The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-01-07

T
against tree before he had got fairly started,
! and down he went The rebs we're so close on
our heels that he did'lt dare 10 try and raise
him, so left him for therebs
Halfway down the hill saw tho Major stop
a company at the foot Of the hill. He yelled,
We will all stop there"
"Ail right" said j, so when we got down to
the edge of the wood, Halt! Co. L." yelled;
'open fire again on the rebs." My, how the
rebs skurried for the trees. Every man belong
ing TO Co. l., as far as could see, halted at the
word aud opened fire. rs cool as old veterans,
but | saw at once that the Majors scheme had
failed. Nobody had stopped but us. and / did
not propose TO hold that crowd back long with
Is or 20 men. So yelled out, Dig out, boys;
90 on after the rest" aud of We went We
came out Of the woods on the right Of the pike,
and as the road was macadamiZed 1t was much
better walking, or rather running. than the
field.
Another thing which didn't like the looks
of was hill which bumped up its back right
in front Of where / came out. so rather than
climb the highest part Of the hill / dashed
through the creek, about knee deep, and bore
OF to my left to get into the road, but had
made but few steps that way when | saw
string of rebs leap out from the woods ahead OF
me, and saw at once that they could head me
OF.
"All right" says I, eff / can't 60 on one side
the hill will try the other" SO bore to the
right, when out from the woods ran a lot of
rebs 10 head me of in that direction. My zig
tagging had thrown me considerably IN the
rear of my men, and as turned TO run straight
up over the steepest aud highest part OF the
hill | was all alone. | hadn't taken five steps
toward the top before bullet clipped SO close
10 my ear that felt il, and from the popping
going on behind me / knew ! was getting my
full share Of attention. and every moment, as
the Fplg raarlRH ha ng tina pftug a. tha
woods. the firing increased. To reduce the size
OF their target. ! bent my body forward and
stopped over; 10 lessened the chance OF being
hat, hut IL retarded my progress wonderfully,
for found that 10 run in that position was i'm
possible, and a walk was the best could do,
and not very fast one at that. Fortunately,
the rebs did not follow Us beyond the edge Of
the woods, but coBtented themselves with
shooting at US as we climbed up the hill. The
boys all wore light-blue pants and short jackets,
while the officers wore dark-blue and long coats,
so they knew j was an officer, aud the way they
slung their lead at me was a caution. | could
see the balls strike the mud on both sides of me,
and ahead Of me. and could hear them clip iutO
the mud behind. / could also feel the mud
scattering against tho back of my legs. could
feel occasionally a ball forcing its way through
the mud under my feet, and could see the mud
~ under nv nose as the balls came between
my legs. ! never expected TO get up the hill.
Every moment l expected TO feel a ball strike
me behind and the whole length Of my
body: aud yet / was not excited. Better die
here than staTve 10 death in AndeTsOnyille,
told myself over and oyer again, for by that
time some of our men had got back from
Southern prisons. aud told hOTrid stories OF how
they were treated
About two thirds Of the way up my feet
stuck IN the mud aud down came or all fours.
How the rebs cheered. | didn't realize ill
then what crowd there was shooting at me.
! looked at them and wondered II the handker-
chief ia my pocket, that hadn't been washed
for weeks, would pass for white flag, for the
top Of the hill looked good ways OH aud the
rebs fearfully close Tor long-Tange muskets.
Bot happened to think Just then OF what
returned prisoner had told, aud said to myself
once again, better a quick death here than a.
lingering one down there, so / got TO my
feet again and stood up. for ! found myself 20
exhausted that ! could not stOop over. And
50 / went staggering on toward the top. A
Struggling fusilade commenced again. and again
the bullets began TO whiZ around me aud plunge
into the mud, when / was surprised 10 find
that they had quit firing AMI / was suffered 10
go the rest Of the way ia peace.
A Union cavalrymun was just over the hill
on his horse. lie rode up TO me and jumped
OF. Get on my horse, Lieutenant; you look
quite used up" he said aud / WAS used M.
back 20 where 1 could exchange for my own.
My lungs ached and were sore for a month
aiterwaTd. The boys soon discovered that
was spatiered all over with mud from the
bullets, and they soon found that a bullet had
gone through the sleeve OF my coat, and
another through the back Of II, taking of one
Of the buttons.
Just then Col. Garrard came along and re-
marked that had had a tight squeeze Of il.
Yes" said J. and / am going To strike for
more pay. Look at my $40 coat three bullet
holes through it"; for had got another hole in
il the time 1 got shot through the neck. We'll"
said the Colonel, you ought to have more
pay, and / am awfully glad 10 sec so many Of
you back, because / never expected to see ono
oil you again when l heard that volley over in
the woods"
The object o. the reconnaissance was accom-
plished; we had found the enemy aud made
him show bis strength. IL MAS Gen. Jenkins's
Division, said to number about 10000 and we
had felt OF them about all we cared 10 Just
then, and Turned back to report. / captured
some OF their straggers a few days aiterward,
and asked one OF them what he thought OF
that officer they bad 50 much fun with Oh the
hill the other day.
oh :" said he, we thought when he fell
that We had fetched him, but when me got up
aud went un and we began To shoot again, the
officers called out 10 stop the firing: that the
man was badly wounded and would die Of
himself" / asked him if he didn't think /
was pretty lively kind OF a corpse, and he
allowed that | was
We lost about 40 men in the fracas, and in
ficted about the same loss on the enemy
Among the most valued mementoes Of the war
which / still retain, cherish the old battle
Scared coat.-E ". Watson, First Lieutenant,
Co. l., 9Th Mich. Cav, Marquette. Mich.