The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1891-05-28
saltwater, Mimi, Thursday, Mag 28, 1891.
War.

War.
A battery wheeling into position on bat.
tie field has not the rush and force of a
cavalry charge. but there is all excitement
in it that makes old veterans rise in their
saddles and cheer.
) We are fighting on the brow of a hill.
near the edge of large wood. The enemy
before u.s. in superior numbers have several
times charged our position, and as often
been repulsed. Our men are becoming ex-
hausted under erepeated shocks of battle
Slowly but surely we are being driven from
our position. Unless help soon arrives.
our lines will be broken and the enemy
come pouring through the gap.
A great battle was being fought; and on
its results depends mighty issue, for the
capital of the nation was in danger. Our
position is an important one in the issue of
the battle. 1t must be held at all hazards.
themselves upon our line. That line re-
Every man that falls, dies at his post like a
hero. Once more the enemy break and
seek the shelter of the woods. The carnage
is awful. Whole regiments have been ami
hilated, but we hold our position with the
desperation of despair. One more charge
and all is lost.
But hark! What rumbling sound is that
over on our right. Hurrah! boys, here
comes help.
Down hillside gallops battery as if
driven by the force of a cyclone. Every
rider is using whip and spur. every horse is
lashed into foam. as the huge wheels of the
guns leap over stumps and logs and rush
like whirlwind through the gap we make
in our lines. 1t is terrible race-a stormy
bounding of horses among cannons, to see
which will be first to reach the crest of the
hill.
What cool fellows those grim cannoneers
are. How quickly they wheel into position.
Every man in that battery is part of per
feet machine. There goes one poor fellow.
shot through the head as he coolly sponged
his gun. That is just one cog gone in the
wheel of the machine. Down along the
battle line the order cOmes-''Fall back to
support the guns" We have just time to
obey the order when, Boom! BOom Boom!
the thrOatS of the guns blaze and hurl
their showers OF fiery hail into the woods
beyond. The earth shakes and trembleS
the roar shuts out all sounds from bat
tie line three miles long, and shot and
shell go crashing into the woods carrying
death and destruction. You would think
that tornado was bowling through the
forest followed by biIlows of flame. And
yet men live through it-yeS press forward
to capture the battery.
We could hear their shouts as they formed
for the rush. Then the round shot and
shell is changed to grape and canister. and
all sounds seem blended into one awful
and terrible roar.
The shrek of a shell is the wickedest
sound in war; But nothing makes the
blood creep like the whistling, purring
grape shot. and the serpent like hiss of can
lister. Mems legs and arms are torn from
their bodies and their bodies cut in two. A
round shot takes two men out of the ranks
grape and canister NOW a Swath, and
pile the dead on top of each other. The
guns leap from the ground as they are de
pressed upon the foe. and the enemy's ranks
are tossed and lashed like ocean foam i'm a
storm.
But they are determined to conquer. On
they come up the hill and over huge piles of
the dead. Their torn and shattered col
umns charge for the guns.
Up, boys, the enemy are among the guns!
We rise, fire, and rush forward. Then is seen
frightful spectacle. Amidst loud cheers
and horrible yells, there comes a clashing of
human thunderbOltS; hurricane of flashing
bayonets. The advance lines of both columns
are broken and smashed like egg shells. Men
are actually raised from the earth by the
force of this terrible shock. Around the
guns the battle becomes awful. for this is
the focus of the fight. But it is no longer
a battIn-it iS a hna0IOnU furV
The sun sinks in the west, but neither
party gives way one inch. Men kill and
butcher each other with all the savagery
and ferocitY of wild beasts. The dead lie
in great heaps along the crest of the hill,
while around the guns flows mingling