Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1892-10-14
AFTER A BATTLE.

brought on by accident, as it were, re
minds one of mourners standing about
an open grave in cemetery waiting
for the clods of earth to fall upon the
coffin. The cool, deliberate way in
which troops are moved and batteries
placed in position tries your nerve.
Men speak to each other in subdued
voices, and the commands of the Off.
GERS are low and stern. A regiment is
but cog in one of the wheels; divis-
ion of one of the dozen wheels of the
great machine. You may now and then
catch sight of the enemy as he also
moves TO the right Or left or advances,
or you may not see anything of him for
an hour after the battle opens.
Your brigade is in battle line and has
been waiting for an hour. There is Il
line of skirmishers down along the
bush-fringed creek, but you know it
only because you saw them go down
across the field. distant cheer comes
floating over the wheat fields. Some
commander has been addressing his
troops. Five minutes later there is q
pop! pop! pop! along the skirmish line.
The enemy is moving forward in battle
line The sl1irmishers are the gnats
stinging the elephant They kill and
wound, but of what result is the death
or disabling of fifty men out of a di-
vision?
Now the field pieces. open one after
another. They are to the right on the
hills, but you feel the earth tremble-
ing where you stand, and the crackle of
musketry is absorbed in the roar of the
rifed guns. You are pale-faced; your
chin quivers; your legs are strangely
weak. You shout with relief as the
enemy appears on the slope and you get
the command to fire.
The coming of night may end bat
tie which has ragged along front of
ten miles from early morn. The enemy
may have been beaten and drawn off.
We may have been driven. If the GO
ing down of the sun and the coming of
night has left victory undecided, there
is a gradual dying away of the roar of
the larger guns. The spiteful six and
nine Founders keep to their work for
half an hour longer Then you hear
only the boom of single gun, and the
fire of muskets, which has been con-
tinuous roar for long hours, slackens
off and dies out until there is only q
sullcn sputter, as from the wick of a
candle touched with water. The night
will not be entirely quiet. Here and
there the pickets will fire into the dark
ness at intervals, and guns and troops
will be moved to new positions.
But it is only after the battlc-after
both armies have abandoned the field
that you realize the horror of Il struggle
where 200, 600 men have been engaged.
From right to left flank is distance of,
say nine miles. Both fianks were held
by cavalry. The line ran through
meadows, over flower fields, across
woodlands and through the orchards
surrounding farm houses. Everywhere
along this front are dead and wounded
men, dead and wounded horses, dis.
mounted guns, sabers, swords, muskets
and accoutrements. Here in this haze
thicket dozen mortally wounded mer
crawled away to die. Under the wilc
plum tree shading the waters of the
brook are score of wounded men
some of whom left trails of blood a,
they drew themselves along inch by incl
to reach the water for. which they
thirsted as never before. There ar,
dead men among the ripening wheat, OF
the sterile hill-sides, in the clover ovel
which the honey bees are lowering
among the red and white hollyhocks o
the farmers garden.
The field is left to the hospital corp
and the brigade detailed for, burial duty
Field hospitals are erected here anC
there and the wounded are gathered in
Blood drips from their wounds as they
are carried along-blood on the grass
on the rocks, and leaves and bushes
blood until you turn your eyes to th'
blue sky to forget its color, Men arr
carried past you who seem to be dead
others groan in agony; Others still CRY
out and curse at the Samaritans of tn,
battlefield.
And of the dead? Right here wher,
they lie in windrows, some across eacl
other, brigade tried to drive itsel
into our center as a wedge, and was al
most wiped out of existence by grape
shot, canister and bullet. Further t,
the left we find them only at interval!
and not so near our lines Over tn
hills and on each side of the dusty high
way we come upon them by score
again. Here we had battery, and hal
brigade charged out of the woods t
take it. Standing here you can Sc
dead men dotting the ground to th
very edge of the forest, The guns wer
turned upon them as soon as they az
| peared, and the fire was murderous
Here is where they were checked an
shattered and driven back by the vo
leys of the infantry in support of tn
guns. If there were any wounde
among the dead they have crawle
away.
And here, just in the edge of the OF
chard, the earth is almost hidden b
the dead and wounded. Men have ca
ricd water from the cool, deep well I
the wOunded-the dead await buri5
alone. Here was hand-to-hand fgh
over two field pieces Were they wort
two hundred lives? An as the CUR
limbered up and dashed off to a me-
position the iron shod feet of the e.
cited horses were planted on the face
of dead men-on the breasts of me
crying out with their wounds tt
heavy wheels followed after to grin
| human flesh into earth.
And now the long and Oshallo
trenches have been dug on the hillsit
overlooked by peach trees, and we gait
err up the dead on the section assigne
to us and place them side by sid
There is only brief search after idel
tity-nevcr a euloVv or a PRAYER ov,