The National tribune., 1894-08-23

THE COURTHOUSE IN VICKsBURG.
place, who commanded us a short time
until Serg't Mann received a commits
sion as First Lieutenant and resumed
command of his company. Mann after
wards became our Captain, and made
good officer.
As June began to draw to a close
our lines around the beleaguered city be-
gan to draw tighter and closer, and held
their Notifications
IN CLOSE EMBRACE.
Their hopes of escape and of co-opera-
tion from Johnston seemed to give way.
There was every indication Of approach
ing famine in their camp, and / remem-
Der they turned loose large number of
old baggage-wagon mules that they were
unable TO feed and didn't want to die
inside their lines, and sent them adrift
out our way; and as they came strag-
Cling through the brush and brakes of
nights the soldiers shot a great many of
them, until an order was issued from
Headquarters forbidding it, on account
of the stencil from their earcasses, and
Confederate mules were allowed to pass
out without halting or giving the coun-
tersign.
The rebel Fort Hill, near where the
breastworks crossed the jackson road,
was the most interesting and important
point on our part of the line. | took
one turn on duty tbere-was in from
midnight till midnight. The principal
business carried on while | was there
was the throwing Of a small bombshell
into the fort, called a hand-grenade
These were a little fuse shell, the fuse
being cut to so many seconds, lighted
like firecracker, laid on the end of
board or plank, fixed like teeter, and
the other end hit with a maui, which
threw up the end with the shell on it and
sent it over to explode on the other side.
Sometimes the fuses were cut too long,
and the enemy threw them back to ex-
plode on our side. We soon got on to
this racket, however, and cut them
shorter. 1t was around this fort that
We carried on the hardtack telegram
business mostly by tossing the cracker
over the walls.
AS the month of June drew towards
Its close, and the Fourth of July loomed
up in the near future, its celebration
came to be more and more the theme of
conversation among the boys Some
thought that Pemberton would mass his
force on some part Of our line, and with
the aid Of Johnston in the rear
go ATTEMPT TO BREAK OUT.
Others thought Grant would order
general assault on all parts of the enc
my's line, ard that we would celebrate
the day by going in. believe that if
Hood bad been in command of the be-
sieged garrison instead Of Pemberton,
the former plan would have been at
tempted but Pemberton seemed to take
things very easy, especially after he had
gotten rid of his mules.
But some time during the last days
Of June our brigade, or division, don't
remember which, was Withdrawn from
the besieging line and sent back to the
rear, on the jackson road. And of
course, as soon as Joe Johnston heard
that troops were moving out against
him, and that the Both LII. was along,
he fell back, as usual, beyond Pearl
River, and all anticipations of cooper
ative action by the enemy subsided.
We passed out east again over the
same road that we had come in on a
month or more before; passed through
Edwardss Station; crossed Big Black
marched over the Champion Hills battle
field, where we fought on the 10th of
May; saw the bones Of the Confederate
dead where they had been washed down
the gullias on tae hillside, lying bleach
ing in the sun, with the shoes and boots
still on the skeleton feet; filed our can
'eens again at the C.mtOn Spring; but
somewhere, | do not remember now,
aboutfaeed, and returned over the same
road again.
Somewhere on this march we received
the news of the surrender Of Vicksburg.
My memory is very much at fault here.
There was nothing Of much note to
remember on this trip. | remember,
however that We ran the gantlet of
those Secesh women again, but the brassy
tinge OF their countenances had given