The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-07-23
After the Rattle.

ployes Of the government.
After the Battle.
Only those commanding corps and a.
visions have posts from which TO sur
yey a battlefield while the fight Is on. IL
the fight is furious all along the line,
even the General In command may not
be able to take In over half mile OF
front. One may have been IN a dozen
battles without witnessing more Tran the
manoeuyres OF a brigade Battles usually
end in withdrawal and pursuit. In either
case nearly all the troops on both sides
are set IN motion, and so men who have
been fighting all day march away and see
only the dead and wounded I'm their front.
But very few wounded are brought in
by night. and the dead can wait for the
sun 10 rise. TO move about on the field
ut night is 10 take your life in your hand.
There are ghouls r0bblng the dead who
will fire upon you, and there are wounded
men who Will treat you as a foe There
are riderless horses galloping about, while
others, maddened with the pain OF
wounds, will rush az you opened-m0uthed
from the darkness.
IL il when morning comes again that
those left behind TO bring I'm the wounded,
bury the dead and collect the equipments
scattered over miles OF ground perhaps.
can see and fully realize how fierce and
deadly the fighting was. The dead are
not all or the battle lines. Here, where
the reserves were posted. a mile in the
rear. arc 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 together but there are no
wounded. They We're removed under fire.
Half a mile in rear Of the battle line We
come upon the first Of the men killed 10y
the musket fire. They were not really
under fire, but acting as supports, and
vet lost heavily
10 is curious TO note the positions Of the
dead where the bodies have not been in
terfered with. Nine out Of ten are ~
ing broad ON their backs with arms out
stretched. Their feet are pointed all
around the compass. but more of them lie
with their heads 10 the east than i'm any
other direction. The men shot in the
head are lying at full length: those be
low the neck have ore leg drawn up and
their fingers are clinched. There rs not
on any face what YOU would call look
Of pain or anguish. and neither do you
End smiles nor placidiiy. Look into the
faces Of a hundred men killed I'm battle
and YOU viii find the same general eX-
preston, whether old or young. II is a
look Of surprise and fear. This look
rests on the faces OF men killed in their
tracks. as It We're The mortally wounded
man may turn on his side 20 die, and
YOU may find him with smile on las
face. lie has had time 10 breathe
PRAYER; 10 think of wife and children
/ and home, 10 know that his hour has
/ come.
The battle line runs across n highway
/ over an old cotton field, across mea-
j dow. and into the woods. Tho men made
/ breastworks Of rails and dirt At one
/ spot they had the cover Of stone wall
/ at another the banks of a winding creek.
/ Here was a brigade without the slightest
cover. rushed in t0 hold a gap in me
! line The dead and wounded Die just as
! they fell-fve dead 10 one wounded The
enemy used grape and canister from
/ battery planted on that ridge. ana The
/ missiles did terrible execution. Here
/ along the broastworks ihe troops were
! living down and fired from that position.
/ Nearly every dead man still rests al luli
| length on his stomach, though their faces
/ seem half buried in The grass. Many or
/ the muskets still rest across the hredst-
works. Here for three hundred ieet we
/ cannot find a wounded man. MOST OF
/ the dead were struck IN the face or
! throat.
man who probably lived an hour or two
/ after he was hit His knees are drawn
mn for rest for his arms, and his head
As thus supported. Next on bis left is "a
CAPTAIN lying on his back. with his out
stretched richt arm stiu holding the
sword and that sword rests across the
| nod, If another dead man. The officer
was struck fairly between the eyes by
the bullet. Ills lips are parted as "
| shouting a command when death came.
NVa hesitate for moment. and then step
! over the breastworks and advance 20
| the creek. AT this spot 81 was midway
| between the combatants Night before
last friend and foe filed their canteens
! here sometimes elbow TO elbow, bu-
: purpoeely ignoring each others presence.
/ Here is the horror of the battlefield
we knew it would be so, but were i'm
PEELED TO cCmc.
The banks Of the creek are nowhere
less than two feet high; in some places
they are five or six. Tho bed of the
stream Is six or eight feet wide, but the
flow Of the water only half that and from
six inches 10 a foot deep ON a front Of
! half mlIe Hll the huHlI4Il N4l N"NN ri'A'1
who could creep or pun themselves along
inch by inch made for this creek as iha
fighting ceased. They reached the banks
and flung themselves down. They I'LL
the bed from bank 90 bank lying three,
four or five deep. Here and there may
be- a living man. but ainetecn out Of
twenty persisted last night They fought
| each other for the water. but only the
arst coners quenchcd their thirst. Be
fore they could move away they were
caught in the crush. 1t is "a great trench,
| with it's dead ready for the dirt 20 hide
| them. and the waters Of The creek have
been damned back until they are seek
ing q new outlet through Tho cotton field.
Hcln arrives. aud We walk slowly along
the bank o. look cor wounded mon. We
find and extricate about TIVE ity. none OF
whom Will perhaps i've the day out All
others are dead-shot. crushed, lroTned-
almost thousand Bog the returns Of me
burial pariy. Il IS almost night before
the creek flows on in its oil bed again,
bu. even our thirsty norses viii not drink
Of the waters running .e1. They snin az
IT and turn away with wild eyes and
snorts of alarm.-New York Sun.
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Make Haste 10 Defend Yourself