The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1891-02-26
Manitomof pilot.
MEN SHOT IN BATTLE.
Singular Exp rience OF Soldiers Hit in
Action Nolan at Observation-Disclosures
at iatietain.

Action Nolan at Bslakiaya-Hooker
at AatieiaIn.
After a man is shot in battle. be-
tween the blow and the sequence.
whether death or prolonged suffering.
what are his symptoms. what his con-
sclous feelings and cmoiions?.
A remarkable instance may be
found in the ease of Captain Nolan. of
Balaklaya Nolan assumed to guide
the Light Brigade in charge and
with frantic exclamation and gestures
with hi, uplif,ed 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
10 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 shell struck
him on the chest. tearing into the
heart.
The sword dropped from his hand"
SAYS kinglake, but the arm with which
he was waving it the moment before
remained high uplifted in the air, and
the grip of the practiced horseman re-
manning as yet uureiaXed still held
Z.
perfect band of his master, and finding
the accustomed governance now sue
cceded BY the dangling reins. the
horse all ut once wheeled about and
began to 0alop 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-thcre burst
forth cry so strange aud appalling
that the hearers who rode nearest him
call it unearthly. And in truth |
imagine continued the historian.
1.-THE sound resulted from no human
will but rather from those spasmodic
forces which may act upon the bodily
frame when life as a power has ceased.
The firm seated rider. with arm up
lifted aud stiff could hardly be ranked
with the living. The shrek men
heard rending the air was scarce other
than the shrek of Il corpse. The dead
horseman rode on till he passed
through the interval OF the Twelfth
Light Dragons. Then ut last he drop
ped Out of the saddle"
The line between Nolan living and
Nolan dead was very narrow, yet the
uplifted arm and the battle shout end
ing in an unearthly yell proved that
the soul Of the warrior dominated every
element of activity so long as any acl-
ivity remained. Had Nolan been trot-
ting along III the ranks of the Six Hun
dred with no other thought than that
of Keeping in line and getting ahead,
ne would have gone to the ground like
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 18th of Septem-
Der. being in the presence of the
enemy with his corps. le began Il
movement to seize high ground on his
front and was compelled to pass
lcngthwiSc of the Confederate line
within range of hostile batteries. Soon
a strong body of the enemy showed it
self in his pathway and in the cX-
element of making new dispositions
and routing and pursuing the Con-
fcdcratcS, the General to use his own
language, twas lifted to the skies"
The whole morning had been one of
unusual animation with me-" he wrote,
also. Yet ut the end of The successful
attack he was removed from his sad
die just as he was in the act of falling
from it, weakened by the loss of blood
from wound of which he had not
been conscious ut all. A musket ball
had passed directly through the foot
between the muscles of the arch and
the soc. the seat us every one knows.
of very sensitive nerves. Had the
General been III Il state OF tolerate
repoSe, us for instance. quietly watch
ing the execution of some movement,
the blow would have unnamed him.
for the moment ut least. Intensely
preoccupicd rs he was and as he had
good reason to he at that stage of the
battle, he did not notice the blow or
the sensation that accompanied aud
followed it.
Complete subordinaton of the senses
to thc momentary action of the will
seems TO be quite common in wounded
men, aud that in the worst cases.
Nolan,s case aud that of the leader of
mutlay are in point. | have known of
several. says George l.. kilmer. liz the
\. l. Sun and history records Il great
many. In the attack on the Ninth
Corps lines n Petersburg known rs
the battle of Fort Ste,lmHn. | noticed
mounted Confederate officer leading
body OF mcE in Il charge upon a can
non near which | stood. The last
view | had of him-aud that was
across the sight of Il Sprin gtield-
rifle showed him riding boldly for
ward his sword on high. Others saw
him still later and nearer, and his fear
less action in riding white horse under
storm of bullets. grape aud shells at
tractea much notice
Suddenly man and horse disappeared.
and after the fight we found the bold
rider lying dead about sixty To eighty
yards from our parapet. His form
was PROSTATE, his sword arm out
stretched and graspin- the weapon
firmly with its point toward the cam
non he had aimed TO capture. His
face was partially upturnei as though
lie had struggled ut the very last 10 see
something or to speak. The horse
had wheeled about and gone To the
rear some distance, then had jumped
breastwork and fallen dead across il.
Whether this was after his rider had
been hit or not could not be deter
mined. In any case the Georgia
Major brcathed his last with his face
TO the foe, evidently wariike and de-
faint in death. His wound was in
the head.
From conversation with the late
Henry ". Grady respecting his father.
who lost his life in this attack believe
this officer TO have been Major Grady
OF Georgia.
C,I;c,r,;a n,ou, ~, ..,.. =: $500