Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1891-01-15

coutu nesx tne ueep VOICE OF tkPS-
Peter b. Roesrs. Of Company Il. re-
preachfully crying. "Oh. what shams.
Why was ! ever born Jerssyman 7
IL this . foot race or > 6ghtf Come
back Come hack |" Then waving
his sword be- again screamed 1t the
top of his voice. aCons back, come
back."
There was ]. Lsesy Pierson. anoth-
or captain. and Maj. William W. Nor
ris and other officers doing their best
to stem The current. The sharp "ping"
Of the bullets was heard every second.
All the guns ef the battery ware
drasn o6 but one. Pisrson. Rogsrs
and others grabbed the gun BY the
trunnicns and tried to drag her from
the field.
OF course the air was filled with
smoke. The rear Of the regiment had
moved very lsisursly. The Johnnies
had come through the gap. and We
were oil mixed up. Az We began 10
drag the cannon Of, the Johnnies
grabbed the piece by the muzzls and
tried to hold it. Then musksts were
clubbed and bayonets used. If all
those engaged in the 6ght had besn
personal enemies for years. the ours.
ing and reviling could not have been
more bitter. The wounded fell 10 the
ground with osths and imprscations
upon their lips. and without a groau.
Enough of our men rallied to enable
us to hold on to the gun. The Yer.
mont regiment in the woods on the
left had stood firm. and the Johnnies
who had swept through the gap were
enfiladsd. After the fight to secure
the gun was over We discovered tha:
she was loaded. that the lanyard was
hanging from her breech. and no one
had thought to pull it during ths
fight.
The regiment rallied behind brush
fence. George Drake, of the color
guard, sprsng over it and planted the
colors at the side Of the gun. He
swore that Lees men should have
them ifthe regiment did not protect
them.
| Probably 800 men lined themselves
on the gun in three minutes. each man
in his company. and each company in
its order. They moved forward at the
command Of the colonel, and restored
the main line. occupying the same
ground which they left. By this time
the sun Had gone down, and darkness
was sweeping over the plain. It be.
came intensely dark. The regiment
was lying down in expectation Of an
other assault. Il was terribly try
ing time. The means of the wounded
filled the air. To the distance the
shells had set the woods on FIRE. In
the lurid light the lieutenant colonel
came down the line. He saw me
standing 10 front of two companies.
"What companies are these" he
said. "behind you 2"
told him.
"Where are the commissioned off,
GERS ?" he asked.
81 don't know" was my reply.
where are the orderly sergeants?"
They're not here"
"Hem," he muttersd. "Wsll, SER
geant major. take command Of the di-
vision and don't resign until you are
relieved"
One Of the captains appeared not
long afterwards. I told him I was in
command. with orders not to yield
the authority till the lieutenant col
onel relieved me. Not long after
wards the lieutenant colonel did re.
lieve me. and directed the captain to
thank me for keeping the company
intact. A moment afterward the or.
dsrly of the second company appeared
and took command in like manner.
/ Five minutes aftsrward the lieu.
tsnant-colonsl ordered me to look af.
tor the pickets. In the darkness. /
moved the picksts toward the snsmy.
Eack man took his interval. Stoop-
ing Gloss to the ground asd looking
up ! conld see their forms outlined
against the sky. / could name each
comrads BY his outline. The ground
was covered with the killed and the
wounded. Occasionally . wounded
man tried to crawl toward our line.
Everything. even the stumps. seemed
to b moving. The wounded were
packed around dead horses. They
erawlsd there TO escape the bullets.
using each carcass - shelter. While
STOPPING to the earth and slancing
skyward saw . form moving past
our line. Beyond ] could sssths out
I;u> ~7 no.ro~>1 N.~~. -h ~f