Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1894-12-27

nOrthward and to force every man ab1e
to bear arms into the southern ranks
Having already volunteered, Phil Ross
was high in the confidence of the Con-
federates then in the Great Smoky coun-
try. From them he learned one day that
that night Andy Maxwell would be
seized and forced to fight against his
will and convictions. Instead of glory
ing in the prospective humiliation of
his rival, Phil Ross sought him out and
spoke as follows
Andy, we uns hain't been very thick
Nv late, and I'm doggone sorry TO hit.
We uns know hits all on count Nv Sal
ly Jordan, but now that hain't bar no
thar. I've come to say that eff SO be yo'
don't light out afoah shutdown the con-
scriptin officers II be har. Go north to
Kaintuck, whar thar II be lots Nv show
TO fightin, and I ii see no hahn comes
to yer dad and man. And, Andy, I'll
tote tair with yo', by -! and I'll
promise not to speak to Sally Jordan
no to see her alone till you uns come
back; then eff SO be I'm Twin we nns can
start in again without one havin mo-
snow than Orner.
Even if Andy Maxwell had not been
manly fellow his cousins conduct
would have touched him. For the first
time in months they shook hands, and
that night Phil Ross, with his rifle on
his shoulder, saw his rival safely out of
the hills.
Among the many gallant regiments
Kentucky gave to the Union there was
not one that excelled In the length and
splendor of its record the Fifth cavalry.
It was the good luck or misfortune Of
this heroic command to participate in
nearly all the terrific western battles
from Shiloh to Chickanauga and be-
yond, bat as in the latter battle Andy
Maxwell's active service terminated /
must make it the ending and culminat-
ing point of my narrative.
In the language of the Cherokees,
| who once occupied northwestern Geor-
gia and southeastern Tennessee, Chick
amauga" means 1.-The river of blood. y
We do not know the reason for the abo-
| riginal name, but we do know that it is
no longer misnomer. Along the south
ern spurs of Missionary ridge and by the
scrub covered banks of the west Chick
amauga on the 10th and goth days Of
September, 1868, was fought perhaps
the most stubborn and sanguinary bat
tie Of the war. Here the Army Of the
Cumberland, which up to this time had
with good reason boosted itself invinci-
BILE, met with crushing defeat at the
hands of Bragg and Longstreet.
But 1t is not my purpose to repeat his
tory. Thie narrative is concerned with
only two of the com batants-Andy
Maxwell in blue and Phil Ross in gray.
On the afternoon Of Saturday, when the
right and left were broken and when
the center, under Thomas, was falling
slowly back to its impregnable position.
Andy Maxwell tell in the retreat with
| bullet in his right breast. This was
just before dark, and when the awful
thunders of the day were dwindling into
occasional shots and the flashes Of spas
modic shells threw lightninglike glare
ON the landscape.
The men who were at Chickamauga
| do not need to be told that the country
| over which much of the fighting was
done was dense jungle of dwarf cedars.
blackjack and red oak. Before the de-
structive volleying of Friday and Satur-
day much of the jungle was cut down
as if by mighty scythe, and as the
| ground was already covered with dry
leaves it needed but favoring fash at
some point to fire the woods, in which
lay hundreds of men in blue ard gray,
wounded or dead.
OF the night following his wound
Andy Maxwell retained only the dim
NEST recollection. He bled great deal
and was unconscious much Of the time.
He was bitterly cold, for there was q
heavy white frost, something unusual
| in that latitude at that season, on the
night of the 10th. HIS own canteen had
been shot away, but he found one in his
cropping and allayed the maddening
thirst that always follows q great loss
of blood.
With daylight the fighting began
again, and to the wounded, who must
listen helplessly, it seemed as if the roar
Of cannon, the long roll OF rifles and the
yells and cheers of charging lines were
louder and fercer than when they were
participants in the struggle.
About noon a wall of black smoke,
against which the powder smoke of the
guns looked silvery white, rose up be-
tween the armies, and from friend and
! foe burst out the cry, my God, the
woods are on fire!"
From 90 points the black clouds rolled
up. and appalled, at the spectacle the
combatants on that part OF the line
ceased tor time the work Of carnage.
Through the I rest smoke lightning
like tongues of fame darted, and the ris-
ing wind blew the furnace into a fierce
roar Out of this furnace men in blue
and gray staggered or crawled, unheed
ing the lines in which they sought ref
! uge from cremation. That confagra-
ton was horrible to look ct, and it is
; burned into the memory of those who
saw it and felt its blistering breath on
fhoip pOvder sfained faces