The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-04-10
MEN SHOT IN BATTLE.
Singular Experiences OF Soldiers uit In
Aetion--N Nolan at Isaiakiaya-Hooiser
nt Antietnm.

AHsAUh-RtPAhH ht tthhAhAhNA-BoOhcF
Rt AntIetnm.
After man Is shot In battle, be-
tween the blow aud the sequence,
whether death or prolonged suffering.
what are his symptoms. what his con-
scious feelings and emotions?
A remarkable instance may be
found IN the ease OF Captain Nolan. OF
Balakiava. Nolan assumed to guide
the Light Brigade in charge. aud
with frantic exclamation aud gestures
with his uplifted sword he rode to the
right to draw the Six Hundred out of
the Valley OF Death. which lay directly
In their course. toward the line of re-
doubts which they had been ordered
to attack, and where victory and not
disaster doubtless awaited them. When
he was few PAGES to the right of the
leading ranks a piece of she'll struck
him on the chest, tearing into the
heart.
THE sword dropped from his hnnd.''
says Kinglake. 'thut the arm with which
he was waving it the moment before
remained high uplifted In the air. and
the grip Of the practiced hofseman re-
manning rs yet unrelaNed still held
him firm in his saddle. Missing the
perfect hand of his master, and findIng
the accustomed goyernnnce now sue
ceeded by the dangling reins. the
horse all Mt once wheeled about aud
began to gallop back upon the front of
the advancing brigade. Then. from
what had been Nolan-and his form
was still erect in the saddle, his sword
arm still high in the air-there burst
forth a cry so strange and appalling
that the hearers who rode nearest him
call IL unearthly. Aud in truth /
imagine" continued the historian.
"lhe sound resulted from no human
will. but rather from those spasmodic
forces which may act upon the bodily
frame when life ns n power has ceased.
The firm seated rider with arm up
lifted and still. could hardly be ranked
with the living. The shrek men
heard rending the air was scarce other
than the shrek of a corpse. The dead
horseman rode on till he passed
through the interval of the Twelfth
Light Dragons. Then at last he drop
ped out of the saddle. "
The line between Nolan living aud
Nolan dead was very narrow. yet the
uplifted arm and the battle shout end
| ing in nu unearthly yell proved that
| the soul of the warrior dominated every
| element of activity so long rs any act
| ivity remained Had Nolan been trot-
1 ting along in the ranks of the Six Hum
1 uTtu WIN up bAHbT lBuHSHi tnah tthL
of keeping in line and getting ahead,
he would have gone to the ground like
| a bolt under that blow.
An experience of the same nature.
! but at the other extreme. was that of
| General Joseph Hooker at Antietam.
/ On the morning of the 17th of Septem-
| ber. being in the presence of the
enemy with his corps. he began a
movement to seize high ground on his
front aud was compelled to pass
| leugthwise of the Confederate line
| within range of hostile batteries. Soon
a strong body of the enemy showed it.
self in his pathway. aud in the ex-
citement of making new dispositions
aud routing and pursuing the Con-
federates. the General, to use his own
language. "was lifted TO the skies. y
1.-The whole morning had been one OF
unusual animation with me, he wrote,
also. Yet at the end of the successful
attack he was removed from his sad
die lust as he was IN the net of falling
from it. weakened by the loss of blood
from wound of which he had mol
been conscious nj all. 4 musket ball
had passed directly through the foot
between the muscles of the arch aud
the sole. the seat as every one knows.
of very sensitive nerves. Had the
General been in state OF nlerate
repose, ;is for instance, quietly watch
ing the execution of some movement
the blow would iInTe unnamed him
for the moment at least. Intensely
preoceupied rs he was. and as he had
good rea son to be at that stage of this
battle. he did mt potice the blow oil
the sensation that accompanied ana
followed 1t.
Complete suborlination of the sense:
to the momentary action of the vii
seems to be quite common in wounded
men, and that in the worst cases
Nolants case and that of the leader o
mutiny are in point. | have known o
several. says George l.. Kilmer. in tn
n. Y San. and history records a grea
many. In the attack on the Nintl
Corps lines at Petersburg. known n
the battle of Fort Stedman. l noticed
a mounted Confederate officer leading
a body of meE in charge upon IA can
non near which l stood. The las
view / had of him-aud that WA
across the sight of a Springfield
rihe-showed him riding boldly for
ward his sword on high. Others say
him still later and nearer, and his fear
less action in riding white horse uude
tracted much notice.
Suddenly man and horse disappeared
and after the fight we found the boil
rider lying dead about sixty to eight.
yards from our parapet. His form
was PROSTATE, his sword arm out
stretched aud grasping the weapol
firmly with its point toward the can
non he had aimed to capture. Hi
face was partially upturued as thoug
he had struggled at the very last TO Sc
something or to speak. The hors
had wheeled about and gone to tn
rear some distance, then had jumpe'
breastwork and fallen dead across il
Whether this was after his rider ha
been hit or not could not be deter
mined. In any case the Georgi
Major breathed his last with his fac
to the foe, evidently warlike and de
fiant in death. His wound was il
the head.
From conversation with the lat
Henry w. Grady respecting his father
who lost his life in this attack l believ
this officer to have been Major Grad
of Georgia.