Rock Island Argus., 1893-12-11
c,yeeeo WITH A Musxer.



| battlefield sccns That Ended In Sweet
Sleep.
So long as the fcldpicccs OF the enemy
continued to play OH our front We did not
mind them. for the fire Was NO high that
everything went over our heads and into
the Third brigade In reserve by and by,
however, a battery moved to the left and
got flank fire On the line, and then we
realized that one OF two things must speed
lily happen-thc whole brigade must fall
back, leaving u wide gap in the lines. or a
regiment would I've ordered to charge the
guns. Not more than three or four shells
had fallen among MS when the order came
Our regiment changed front and dressed its
lines, with six guns belching shot and shell
mt us from the ridge half n mile away.
We front to the west and are also on
ridge. Between the two ridges is open
ground. with two fences to climb or throw
down. There is also highway running
parallel with our lines, and at the base o..
our ridge is a bush fringed gully which in
the spring is creek. After we have cross
cd the highway and the fence on the far
side we must dash up a green slope on
which there Is not even bush for cover.
We know that the guns are supported by
infantry, but we have no idea Of the num-
ber. We had five minutes in which to sur
vey the ground. Then the worsl came down
the lines to take ''open order" and not stop
to level the fences, and we moved forward
As wedid-so n shell killed and wound I'd six
men in Company II, and five seconds later
solid shot killed two or three in Com
pany &.
1t was common time" to the brow Of the
ridge and then double quick" and trail
arms" across the first field. No one shout
ed or cheered. The guns had point blank
fire at us, anil the were served SO rapidly
that shells were bursting every instant.
suddenly noted n gap on my left, but was
not even graZed by the shell which killed
and wounded five men. We We're not over
four minutes crossing the field, but the
time seemed five times rs long. reached
the fence just as the guns changed to grape
and canister, and as l swung n leg over
the top rail I was covered with dirt and
dust plowed up by charge striking the
earth 30 feet away. Here for the first time
I heard the officers behind us shouting or
ders and the screams of men rs they were
hit. What the orders were no one seemed
to understand, but we dashed over the
highway, tumbled into and out of the ditch
on the west side and swarmed over the
fence.
We were too low for the artillery to reach
us now, but lines OF men who seemed al
most within reach suddenly rose up and
poured volley after volley of musketry into
us as we waited for the laggarrls to come
up and get our lines in some sort of shape
for the final effort. One would have thought
that that fire would annihilate us. but only
one fell here and there. The top rails Of
the fence were somewhat decaye,l, and as
the bullets struck them the splinters few
in showers. We could not hear the orders,
but the lines dressed, u great cheer ran from
right to left. and away we went up the
slope. The guns Were being hauled off, and
between us and them We're 500 infantry
We did not halt to deliver volley, but
went M them with the hayonet. l saw
their feet and ankles under the smoke as
they fired a volley into our faces, and the
next instant we were among them. No
man could tell you just what happened for
the next four or five minutes. There We're
shooting, shouting, cheering, cursing and
hand to hand fighting. and all of sudden
we emerged from the smoke and made a
rush at two pieces of artillery which had
been DELAYED by losing some Of the horses.
We ran right over them, jabbing with the
bayonet and using the mIskct as club,
and they were ours inside of two minutes
Like the stroke Of a bell daylight van
ishcd. and darkness fell upon the battle
field. l wondered greatly, for ! had thought
IL was only initiaftcrnoon. All the sounds
OF battle died out within a few seconds,
and was puzzled about it. l remember
of thinking there might be a flag of truce
and surrender, and felt like cheering at
the idea. Then u feeling of drowsiness
crept over me, and ] said to myself that it
would be all right to go to sleep for an
hour or two and then help get the guns
away.
''Oh, he's all right and will be about
again in "a few days. Just got his head
smashed with the butt of n inusket"
1t was 10 o'clock at night. I was in the
field hospital, and it was one of the sur
Eeons who was speaking. had been
struck down ut > o'clock and picked up ut
.. The blow had rendered me unconscious
for seven hours, and it was seven hours Of
the sweetest sleep ever had in my life. A
man had seized his musket by the bayonet,
raised it aioft with both hands and brought
it down ON my head. and yet he had only
stunned me.
did we hold the guns and the hilli"
asked of n wounded man beside me.
You bet!' lie chuckled. And then
fell asleep again and did not awake until
morning. NJ. QUAD.
Lamp For Submarine Photography.
Photography under water is now an ac-