Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1893-08-31

mile in the rear are the first of them.
They have been killed by solid shot or
bursting shells They are lying in
heaps, and in nearly every case the
face is covered by poncho or blanket
Down this front of a mile in length we
find a dead man here and there as we
advance, sometimes two or three to-
gether. but there are no wounded
They were removed under fire Half
mile in the rear of the battle line we
come upon the first of the men killed
by the musket fire. They We're not
really under ire, but acting as sup
ports, and yet the ranks lost heavily.
1t is curious TO note the positions of
the dead where the bodies have not
been interfered with Nine out of ten
are lying broad on their backs with
arms outstretched Their feet are
pointed all around the compass, but
more of them lie with their heads to the
east than in any other direction. The
men shot in the head are lying at full
length, those below the neck have one
leg drawn up and their fingers are
clenched. There is not on any face
what you would call a look of pain or
anguish and neither do you find smiles
or placidity. Look into the faces Of
one hundred men killed in battle and
you will find the same general express
sion, whether old or young. 1t is
look of surprise or fear. This look rests
on the faces OF men killed in their
tracks, as it were. The MORALLY
wounded man may turn on his side to
die, and You may find him with smile
on his face. He has had time to breathe
a prayer; to think of his wife and
children and home; to realize that his
hour has come.
The battle line runs across a high
way, over an old cotton field, across a
meadow and into the woods. The men
made breastworks of rails and dirt. At
one spot they had the cover of a stone
wall at another the banks of a wind
ing creek. Here was where a brigade,
without the slightest cover, rushed in
to hold gap in the line. The dead
and wounded lie just as they fell-five
dead to one wounded. The enemy
used grape and canister from battery
planted on that ridge, and the missiles
did terrible execution. Here along the
breastworks the troops were lying
down and fired from that position.
Nearly every dead man still rests at
full length on his stomach, though
their faces seem half buried in the
grass. Many Of the musSets still rest
across the breastworks, Here for three
hundred feet we cannot find a wounded
man Most of the dead We're struck in
the face or throat.
With his back to the wall sits dead
man who probably lived an hour or two
after he was hit. His knees are drawn
up for rest for his arms. and his head
is thus supported. Next on his left is
captain living on his back with his out
stretched right arm still holding the
sword. and that sword rests across the
body Of another dead man. The officer
was struck fairly between the eyes by
the bullet His lips are parted as if
shouting a command when death came.
We hesitate for moment and then
step over the breastworks and advance
to the creek At this spot it was mid
way between the combatants. Night
before last friend and foe filed their
canteens here, sometimes elbow to eli
bow, but purposely ignoring each
others presence. Here is the horror IF
the battlefield. We knew it would be
so, but were impelled to come.
The banks Of the creek are nowhere
less than two feet high. in some places
they are five or six The bed II tito
stream is six or eight feet wide, but the
flow Of the water only half that, and
from six inches to a foot deep On q
front Of half mile all the wounded On
both sides who could creep oR pull them
selves along inch by inch5made for this
creek as fighting ceased They reached
the banks and flung themselves down.
They filed the bed from bank to bank
lying three. four, or FIVE deep. Here