Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1895-03-07

lery through so often charging up to
the lannon's mouth After o years ac-
quaintance with this disagrccable and
pctulant end Of the cannon / deter
mined to got into touch with tho other
end md accordingly got transferred to
the artillery. soon found myself !
colonel, and In charge Of small bat
terry
AZ the siege Of Port Hudson an incl
dent occurred which may be worth 70.
penting. 1t was during the FIRST days
bombardment that my attention was
attracted to the small amount Of ap-
parent injury inflicted on the enemy In
return for the expenditure In labor,
ammunition and noise. That night Il
happened that did not sleep vol, my
throat being hot and parchcd from lack
Of water, the tin cup having been ahct
out Of my hand every time I bad tried
to take drink all day Whils t9ssips
on my fevcrish cot conceived the no.
lion that the difficulty with my bat.
terry ut least, was that the projeotiles
were not heavy enough Az the frat
streak Of light, my tent having been
shot out Of existence during the night,
| walked away from my cot, summoned
my orderly und made reQuisitiop Tor
u certain cight-inch steal shaft which !
happened TO know was within our lines.
II had been taken from dismantled
ironclad, where II had served as tho
ram, und was but o short piece some
six or seven feet long. Ny heaviest
gun was an eight-inch smooth.bore, and
| had decided to use this ahAft as pro-
jectilc, and tear . breach through the
enemy which would hopelsssly cripple
him.
AT about six o'clock ths pisos Of Tram
was brought to mo. I Instantly caused
. double charge Of powdAr to b In
serted In the cight-lnuA gun, and then
had the shaft forced h0ms on top Of ".
II was close 1T, whioA pleased me, "a
II assured accuracy In aring, aud II my
aim was good | doubted not TO do ter
riblc execution. We were behind
curthworks on bluff overlooking the
cncmys position. My guns pointed
downward at small but noticeable
angle At eight o'clock the lombard
mcnt opened sharply all along the line.
1t was the heaviest firing ! ever ex-
perIenced worked the remainder Of
my battery vigorously for halfan hour,
then determined to give the enemy
my cight-inch. had decided TO aim
the piece myself. Stepping 70 1t, ]
leaned forward against the brecch, put
my head down closely, and aimed
with the greatest care, My nerve was
firm rs iron felt that the moment
for crushing The rebellion had come.
The ain was perfect. touched the
vent with my ei8or
Gentlemen, have TO confess TO u
miscalculation, Though possessing II
thorough knowledge Of gunnery, ! had
made Che mistake Of having my pro-
jectlle heavier than my gun. Az n con.
sequence the proicctile rested where II
was and Che gun shot back was
clinglng to the brccch, and went with
IT, The trajectory which we, the can
non and |, described wassaid to be very
beautiful and was observed by the en-
tire army. We struck the ground about
three miles back Of the union lines,
Leaving the unfortunate piece Of ord
nance where II fell, | returned TO my
battery"
"1hcn your idea was Of no practical
value?' said Robinson, as Jones paused
in his narration.
"0n the contrary, II ended the siege
The next day Gen, Banks reversed
every cannon in our lines, loaded them
with shaftlng and threw them into the
enemy, with such effect that what 1T
Tie was left Of him surrendered.
"Does Bancroft mention this?" asked
jackson Peters, softly
bancroft wasn't there, and knew
nothing about it," answered Jones. -
IIarper's Weekly