The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1890-04-08
The Strange EXultatiOn attend.
ing a Wild Cavalry Charge.
How Men Feel When Preparing
to Enter a MaelStrOm of
Death No Thought of
Fear.

tn Hl~n Sn fOr-eS became nervous
a. I'd a5raii. My 4 rise was I'll od
veteran and would rp his head an
pick at the gree en- grass WI h ba terv
firing on ether side of III, but as the
moments dragged away on this Occas
ion he eVince woman's nervousness.
] looked down the lines, siys a writer
in The Dettot FIRE. Press. and saw
that he al. men; vas co stantiy be-
ing broken by horses backi"g up or
tor-ius ohesd. They could see the
fighting t. tie light and in ,ron:, and
the smoke from the Union batte to
the left aud in fr"nt o. us broke hack
and over us and the horses breathed
it in and bl=w il out of their no.trils
in gasps.
A tremor of excitement "a sort of
shiver-ran down the lin.
The wind had shifted bit to blow
smoke to our left. and down across
meadows We saw the confederate cav
ally formed with the green woods for
back ground. Jeb. Siusr's men
were there--Ashby's men men from
Hampton's Legion-Imbo1en's Vir-
ginians RIOS er's Ranges, guerr Has
from Mcs5y's command. There wee
fragments from every cavalry com
mani We ha ! mt on the rurnpik es of
old Virginia, and there wasn't a
squadron which wouldn't s'a d 70.
charge The b,ttery began fl ing
more rapid V, and there wasn't man
OF us who dId not realize VIII II WAS
coming long enough before We got
the word some Of TIE horses KIN w
it too. You could see tn IN filling
their lungs aad s;riaging up their
nerves for bard WORK.
The troops IN gray wheeled into
line under a fire which must have
tried the nerves of the bravest, AM
then the compact mass got he word
to advance. They Were coming for
our battery, which was without LII
fantry supp rts. There We stood,
two thin, short lines, representing a
thousand Dragons, but not number
ing one-half thaf figure, and body of
five to one was moving down upon us.
| saw several of the gunBers look |
back. They saw the odds aid Won
d-red, perhaps, why We did not run
away.
Attention !"
We hal obeyed the order before it
was given.
Fright dress ?"
We were a minute ahead of the |
command.
"Forward-draw sabers-guide
right trot !"
live are off! The gray moves
north and the blue moves south. We
are going to meet in the meadow be-
low. We must held them back until
infantry supports can be brought up.
Every man knows that he is moving
down into a maelstrom of death, but
no one lags. A strange exultatlon
creeps into the heart. 1t is as IT you
had heard some grand, good news and
wanted to shout over it and tell every
BODY of your good luck.
"Gallop-charge!"
Death Why, if you could die a
score of times instead of only once
there would be no fear. | sit so light
ly in the saddle that my horse seems
to have no weight to carry. He skins
over the ground as if he had wings,
and begin cheering and yelling in
chorus with my comrades. 1t is a
living misi'e of 500 men thrown al
the front of 5000. What a crash
there will bel How horses will 60
down and men pitch from their sad
dies! Afraid? No! Why, man, l
would not miss this scene for a years
life! My hand clutches the sabre
with a strength / did know | pos.
ssesed. feel hunger for blood such
as / never felt before.
cyl vi! Whoop-rah y and we
strike them fair in the centre. The
500 have the greatest momentum, and
we drive through the 5000 as a |
wedge is pounded into soft wood.
Men strike at me. There is fash,
fash, and a pop pop! of pistols. II
strike back. feel the desire of the
tiger to slay.
"Rally!'
We have driven through the mass,
and the bug!es sound the call to
gather for the return. The horses |
obey without touch Of the rein. 1t
seems that the whole living mass is
riding in circle, and that there is
blood on every man and horse. ALI
of a sudden we shoot out from under |
the smoke cloud into the sunshine -I
not the 500, but the 300-and the
battery opens again. We are to the
RIGHT of L. and Ii sends praneshnf inta