The National tribune., 1894-03-01
UNABLE TO HELP.
Men Obliged to Sit Their Horses in Silence
ici,s h

my intention 10 score anyone LOT NhaC ue
has "a d or written about tins 'attle, when
was one of the most disastrous ones ever
fought by the Union army. | was in that
fight all that 18Th OF December, 1862, and
constantly saw great sacrifices maize 10y our
brave men. As there was no room inside
thai semicircle and Gordon Of rebel cannon
and breast works for the cavalry 10 manuver,
they aS an organization we're merciiul Y ex-
cu>ed from participating in the slaughter.
An order was read by our Captain (HueheH)
for detail of men from Co K, 4th Pa. Cav,
to cross the pontoon ard act as bodygnard
for Gen. A. A. Humphreys, commanding
think, the Second Division OF the Third
Corps, and also TO act as Orderlies and dis
patch-bearers for the General on the fed.
We received this order, think, about 8
o'clock. A heavy cannonade had been IN
progress for "a hours by our heavy-gun
batteries. One could not see for the great
volume of smoke, aud the discharges OF The
guns on both sides made the earth shake
and tremble.
That morning early the rebel sharpshoOt-
ers had been dIslOdged aud our infantry
were crossing on the pontoons ali the time.
The rebels had their cannon so placed that
the pOntoOn was swep by their fire, but we
had to cross all the same.
] remember looking at the infantry cross
ing a short time before we did, and seeing
great gaps and holes made in the ranks men
falling, and hearing the cries of the wound
ed. SIout-htarted though we were in those
DAYS, we quaIled and shuddered al the awful
sight of carnage so near, winch we were uu-
able 10 prevent. The pOntoon We crossed, /
think, was the one farthest 10 the right OF
our army and on the rebel left.
will t1oU relate conversation / heard
between our Captain and certain cOmrade
of our company while the Orderly Sergeant
was calling out the names of the detail.
His name was called. He said, Here
but can't 60, Captain"
"Why not? Are you sick ?"
"No. But l can't 20. ] have family at
home, and / must support them. ii l go
over there / will be killed"
And the strong man commenced TO cry.
He had forgotten hat he had enlisted tor
three years to shoot rebels, and be shot all
TO pieces if he were so unfortunate as 10 get
in the way of bullet or shell.
The Captain told him he could not be
excused from duty, and the poor fellow was
about to go with us, when his bTother-in-
law, a teams;er, said: " If you are going to
be killed, L will 90 in your place, and you
can take my team till l come back. | guess
you are a coward, but l will show you i am
not one"
His initials are p S., and he is alive to-
day; but several of thai detail did not live
to see the close of the fight, and the crying
man short time afterward was captured
on picket and died in Libby Prison.
But TO return TO the battle. We followed
the brave General across the pontOOn and
on TO the position assigned him, full view
NJ phel in nf he ~
/ should say a halfmile anyway.
All we had 10 do was 10 sit on our horses
and look at the rebels shooting our men
down. We were not supposed to fight un-
less attacked at close range; but all the
same We were good marks for the rebels to
shoot AT, being mounted and stationed in
body. including the General and his staff
The men of his division were drawn up in
the form of square-about 5000 men. |
looked on and saw men drop in that square
every moment; the stretchers and au.bu-
lances were ia constant use all the time /
was there, from about 10 a. ~ to D. m
The cries of the wounded were dreadful.
comrade by my side was shot in the forehead
and he never knew what hurt him. Several
were wounded, and we had several horses
killed All this time we were inactive; no
orders OF any kind were given. / remember
lived long time during those sc ven hours.
never expected 10 come out alive. / saw
90 many going every minute / actually got
used to it, and said to myself You will be
about the next one.
Some time in the afternoon the General
suddenly went down. / thought it was all
day 18th him, but he soon jumped up and
let IF sulphurous anathemas at the rebels
for killing his 81 700 horse After his pas
al had nefG e.d
Captain or Lieutenant for the loan Of horse
until he could get his men to charge and
capture lot Of them.
A short time afterward he was ordered to
charge his men against that stone wall on
our front. i heard the Buger sound the
charge. / heard the General make his speech
10 the men before the charge, aud saw him
raise his hat as a signal for The fray. Later
/ heard him order the Recall and cry
They are cutting my men to pieces. Get
them here as quick as you can"
ln that charge over 1000 men went down.
The FIRE from the rebels was like blast from
furnace. Their line was one continuous
sheet Of fire. / wonder that any returned
alive. i saw many hanging on the picket
fence in front Of the rebel breastworks.
Shortly afterward, about dusk, the fire
slackened on both sides and we all v ent back
TO the city to spend the night as best We
could. No lights could he made, for rebel
bullet would be there inst antly / opened
door of one Of the houses to find a bed for
the boys and myself, and shelter from the
cold, and Immediately fell on corpse of some
one who had fingered too long when the
citizens evacuated the city.
We could not stand that kind of surprise,
warriors though we were; we left very sud-
denly and tried another one / called on
one Of my comrades TO investigate another
house, which he did, and found the bed to
be occupied by corpses. We concluded the
city must be charnel house, so we tied our
steeds 10 posts, spread our blankets on an
open lot crept into them, and slept the
sleep of the soldier, for we had performed
our duty.
There are so many circumstances crowding
my memory Of what happened those two
days and two nights We were in range of
the rebel bullets and shells. Some of them
were ludicrous and lsughable in the extreme.
Next day Sunday while sauntering around
among the stores, now full of soldiers,
entered book store and found the books on
the floor, making rough carpet for the boys
TO walk on. had never before seen such
snton destruction Of property. All kinds OF
stores were raided in much the same man.
ner / saw the negroes take the most in
terest III the grocery department. remem-
Der particularly one very black old darky
was rolling a barrel of -four across the street
when a ball from a rebel battery strnck the