Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-09-15
LEFT ON THE FIELD"

LEFT ON THE FIELD"
The Feelings of Man Who Was Struck
by Two Bullets.
Ibid not feel the slightest pain when
struck by two bullets at the same instant
| We were charging forward, most OF the
| men hurrahing as they swept into the
cloud of smoke raised by the two Napo-
| leon guns, when there came such sensa-
| ton as one feels when his foot has gone 10
Sleep This sensation extended 70 the en-
tire body, and lurched about, staggered
| forward a few steps and then fell to the
| ground. One bullet had entered the right
| leg just below the hip-the other had
| smashed into the left shoulder.
was dimIy conscious of the fact that l
| was down, but could not realize that 1
| had been hit. 1t was a dreamy sensation
The roar OF battle was subdued, the shouts
| of men seemed to come from miles away,
| and felt too tired to speculate on what
was happening around me- BY and by l
| went to sleep. l had noticed the sun just
| as we moved forward. 1t was within half
| an hour of setting When l awoke it was
| night. and the stars were twinkling bright
| ly. NV throat was as parched as If had
been without drink for days, and my
tongue seemed to be q stick in my mouth.
l sat up, got hold OF my canteen, which
was full of water, and drained 1t 70 the
| last drop.
What had happenedr Away down on the
left a single gun was firing at intervals,
and here and there was sputter of mus
kerry. / found it hard to reflect but after
a time it slowly dawned upon me that there
had been a battle. When did / fall out of
the ranks, and why? Where was the regi-
ment? Who are these men lying about on
the ground? Let's see. Yes, this Is a bat
tlefield We were held in reserve until
2 ho hritys
to Hooker, and we formed battle line along
ridge covered with bushes. We pushed
down the slope to a creek-over the creek
to the edge of cotton field. They got a
couple of guns to enfilade us, and we
We Let's see. Our regiment got the
order to charge. l had just filled my can
teen We fixed bayonets lying down
forward. and I remember falling Did
trip or stumble?
You, therel Are you badly hits"
came out of my stupor as dream Is
broken. l was sitting up, still holding my
empty canteen. The soldier who had spoken
was lying on his elbow ten feet away. He
had been shot in the knee.
Can you crawle
"Yes, of course"
Then get a canteen from one OF those
dead men for me-"
made a move, and then for the first
time felt the pain of my wounds and real
lied that WAS helpless. The knowledge
frightened me, and l began TO shout for
help The wounded man laughed at me-
His paroXysm had passed away While was
lying in n stupor.
Keep uuiet!'' he commanded as he be
gan TO move himself toward me. IF you
call out that way some ghoul will come
along and knock you on the head"
Nv fright passed away as he drew nearer
There was dead man between us. He
stopped and secured the poor fellows can
teen, and as he finally reached me, hitch
ing along his back by the use OF one
leg, we drained it between us. l had not
recognized his voice, but l now found that
he belonged TO my own company.
"How many bodies can you COUNT" he
asked as he tossed the empty canteen away.
''Seven, think
THAT was a shell and we got badly dosed-
All of our company too. Can you reach
that muskets Some prowler may come
along here. and we want to be ready Tor
him"
We were looking into the darkness and
listening when he began to laugh.
laughed with him. Two minutes later we
were both weeping. Then he started to
sing and Joined in. We realized that we
laughed, cried and sang, but we could not
control ourselves He began to tell Of the
battle but / flew mad and called him n
liar He would have struck me, but just
then we caught sight OF a ghoul silently
approaching.
"Ah, you devil-I'n fix your shouted
my comrade as he raised the musket.
The gloul ran away, and both OF us
laughed heartily. Then we wcpt again
All of "A sudden he began singing. His
song was Captain links" and | Joined in
with great heartiness We were singing
at the top of our voices when party of
three or four men, having a lantern and a
stretcher. suddenly appeared. We ceased
our song, and one of the party held the
lantern down and said:
Hard lot, Ell! Well, you Yanks are
doggone queer lot of critters anyhow. We
reckoned you all was holding a camp meet
ing down yeren' NJ. QUAD