Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-09-12

1el. out little OF The hope of our ulti-
nlaee success: il has alwavs Neon :,
mystery to me WHY our forces were
permitted to remain so long mat.
lacked: especially on our left w.,ara
our defea must have ras,ltaS Nv III tho
''9'hle OF the left grand division.
m mad retired early to nv tent on
- n:ueasoay evening, glad to be alone.
WIN IN, my own thoughts, and was soon a
eaao1 lsi.I for sleep. About midnight
our little camp was aroused by The
soano OF voices: turned over. rubbed
my eyes, listened, could not believe
NY own senses, for the voices sounded
strangely like those of the General
and staff. What could it means Not
an lhtlmatlon of retreat had reached
US; at shutdown had come orders TO
SEND over certain supplies; but this
must be retreat! The night was
stormy; the wind howled drearilv
through the tents, and General Burn
SIDE had taken advantage Of this pro-
pl'lous circumstance to withdraw his
army. This was the unravelling of
the riddle concerning the return of
our division General and his military
family.
10 Lieutenant Rogers, of Wisconsin
u wish | had his full name and his
regiment, who had lately Joined our
staff as acting aid, had been assigned
the duty OF bringing off the pickets of
the left grand division, a most re-
sponsible Office, only to be entered upon
after the main body had crossed the
bridges. His description Of his mid
night experiences greatly interested
US. Sitting on his horse, exposed to
the pelting storm, he waited patient
ly at the bridges until the last brigade
was moving down the river.
Two miles away, out in yonder dark
ness, few hundred of our men stood
leaning on their muskets, peering anx.
iously out into the night toward the
picket line Of the enemy. Net man
of this line of scattered sentinels, three
miles long, suspected that he and his
comrades were the only Union soldier.
on that side Of the river; not man, as
shivering beneath the midnight blast
he thought perchance of his Northern
home, ever dreamed that the long line!
Of artillery and infantry he saw behint
him at sunset had all disappeared
that the whole host of his brothers ha.
departed, leaving him close to the enc
my and almost alone.
The time has come to ride back and
bring off these outlying sentinels, 8,
that every man of them shall
be rescued without arousing tn
suspicious Of the enemy. One sud
den exclamation bv surprise
soldier may bring down upon til
little handful the ever-vigilant fot
Two long miles must be traversed b
the pickets on the left before they ca
reach the bridges, and their course
to be Immediately in front of the enc
my's lines.
How easily they may be cut off ! no
much faster than men these rebel blu
lets travel! It is certainly full tin
for our staff comrade to be off on b
perilous journey.
See! He is Off splendidly mounte
he takes bitches and fences with fyi1
leaps as he goes, and rushes down
the extreme left with no regards to t
roads, but straight as the bee file
The left once gained. he moderates /
pace, and coolly whispers into the e
of each astonished officer his orders {:
"Order every man in your comma1
to fall back steadily and very silentl