The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-04-07

fore IL and met Hoods dpuntless soldiers
almost at arms length The Confederate
line facing north was butleted back 10y
Williams and Meade and the batteries, and
that facing east was broken into detaoh-
ments by Greene's resistless masses.
Though IL was IA hopeless fight, the men
turned first one way and theu another,
wherever Union flag waving in tho corn
or shower OF grape moving swath Of
stalks gave n sign of the enemy's presence.
The Union artillcrists, having "A clear sweep
OF the field, held their fire until the awful
harvest was ripe TO the deadly sickle
Slaughter so sudden and terrible was new
er known. The cornheld was "A trap to both
sides alike, but chiefly to the Confederates
when the Union columns once became firm
ly planted In the east and north borders, us
they were when WofTords Texans entered
thestruggle III eTeXans gave the first quota
to that pori on of the line Of dead which
curves from tn, north TO the southwest, as
shown on the accompanying sketch map.
As they turned from Greene's invulDerable
wall Of ba, on' Is advancing through the
corn on the eas they confronted the ranks
of Williams OF the north and the biting
fire of Hooker 8 batteries still hammer
ing away from he ridge Gallant but vain
was the contest a. they charged forward to
the fence. somei INES reaching it and falling
dead on the 3tra ght line with those of Law
ton, jackson, j mes, Meade, Williams and
Gordon-the bll and the gray intermingled
who made npt ne emournful phalanx, some
times dropping back IA few yards to gain
force for anothC dash.
The second ii ne they did not 20 so far
north, and their cad struck out anew line on
the now redden, d soil, which receded more
and more fIom the direct westerly course
until it rea6 hec the pike, where it came TO
an end. So the margin Of the field Of strife
that counted IL, thousands dead in their
blood and tens II thousands wounded was
outlined by the ranks Of the corpses that
seemed like WI, cks cast upon the shore by
angry seas, al tn ugh the gods of battle, now
on this side and hen ON that, had said to the
onrushing hosts Thus far and no fartherli
and sealed the u cree with a shifting blast
OF death. Tle ates obeyed that decreee,
and the seethiug floods Of southern pride
and northern wi Il come to "a sudden halt at
the dead line.
Hooker's c1lu ans under Doubleday and
Gibbon, Meade and Anderson, Williams,
Crawford and Gordon swept across IL only
to be hurled back as by the arms Of Titans.
The men of Jackson and Lawton Of Starke
and Hays, of Hood and Wotiord, of d. II.
Jones and ID. II. Hill tore through the tenn
pest Of canister and bullets and the ragged
wall of bayonets, strewing the line with
victims AS markers of high tide, then re
coiled in panic Of dismay. At 10 0o'clock II
was all ended, the" Dead Regiment" was pa
raded, and the armies Of both sides stood
afar of, Not regiment or battery, Union
or Confederate, had been left within hun
dreds OF yards OF it, front or rear, and tn,
cornfeld and the grassdeld remained neu
trail ground. All that day and the next tn,
thousands of soldiers under arms within
sight Of that PROSTATE column beheld Il
with wonder and awe, for II was the mos
startling reminder of wars awful carnag,
ever found on any battlefield.
GEORGE l.. KILNiER