Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-12-10
WHERE TIE OLD rAiRD DIED.
uow . Regiment Gradually sueeumbcd |
 the Horrors of War.

uow . Regiment Gradually sueeumbed to
 the Horrors of War.
 A regiment of infantry l,OOo strong marching out of rendezvous in time of wa. will number 50 less within a month. Mei full sick, men arc detailed, the cow ards desert. Before 1t has seen its first battlc its strength will have been reduced to 900 men. More men will be in hospi- tai, others detailed, others go down on the rolls as missing" or mot accounted for" Brigadess regiments and compa- nies waste away in queer, strange man. Ier, but the wasting can mover be checked by any effort.
 Tho old Third had its full l I,O00 when we set out for the front. A month after reaching Washington we were 50 lesa- After Bull Run WIG numbered only 900. After the peninsula campaign we fell to 75o. The killed counted scarce n dozen; the wounded only scorc. The others could be accounted for by the hospital rccOrds, by details and assertions Re cruits came to Us now aud then, but the wastueC was moro than the gain. Now and then half a dozen old men rcturned from the hospital, and now and then an order was iSSu,,d calling in all detailed men. Tine wslstacc was only checked for n day, huw.vcr. From |, ,OOO We fell to 600 From 600 "" filled up to S3o, and from 500 WE dropped back to 5S0. ThCre were but few details. but fever, dyscntcry and the CnCmy's hi;llcts killed oI men faster than rccrCits came i'm
 The old Thi d was the flower of the bri- gadc, und the other regiments were not jealous Gf n reputation earned by the fierce fighting. On two occasions all the others broke back and left the Third to stop the rush Gf a brigade. Three differ cnt times the salvation of n battery de pended on its pluck, and it left its dead in rows and saved the guns. Recruits finally got afraid of the old ThiEd- Its glory had bccn won by hard fighting. It was n ragimcut to bc depended on and was thcrcfuTe pushed into battle while other regiments wCrc held in support To belong to the Third meant fight, and fighting meant wounds OT death. The re- cruit selected some other regiment in pref crcnc'. and tEC bounty men JarriCd with us only a few hours. WhCrCVCr Mcclellan, Pope, Mcdowell, Burnside, Hooker or Mcads went the old Third followed. IL was Ut first Bull Kun. ut Williamsburg. at Yorktown in the seven days fight which ended at Malvern Hill IL was at Antictam, nt fredericksburg, at ChancCl- lorsville. When Grant moved on Lcc in the WildcrnCss the Thirl followed. IL was no longer n rvgimcnt except in name. Its strength had dwindled down tO 800 men, and orders had been issued that it must bc consolidated with some other skeleton regiment. Tho forward move mcnt took place bCfurc the orders could bC carried out. and so the 800 went marching after their old and faded and battle scarrCd flag and swung their caps and chccrCd as they marched. SOmc off ccrs looked on and said 1t was pitiful, but others gave cheer for cheer and said the old Third with its 3OO would reap new laurcls if givUn a show.
 Down thCrC in the dark and tangled fur,st Grant found Icc blocking his path tu Richmond. The dogs uf war Grappled on the Ihrr ar four narrOw highways, arCund tho few faTmhuu>Cs, in the sOmbcr forest and in tho dcnsc thickcts Only