Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-09-04

dead IN the proportions Of four to one.
Two days of laborious sepulture viii
be necessary before they are hidden
away in the bosom of our cherishing
mother; during two days more of sum
light and darkness, Of hot noontide
and chilly midnight, must some of
these poor mangled forms lie here. un-
touched, untended, TO be hurried by
stranger hands at last into q common
and nameless grave. Thank God that
TO the former occupants Of these de-
faced bodies, now dwellers in other,
far mansions, the fate Of these, their
former habitations, is no longer of in
terest. Not for these poor shipwrecked
forms, then, need we reserve our pity,
but for the broken circles of which
every man among these unburied thou
sands formed o part-for the homes
throughout the South and the North
made wretched this day with the first
hints OF their new sorrow-for the
widow, the orphan, the mother, the
loved ones all. Oh, warl wari war;
Out OF this sad presence silently we
rode toward the setting sun, to find
our headquarters tents pitched on the
battlefield, and to be soon seeking in
sleep forgetfulness of war and all its
horrors.
The next day was quiet one. At
our mess-table in the morning it was
generally thought that we would move
before night, and every moment was
therefore occupied in bringing up ar
rears of staff business. Late in the
afternoon, however, / rode out to visit
part of the battlefield had not
seen, once more to have q partial re-
turn of yesterdays impressions. The
van of that immense army of visitors,
which for several weeks came pouring
in to see Antietam field, had already
arrived, and many citizens were now
picking up relics Of the battle, and ex-
ploring every part of the ground.
Hither came the father or brother
from New England searching for his
dead; here, also, the distracted wife
sought out the grave of her heroic
husband. The Hsgerstown pike for
weeks saw every afternoon almost one
continuous funeral process; ON, bearing
away to the North the mangled bodies
of the North's bravest sons. More
than a thousand, perhaps, were thus
carried home to sleep among their
kindred-to repose beneath commemo-
rative stones, to which all of their
name and family shall point hereafter
with natural and patriotic pride.
At first it had seemed to me better
to permit our brave boys to rest un-
disturbed under the bullet-scared
trees, in the little glens, or out in the
fields, where they died for the good
cause, and where they had been laid
by their comrades; but when / saw
the mournful pleasure with which
their graves were discovered by rela-
tives who had come hundreds Of miles
to claim their own, and the affection
ate tenderness, not unmixed with
pride, with which they lifted the be-
loved forms, shrouded only in uniforms
of blue, into their collins, and the evi-
dent relief with which they commenced
their journey home, I had reason to
change my mind.
Stretching in front of the fields adj
joining our camping ground was one
of the long fence-rail barricades of the
enemy, and behind it continuous pile
of straw indicated their sleeping spot
at night. They had left behind them
some $4,000 muskets, and details of
men were engaged in collecting them.
The burial parties were still busy; it
seemed, indeed, that their sad work
was not yet half accomplished. As
we rode on we met q friend guiding q
couple of ambulances; as he was not
surgeon we inquired his destination,