The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-03-09
Ann AGAIN WE WERE VICTORIOUS.

front to the rear on the lett company. Int
enemy were our flank. We made oul
! change carrying our wounded men with us Il
| the new line, and formed at right angles Will
! the old. While we were doing this / saw nj
! Illinois regiment of our division charge acros:
the field. carrying everything before them, and
| | thought the day was won. But not SO
/ Heavy masses of gray were swinging still te
our right. The Illinois boys were coming
| back with confused crowd of prisoners, when
| Gen. Sill. our brigade commander, came dash.
! ing by the right of our regiment, going to the
| front. As looked upon his handsome face, all
agow with fire. jet of blood spurted from his
! forehead, his saber dropped from his hand, his
| form bent forward for an instant, aud then he
| fell from his horse. One foot caught in the
stirrup, and the unguidod animal dragged the
lifeless form few rods before the foot became
looseuei. Then the horse went on into the
lines of the enemy, and Gen. Sill lay dead too
far to our front to recover his body. 1t was
but passing thought scene, still in these
years long after / see our gallant commander
as saw him then.
Our new position brought us near some
fences only partly thrown down. Directly in
front the fields were full of men. infantry and
artillery. / loaded aud fired as rapidly as
could, A few PAGES to my front was large
gatepost To this | ran, and from behind it a
young Frenchman of Co. L and l fired shot
after shot at the officers we could pick out
More than one saddle was emptied.
do not know how long we would have re-
mained at that gatepost had not our Adjutant.
one of the bravest men | ever knew, come and
ordered us away. The enemy had again moved
to our flank; the regiment had again changed
front to the rear, and we did not know it.
As | ran back toward the regiment saw one
of my schoolmates, a large, heavy-set boy, also
going toward his company. cannon ball
passed almost before my face and struck his
knapsack. lifting him off his feet. He spun
round like a top in the air. and fell a bleeding
corpse to the ground. My comrade, the French
mau, ran TO my right short distance and tried
to climb fence. As he attempted to climb
rebel ran up behind him aud
PINNED HIM TO FENcERAIL WITH HIS
BAYoNET,
the cold steel going through the inside of the
thigh A eomrade of the Frenchman's seeing
the situation of his friend, ran to his assistance
and killed lis assailant by shot through the
head The Frenchman died a few days later
from his wound.
The regiment. after this last change, about
faced and moved in good order into the woods
but a stones throw from where the enemy
bad come out at us hour before. As we
faced the enemy again they were in the open
field aud we in the woods. A battery was
wheeling into position not more than 40 rods
away, the horses under the whip on the jump
for lfe the officers dashing about.
i have always thought the grandest sight
that ever man gszed upon was a cavalry charge.
The next grandest sight is battery of six
guns going into action. This battery was fully
equipped. with gray horses, well drilled, and
they seemed to know their places as well as
the men.
As we faced about and began firing Gen.
Sheridan, our own Little PHIL dashed in
among us, swinging his hat and shouting:
4" Shoot those horses Shoot those horses!" A
horse or a team of horses only 40 rods away were
good marks for Michigan boys, every one of
whom were used to squirrel hunting at home.
The horses went down under shower of lead,
in tangled confusion. The gunners turned
their guns us. Almost as quickly | lay
down upon the ground, partly behind a stump
A shell struck the ground just in front of me-
throwing cloud of dust into the air. A piece
of shell, small fragment, struck me in the
top of my head, going through the scalp
Another much larger piece struck me in the
leg, and / fairly howled with pain, and still
was not hurt. Just then some one ordered rs
TO charge the battery, and of course we did it.
About 200 men went out into the field and
drove the gunners away. killing many of them.
Then our Colonel ordered us back into the
woods again
The Cd Mo-. of our division. had our place.
and we moved into the woods at right angles
the ground a broken, rocky jungle. could
plainly see behind every tree line of rebels
We drove them hack slowly. but at what cost
Here my partner, my messmate the Orderly
Sergeant, went down. shot just above the heart.
The men became scattered. and / saw the colors
on the ground for the second time that day.
ran to pick them up, but a comrade was ahead
of me. / could see that we were almost alone,
and / told tho color bearer to go back
man of nv company one of the hest men
ever knew, was by my side. He was partly pro-
tected by a large rock. | had Ered and was load.
ing again when he turned toward me and said,
Look at that. Charliei' bullet had struck
on his gun-lock, wedging the hammar back
There was amused smile on his face as he
spoke to me. j turned for a glance at him
another bull struck him in the groin, causing
him TO cry with pain; the next instant ball
sirnck him in the forehead, and my comrade
was gone.
] turned and then discovered that was
alone again. i ran back loading as ! did So
the balls whisiling about my ears. | turned
and fired p0intblank at a man who was rum
ming toward me. then ran again; but thought
flashed through my mind
THAT THERE WAS no USE RUNNING,
/ would be bit just as quick running as walk
ing, and j acted upon the impulse of the in
slant. Just as / did so a shell passed directly
by me In front and striking a cedar tree tore it
into shreds don't know why, but all my
fdehce returned at once. 1t seemed to my
mind that there was some power higher than
my own that was caring for me. 1t gave me
courage not only for that day but for days and
years after. both the march and in battle
j found myself once again on the flank
of the 2d Mo-. my cartridge box empty
picked up few cartridges from the boxes of
the dead men lying every where about us. The
Missouri boys were out of ammunition also, and
with sword bayonets fixed were fighting hand
to hand with twice their numbers. Phil Sberi-
dan was right behind them shouting, cheering.
and encouraging the men. who were striking
and thursting at the enemy with their sword
ayonets, hand-to- hand conflict that resulted
in victory for our boys.
found a small part of my regiment near by.
] heard officer tell Sheridan to retire the
division TO certain place and form a new line.
Then came the trouble 10 save some of the men
in the woods, where every man was fighting Oh
his own hook. Shells were tearing through
the trees, riderless horses, frantic with wounds
aud pain, bnt worse than all, hundreds of de.
moraized men. They crouched behind trees
down behind rocks, and in one pit between the
rocks were lot OF men. Most of these men
hurried to the rear when told where to 90 but
six men refused to get out Of their pit, but
invited me to come in with them and surrender
and be saved from death. | begged and threat
ened, tried 10 drive them out with my dubbed
musket. but it was Of no avail. What were
these six men good for, anyway / left them.
digress 10 say that of these six men only enc
came back to us from prison, several months
later the other ii We a led in Andarson viiia