The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1892-01-29
Tenting on The Old Camp Ground
Or Co. d. 10th vt. Vols. to the Front
'@G By Lieut.. r. II. WHITE.
aG M "a

| hDOpI' COllrNIlIn2 lily WdlCII II
general advance was ordered. The
10th vt. was ordered to take and hold
q high rail fence at the edge of an open
field about sixty yards in front of the
position we then occupied. Lieut..
Col Chandler then in command of the
left wing of the regiment, misunder-
stood the order and advanced these
five companies, composing the left
wing of the regiment over and thirty
yards beyond the fence. BY this move
the five companies were left in a very
exposed position without cover. We
had just reached this position when
Corp. Julius Freeman fell shot in the
groin. Corp. Freeman was a gallant
soldier, and TO be sent to the rear from
his first battlefield crippled for life,
was sad ending of what might have
been an eventfnl career in the service.
| was more shocked because of the
fact that he was the first comrade to
fail by my side, and as his cry rang
ont then, so it rings in nv ears to dav.
One of the first to be killed at this
exposed point was Charlie Haynes.
When Gen. Morris saw the blnnder he
at once ordered the five companies
back TO the fence where they belonged.
Orders onsuch occasions are only heard
by few, and in this case the men
were struggling along for several min
utes before all were over the fence.
When discovered the move to the
rear there was but one left besides my
self, and the way we made tracts for
that fence was not slow. | thought it
the highest fence l ever saw and my
greatest fear was that while climbing
it | might he shot in that part OF the
body which is liable to bring discredit
even to a good soldier.
r., For an'hour or more we fought from
behind the fence until relieved by the
first division. | saw the red badges
of the first division as soon as they
made their appearance at the fence,
but supposed they were there to
strengthen the line, A few minutes
later it occurred to me to look for our
colors and finding them gone | was
forced 10 the conclusion that our divis-
ion had been relieved. There were
seven company G boys still at the fence
but | knew not in what direction the
division had gone so left the bows
where they were while l made an eff
fort to find the division. Going back
to the ravine where we had first form
ed line of battle | found the division,
Looking up the line | saw Lieut.
Thompson and on reaching him asked
where the company was. Pointing
with his sword he says "Here is what
is left of it," There was not more
than fifteen altogether. / reported
having left seven at the fence, and was
directed to go for them at once. BY the
time | had reached the fence the boys
had all left but Dan Fuller. Dan and
| went to the ravine at ouce. 1t was
now quite dark and none ofthe soldiers
passing at that time could give us any
information as to the direction the
division had taken. That they had
gone to the left appeared to us more
probable, and so we took that direction.
Just at this time the enemy began
Smelling the timber and Dan and l were
in more danger from falling limbs
than from the bursting shells. They
changed the range of their guns at
every discharge, and where Dan and
| happened to be there the shells would
De also.
With our inexperience at that time
we knew no better than try to get out
of the reach of the enemy's shot by
changing our direction. | saw knoll
not more than three rods away where
the enemys shots were not at that time
falling so there we went just in time,
for couple of shells crashed through
the trees right over our heads and it
was only by good management that we
saved ourselves from all but few
scratches. We made two more at
tempts to reach the promised land"
but the result was the same. As last
resort we started up the ravine where
our first work had been done early in
the morning. We started at mod
crate gait, but cannon shot crossed
the ravine just in rear of us. said
''Dan let us walk faster" and inst that
moment another shell raked the ground |
at our heels. 'Dan let us run" was
the next thing said by me, and shell
ploughed the ground just in front of
us nearly covering us with dirt. "Dan
let us sit down" was the next order and |
the first sensible conclusion we had
yet arrived at and down we went.
This was the last cannon shot thrown
that night and it killed a soldier in
our division. We had by accident
taken the right direction to find our
regiment, and we were soon with the
boys once more.
This was about half past ten and
while the skirmish fire was brisk the
remainder of the night the battle of
Locust Grove was virtually ended.
Now that we were in camp we proceed
ed to count noses, and find ont as near
as possible the actual loss and this was
the result in Company G.. Killed.
Corp. Levi N Fullam and private
Charles v. Haynes; wounded, Corp.
julius Freeman private David M. Jill
son and several others whose names L
now recall.
| have in previous letters mentioned
the two trials by Court martial of
Charles V. Haynes, and while the boys
recognized the business of his sentence
in both trials yet now that he had been
killed In action while CALAMITY fight
ing for his country the grief of the
boys knew no bounds. Several of |