The National tribune., 1896-01-30

absence to Capt. Kennedy, and took my
| position In rear of the company The Sec
oDd Division of our corps (Gibbon's) formed
behind us, and Gen. Hancock rode between
the two divisions, saying: Gen. Barlow,
you will carry the enemys works, and Gen.
Gibbon, you will support Gen. Barlow"
1t was beyond the gray in the morning,
but notquite sun-up, when we moved through
the thin strip of woods, and coming into
the open, saw the enemy's works, and with
a hearty cheer we charged them.
1t was rising ground, with redoubt on a
steep knoll in our front, and they opened
on Us with musketry and shells from a
! battery of six-pound brass Napoleon guns
as we went forward. Three times our color
bearer was shot down, and each time the
coors were borne forward by some volunteer.
! A stone OF piece of shell broke the leather
scabhard Of my sword at the same time that
something struck me on the left hip and
knocked me down. Finding that it was a
mere bruise, no attention was paid to that !;
the air seemed buoyant and we were flying 7
The bill became so steep that the grape and
canister they were giving us went over our
heads with a "swish," much as a charge of
fine shot goes among a flock of blackbirds
We were on them. They had surrendered,
as we understood by the white handker-
chiefs; but reb rose up and fired into our
color-guard. dropped his musket, threw up
his hands, and said, ~ surrender" The
Color-Sergeant thrust the steel lance on the
color-siaff into his open mouth, and. with a
reference 10 his canine ancestry, said, " You
spoke too late"
On going over the works the main body
of the enemy fed, but many lodged into
the rat holes" as the bomb-proofs were
called, and we dug out some 500 prisoners.
These we started TO the rear. Jumping in
the redoubt. Capt. Kennedy tried to turn
one of the brass guns on the retreating foe.
man from rat-hole raised his musket to
shoot the Captain, but shot from my re-
volver changed his mind. Another who
tried the same thing was bayoneted by First
Sergeant Locke. Kennedy got help to turn
the gun, but We could not find the ammuni-
tion, and by this time the enemy had reached
their second line and opened heavy fire on
as. was getting the prisoners out Of the
rat-h0les with about a dozen men, when /
heard the order 10 charge again, aud while
trying 10 get the men in line the enemy
charged u.s. and in our broken form we
could not resist them, and were forced back
over the Second Division, which was living
with fixed bayOnets at the edge Of the woods
where we started from. Here we were bad
ly mixed, companies and regiments iumbled
together.
had my - men with me and hunted for
the colOrs, which were a quarter of a mile 10
the left IN a sunlzen road in the woods. The
ridge was just high enough TO protect man
mp TO his waist, and the men were lying
down. j reported to Capt. Kennedy with
my men. Some half an hour later First
Lieut.. Thomas j. Mcclure reported alone,
and Capt. Kennedy was angry. The two
stood up arguing and Mcclure was tapping
his boot with his sword. The bullets were
coming thick, and ] Jumped up, put my left
hand on McClures shoulder, and said:
Gentlemen, for Gods sake, lie down!n
just then a caseshot burst some 20 feet to
our front and right and piece the size of
mans hand cut off McClure's arm, passed
through his chest, and gave the Captain a
severe hesh-wound in his left thigh Hastily
bandaging the Captains leg with hand
kerchief twisted with bayonet, he went 10
the rear with his arms over the shoulders
OF two men, the last i ever saw him. He
was wounded again at Ream's Station, and
died in Libby Prison, as brave a man as ever
lived, and as rash as be was brave: never
thinking of personal danger, but careful of
his men.
Sending four men TO the rear to bury
Mcclure, ] found myself in command Of
the battery, with two Second Lieuten-
ants, Heaney and Mcclellan, and the
enemy giving us terrible shower of mus
kerry, caseshot and shells, and expect
lng them to follow this up with charge.
Toward noon the firing partially ceased,
and after dark we moved to the left and
front, and threw up strong intrenchments
about 1900 feet from the works of the
enemy. That fruitless charge cost us three
officers and 104 killed or died of wounds and
nearly 200 men wounded. The officers were
First Lieut.. John Il. Read, wounded and
died in hands of the enemy; Lieut. Mcclure,
and Second Lieut.. G. S. Evans. We lay 10
days in the trenches, losing 10 to a dozen
men each day from sharpshooters The
next day we lost our beloved Col Lewis o.
Morris. He passed from the left of our line
with Gen. Barlow to show him some point
in the enemy's works. As he passed Battery
i he asked me about the condition of the
men and the rations, and made some COM
mandatory remarks about yesterdays en-
gagement. Within 10 minutes word was
passed that he had been killed by a sharp
shooter.
Our total loss at Cold Harbor from June
10 IL, including the grand charge on the
Sd, was five officers and las men killed or
died OF wounds, eight officers and 1S9 men