The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-08-13

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dence that he can
stand his ground
Vs. GA that is, If the
I'm enemy will kind
HfSsslQ II take the init
! ! ! J J
lISeALA9 alive he will
@sSSErA\ESS stand and whack
151ZZgakS}TA at him. But
@:INA oSS- there is deal Of
- Abb moonshine about
this boastful con-
"a fidence. When a
bayonet is only a foot from your breast
and coming at you, you don't stop to
think whether you are on your own soil
or trespassing upon that Of the man be-
hind the bayonet Whether you'll lunges
back or fly depends. However, it is safe
to advise beginners to fight on the de-
fensive as often as possible if they are
sensitive about courage. It isn't so easy
as it looks, but it is much more COM
Portable.
There were hosts of soldiers in the
civil war who were imbued with the
spirit of Warren's Bunker Hill address
Stand; the ground s your own, my braves.
Often there was little at stake except.
pride, nothing to win but death, moth
ing to save but honor What made Dur
yeas zouayes stand at the battle Of
Groveton in 1862 until they suffered
loss in killed unparalleled in the war?
They took their stand in the face of an
advancing division of Longstreet's
troops, and failing to hear the order to
retire at time when common sense told
them the game was up stood to their
work until 256 men had fallen out of
400 on the field. There was no make be-
lieve about the falling either, for 119
Of the PROSTATE men were smitten to
death. There was battery in danger
behind the zouayes, and they started in
to save that and did save it, but the
animus Of their fight was the instinct
not to yield except to death. s
The New York and Connecticut heroes
in the captured bastion Of Fort Wagner
held on with spirit not easily under.
stood even by soldiers They took the
bastion by assault and held on in hope
Of re-enforcements. Instead Of re-enforc-
ing them their friends fired into them
from the rear, by mistake, of course,
while the Confederates in front turned
on them. For more than three hours the
defense of a fort within fort was kept
up. At last when surrounded the rem
nant surrendered, but it was remnant
in every sense of the word aa1aa1ely,
40 out Of over 500. The Forty eighth
New York surrendered rs men. Itsdead
in the bastion numbered SO and. its
wounded 112.
Another case Of holding on to captured
ground was that Of the Fifth Vermont
| at Savage Station. The commander of
the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel "a A.
Grant, led his men in on bayonet
charge to "push back the enemy - A.
couple Of volleys from the enemy s in
fantry held up the impetuous assailants;
then a field battery opened with CAMS
ter. The Vermonters went down in
rows, literally, but there was showing
Of them left standing. Taking breath,
they rallied. dropped undera sheltering
rise Of ground and kept up the fgh..
with bullets. The enemy had been push
ed back and was held back until the
crisis was over. The regiment lost ~
killed and 131 wounded out Of 400. The
heaviest loss occurred in Companies E
and 81. They lost 80 men killed at lone
discharge of the enemy's battery. The
bodies lay on the field in a perfect line,
as though sleeping on their arms. In
Company E 40 out Of Sc were struck
down and 25 of them dead on the field.
Only by plucky defense Of chosen or
captured ground can battles become
stubborn and bloody Valor is taken for
granted on every great field. BUTT is
not always present when wanted and
when most expected. Even Cemetery
Ridge, when Pickett made that hopeless
charge at Gettysburg, was deserted for
the moment. That shows how hard.it is
to stand in front of advancing bayonets.
The more honor to those who do stand,
especially in small bodies, SO as to con
stitute a forlorn hope. Stone River was
a defensive battle on the Federal side,
and among the many instances Of pluck
shown by a handful that Of the regu-
lars in the Cedar Grove stands at the
head. .,:. Is. -:
The regulars entered the cedars in or
der to forestal the enemy while q line
was being established in rear Of them.
Two lines of Confederates charged into
the brake, meeting with repulses "A
third line then dashed in at charge bay
onet. Great gaps in their ranks warned
the regulars that humiliation was .be-
fore them, but they stood fast until or
4 ders reached them to retire. The strug-
4 gle had lasted but 30 minutes, yet one
regiment, the Eighteenth, lost more:men
than any other on that field where the
s battle ragged all day The First battalion
4 lost 143 killed and wounded out Of 289,
4 and the Second battalion 1874 killed and
8 wounded out Of 8 a.
4 And now who stood in the famous
4 angle at the peach orchard, Gettysburg?
7 Some band Of heroes must have faced
death there, for the angle didn' acol-
3 lapse at the mere specter Of Longstreet s
charging battalions.
The regiment at the very point Of the
angle was the One Hundred and Forty
first Pennsylvania. It numbered At. 8
~ - 49,