The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1894-07-11
Y CAARlES B.lEWlS 0M.QUADO


~
GATED 1894 By AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION.
into the narrow highway to become a
panic stricken mob. No charge was or
dered. The man whose name was to be-
come household word before the end
of the war and whose life was to be
spared ON 90 fields of battle that it
might go out with the shouts Of Indian
demons ringing in his ears sat his horse
and watched and waited. He had come
to the brigade Of stalwart Michigan
ders few months previously fresh from
West Point. He had been called boy,
and men and officers had taken 20 pains
to conceal their sarcasm and distrust.
Two or three times he had led them 10 a
dash there, but little fighting resulted.
He would test them now, and they
should weigh him in the balance.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The Confed-
crate battery is the first to open fire, and
it is promptly responded to. The very
first missile is percussion shell, and it
drives its way into the house so lately
occupied by the living and the dead,
and in its explosion brings wreck and
ruin. Twelve guns are belching their
death missiles across the open space
when sudden cry rises to the lips of
thousand men. From the western edge
of the plain, where the pines grow
thick, woman suddenly appears to
view. She is bare headed, and her hair
is flying about her shoulders. She has
neither shawl nor cloak, and her dress
is ragged and torn. She has stick in
her hand, and she waves it as if it were
q sword in the hand of a man and starts
at wild run fer the eastern edge OF
the plain, right across the front OF the
lines drawn up in battle array. The cry
of establishment which greeted her ap-
pearance becomes shout of warning,
but she does not heed it. Enveloped by
the smoke Of their guns, the artillerlsts
do not see her. Their hearing deadened
by the loud reports, they do not catch
the shouts uttered by Federal and Con-
federate alike. Round shot and shell go
whizzing and shrieiing over the snow,
and men waiting for battle shudder at
the woman g danger.
'sWho's that? Halt! Haiti He can
never do it! He's sure to be killed!''
So cried 500 Federals as Steve Bray
ton, mounted on the horse Of trooper
he had been asked to hold for a moment,
dashed straight out into the plain to
head the woman off. He knew her the
moment she stepped out of the woods.
Uncle Ben had told him cf the meeting
with Mrs. Baxter on the highway. He
had flung her down the bank with tre-
mendous force, and as he came back
over the road with Clusters men he ex-
pected to find her lying there dead.
Nothing was to be seen of her, however,
and his mind was greatly relieved. In
her fall, as was after ward known, the
woman's head struck stone, and the
skull was fractured When she strug-
gled up she was no longer sane. She
had been wandering through the forest
for hours before she appeared ON the
battlefield, but she encountered no one
and found no shelter.
Never was there a more gallant deed
than that performed by Steve Brayton,
and never was hero more heartily ap-
plauded by friend and foe. He galloped
his horse straight at the woman, and as
he came up to her he leaned over In the
saddle, caught her with both hands, and
next instant she was on the saddle be-
fore him, and the horse was flying back
to tho Federal lines. The woman fought
and screamed, and fragments of burst
ing shell whizzed and whirred around
and above horse and riders, but they
dashed into the lines unhurt, and the
gallant rescuer was directed to continue
down the road until the woman could
be placed beyond danger.
rurn quick to the south! You will
never see grander spectacle than this.
The Confederate command, divided in
to three divisions, with double lines
dressed as if on parade, has received the
order to advance. They had waited for
Custer to charge, but the chevalier was
also strategist. His artillery, being
better served, was creating the most
havoc, and he could afford to delay.
Look! Look! AS the gray horsemen be-
gin to move Clusters guns, which have
been grouped in front Of his center,
Timber up and move at gallop-four
Of them-two TO the right and two to
the left. In three minutes they are on
his fanks and loaded with grapeshot
and canister. The Confederate battery
does not follow the example, and as the
horsemen move forward the guns are
useless.
''Trot! Gallop! CHARGE"
You hear the bugles sound the order,
and you see 1000 sabers fash in the
sunset as ZOO horsemen thunder over
the plain. Give them credit for brav-
cry even to recklessness. Before the
horses are off trot the murderous grape
shot are knocking them down by dozens,
and as the artillerists change to canister
1900 Federal carbines also open fire.