story of the bravery Exhibited at this
Battle of Seven Pines.
Sat the battle of Seven Pines," said
DR.. r., Il was a man under author
ity,' being deputy sawboncs for the
Virginia regiment. | was short,
stout specimen, and Notwithstanding
the cares and responsibilities of my
position and the anti-fat treatment to
which the depleted condition of the
commissariat subjected me, tipped, the
beam at 220 pounds, and was good NO.
tured and jolly, and the boys of the
regiment, manyiof whom were old &C
quaintances, wee irrcvcrent enough
to apply to me all sorts of nicknames.
.'Thc evening before the battle | had
takenup position somewhat III advance
Of the army, being unaware of the
proximity of the enemy and Of the
fact that fierce battle was impending.
Next morning l was intently engaged
in making Confed. coffee out of toast
ed crackers, when the army began to
advance. AS my regiment passed to
the front, the boys would pitch KNAPP
sacks, lavcrsacks, blankets, ETC., to-
ward me with such expressions as:
Say, Taurus, take care of that for me,
old fellow Bull, look out for that,
please. Dock, hold on to this for me,
etc, until / was fairly cnvironed by
the baggage.
My preparations for breakfast were
disturbed by the scream of an occa-
sional shell as it passed overhead,
causing me to quit my coffee and as
sumo u perpendicular. Nevertheless
l stood my ground. Soon, however,
the crack, crack, crack; pop, pop, pop
of small arms showed that the infant
ry were engaged; and the MINES be-
ginning to mark the saplings and cut
up the ground round about, l COM
mcnced Il dignilied and organized ret
rogradc movement in the direction of
large pine tree some 200 or 800 yards
to the rear.
"As advanced backwards, the firing
increased, and also my speed-iirst a
trot, then canter, then gallon and
hnaliy-well, the very best / had in
the shop. Tic air was filled with mis-
silcs of all sorts and sizes, and | was
fairly panickcd. But, great Caesars
ghost What Il sight met my eyes as
approached the tree.
"Therc were six warriors sheltered
behind it, arranged according to size
No. l sat with his back against the
trunk, his legs apartan extended; No.
with his back close up to No. l, and
thus they were strung out to the end.
No. 6, a poor, miserable, worm eaten,
attenuated specimen, had imbedded
his heels in the earth and stuck as close
to No.-5 as the bark to a tree; in fact,
herrings were ncverpacked closer in q
barrel than were these worthless With
tho glance of genius J. took in the stu
alton, and recognized the fact that the
authority of might entitled me to a po-
sitiou next to the tree.
Accordingly, without ceremony
and without word, | threw my leg
over the head of No. l, got astride of
him, as it were, let 60 all holds and
trusted to Providence. My superior
weight carried me slowly but surely
to the ground, and 1 became No. l.
Each man was advanced exactly to
the extent of space occupied by me,
and No. 6, now No. Z, whose position
was most exposed, held his ground
manfully and cut furrow in the
earth with each heel as he was thrust
forward. As I gradually settled down
l heard him exclaim with great earn
estness: 1 say, back there, don't
scrougc! Washington Critic.