The Opelousas courier., 1890-06-07
THE TERROR OF BATTLE
A PANIC WHICH SOMETIMES oV Err
TAKES BRAVE MEN.
Soldiers Often Bold in One Battle
and Timid in the NeXt-Sot COW
ardice, but Terror.

Soldiers Often Bold in One cattle
and Timid In the Next-Not Cow
ardice, but Terror.
During the war, says a Wrlter III the
Detroit Free Press, We used TO hear OF
companies falling back, regiments giving
ground, and brigades becoming demon
| allied, and the average reader TOOK IL
| for cowardice and openly expressed his
contempt. No man ever went into battle
| twice alike. No company, regiment or
brigade were ever situated twice alike.
A man may be very brave in one battle
and very timid in the next. His physical
and mental conditions have much 10 do
with it. A private soldier knows the
position of his entire brigade i'll a fight.
If the position is a strong one he IS en-
couraged; if the TANKS are exposed or
the defenses are weak he is nervous and
a~pprehensive.
it is the grand stake the soldier plays
for in battle. If he wins he may live on
until the next fight. II he loses he gets
a maidstone in a national cemetery.
cannot make YOU understand the sltua-
ton better than to give you personal ex-
periences. The great majority OF sol
diers had the same feeling and passed
through the same experiences.
At first Bull Run my brigade gained
ground for several hours. This, with a
small loss of men, kept us encouraged.
Indeed, it was hard for the officers to re
strain US. Every man was hopeful and
determined, and any single company
would have charged a regiment. the
panic had upset thousands before it
touched us. Indeed, the retreat had
been going on for two hours before we
got word. We were we'll in hand and
ready to advance when the news reached
us. In five minutes every man was saaky.
Tn ten minutes men whose faces were
powder-stained were sneaking out OF tue
ranks to gain the rear. In a quarter OF
an hour half a company Of Confederates
could have driven the whole brigade like
a flock of sheep. I saw men cry like
children. | saw others trembIe and SIT
down from weakness. Every fresh re.
port added to the feeling Of terror, and
by and by pride and discipline gave way
to a grand rush, and it was every HAL
for himself. No one would stop Il
reason, No one cared whether his com
rade was ahead or behind. This wa
called cowardice, but it was not. 1t wa
panic-the terror of battle-a senseles
but powerful something which selzes III
bravest men and makes children OF
In the streets of Fredericksburg | say
Federal soldiers discharge their musket
J into the air, when the enemy was wlth1
q point-blank range. saw plenty OF ther
4 drop On their faces and tremble an
> groan and cry. This was a case wher
, , every man saw the hopelessness of attack
He felt that he was pushed forward to b
| shot down. There was no way for re
! treat until the lines should fall back. y
= the other hand, the Confederate troop
1 nosted behind the stone wall at the TOT
t of Mayre's Hill ioked and smoked an
! were in the highest spirits, feeling then
i selves secure from bullets, and KNOWN
. they could beat back any force. One {
IS them told me that after taking a dead al
70 on thirteen different men and droppil
every one of them he refralned tro
firing the next quarter of an hour out
sheer pity for the human targets bell
showed up to meet death.
At Malvern Hill my regiment lay
the dry bed of a creek at the foot OF Il
elevation. 1t was a natural ritie-plt, ri
sheltered us SO well that VT had only
o slight loss in killed and wounded.
- - the ~Confederates charged across t
fields we felt to pity them. We pour
to in our volleys without fear of danger
N return, and out Of five Contederates W
is rushed into our lines in their bewlid'
lg ment three were crying and sobblng.
wasn't cowardice but terror. No coWa
70 could have been induced to march acre
a those meadows in the face of that terri
X, fire from cannon and musketry.
At Cold Harbor, after beating
everything in our front, and while IN
of the men were cheering, some c
t5 started the report that the Contedera
X had gained II rear. Two tnousa
he men broke back like a lot of boys, so
.S even throwing their guns away, and
raj ieers of other troops had no effect Ill
sp- the frenzy had had time to evapora
:" At Gettysburg my regiment had
~, cover of a stone wall, and We knew t
Gs4 we were we'll supported. We hoped
~: :a a charge, and when it came every n
was cool and calm and confident. I
$40 band of prisoners, numbering ab
in thirty, was led past us on their way
the the rear, and I noticed that many "
ns CRYING and all were whitefaced. h
seen the best soldiers and the ole
fighters win their medals in one ba
and show the white feather in the NE
saw a Second Lieutenant almost cry
tie' the privilege of leading a charge
to Antietam, and yet at Chantilly ne
in into a ditch and pretended to be hit
oc- as to drop behind in the chal
avs towards never go to war. 1t is only br
men who face the grim monster {
ok field of battle, and next to the foe
the worst enemy is a terror which seizes
,aby as a chill or fever might come on,
The there is no remedy for it except to
.ans away from the screaming missile
Ia, death until ones nerves and sand ret
alter