The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1890-12-24

| moved them down in swaths. Our
/ burying parties were already busily
/ engaged, and had put away to rest
| many OF our own men; still here as
! everywhere, / saw them scattered over
I the fields. The ground was strewn
! with muskets, knapsacks, cartridge
boxes and articles of clothing. with
I carcasses Of horses and thousands of
shot and she'll And so 1t was on the
other side Of the turnpike, nay, in The
turnpike itself; ride where We may,
. through cornfiell wood OF rayine, and
our ride will be among the dead, until
the heart grows sick and faint with
/ horror
Here, close to The road, were the
haystacks where our General and staff
paused for awhile when the division
was farthest advanced. and here. at
! the corner Of the barn lay one Of our
men, killed by a shell which had we'll
nigh proved fatal to them also.
just in front OF these havstacks was
tlte only dead figure, not repulsivo Ia
eight, on this battle ficld-a a fine horse
struck with death at the instant when,
cat down by his wound. he was at
tempting 10 rise from the ground His
head was half lifted. his neck proudly
arched, every muscle seemed re-
plere with animal life. The wound
which killed him was wholly concealed
from view. SO that had TO ride close
mp before ] could believe him dead
Hundreds of his kind lay upon the
field. but all were repulsive save him
self, and he was the admired of every
Ta7ser-by. | wished for some sculptor
10 immorta!ize in stone thts magnif-
cent animal in the exact pose of his
dcath-hour: one would like to see
something from battlefield not
wholly terrible
Over this graveyard OF the uuburied
dead we reached q wood, every tree
pierced with shot or f4lt with bullets,
and came to tho little brick church on
the turnpike This must have been a
focal point in the battle for a hundred
round shot have pierced its walls,
while bullets by thou ,ands have
SCARED aud battered IT, A little crowd
of soldiers were standing about it, and
within few severely wounded rebels
were stretched on the benches, one of
whom was raving in his agony. Sur
gical aid and proper attendance had
been already furnished, and we did not
Join the visitors inside Out in the
grove behind the little church the
dead had already been collected in
groups ready for burial, some of them
wearing our own uniform, but the ma
jority dressed in gray No matter in
what direction we turned, it was all
the same shocking picture, awakening
awe rather than pity, benumbinp the
senses rather than Touching the heart,
glazing the eye with horror rather
than filing it with tears.
i had, however, seen many q poor
fellow during my ride something in
whose position or appearance had
caused me to pause, and here, lying
side by side with three others, ] saw a
young rebel officer, his face less dis !
colored than the rest, whose features
and expression called forth my earnest |
sympathy, not so much for him "a for |
those who in his Southern home shall |
see him no more forever.
No one among the burying party
knew his name, and before night he
was in a trench with the rest, with no |
to mark his tomb, one Of the
three Thousand rebel dead who fill |
graves upon this battlefield.
Very slowly, as men move through |
the burial places of the dead, We rode
through these woods back Of the church |.
aud reached the rocky citadel, behind
which crouched the enemy to receive
our charging battalions, sweeping their
l.
their retreat. / was astonished to see
how eunningly nature had laid mp this
long series of lodges Of rocks, breast
high for the protection OF the rebel
line. In front OF this breast we
found majority Of the dead dressed
in blue. At this point also commenced
the long barricade of fence-rails piled
20 closely 10 protect the rebel lines,
and stretching off toward the north.
Here is more evidence of the use to
which the rebel Generals put all their
spare moments of time, aad of their
admirable choice OF position,
One more scene III this battle-pic-
ture must be witnessed, aud with
glance at this our ride may end. 1t is
a narrow country lane, followed ont
between the fields, par
tially shaded, and now literally
with rebel corpses. Here
hey stood in line Of battle, and here,
"a the length of Ave hundred feet, 1
more than two hundred of
heir dead. In every attitude conceiv-
sble some piled in groups OF five or
tx some grasping their muskets as If
n the act Of discharging them; some,
evidently officers, killed while encour-
lging their men; -Jme lying in the
josition OF calm repose. all black and
iwollen, CHASTITY with wounds, this
battalion Of the dead filed the lane
With horrors.
As we rode beside tive could not
ido in til saw the field all about me
,laek with corpses, and was told that
he cornheld beyond was equally
Ii was q place 10 see once,
o glance at, and then to ride hurriedly