Evening star., 1896-10-16

and my ear had been attuAed during the
war. to some most extraordinary cannon
One uninterrupted fiasA,of fire seemed to
run for mile ahead. The myriads Of bril-
liant stars appeared to tremble at the din.
and volumes Of smoke hung over the river
shook with reverberation4,
Directly opposite yfckstErg, the Missis-
sfppi is or rather was, barrow, deep and
SO low at that period that at times we were
from the 10-inch guns. 1t was strange that
our frail vessels, which, were repeatedly
struck, were not blown out Of the water.
as the enemy. we learned .afterward, con-
hdently expected they would be-
But they moved steadily on, Us yet un-
hurt. The pun. puff, puf Of the tug, which
we heard in brief occasional lulls of the
floating.
The enemy seemed enraEed at our def
ance. He increased his suiphurous efforts:
numbered louder than ever. The air was
Iuli OF messengers Of death; black fate
the terrible gauntlet in safety. We had
passed the most perilous points. Another
quarter Of an hour would make us secure
Suddenly there was q crash, at our side,
OF wood and iron. rush of steam, loud
explosion, descending shower Of ashes
and cinders.
The puff Of the tug had ceased: our prog
ress had stopped. A wild, shrill, savage
yell pierced the murky air, such as we had
often heard at the battles front, told us
that the confederates had triumphed at
last.
The boiler Of the tug had been exploded
by plunging shell from one of the upper
batterfes-accidental. but wholly effective
It had totally wrecked our expedition. The
shell had passed into the furnaces, throw
ing their fuel on the barges, and igniting
the loose hay, a danger we had foreseen
and pointed out before starting. But as
we were going for the adventure, we did
not insist on the removal of the scattered
hay.
'iThe Jig is up shouted. At the same
moment, the groans and sharp cries OF the
wounded and the scalded assalled our ears.
We sprange forward, trying to trample
out the spreading flames. Vain effort
They rose higher and higher all around us.
IKE fiery trhd aters Of the broai
river and the neighborhood for twenty-five
miles around.
The confederates, who had for a few mo-
ments suspended firing, resumed 1t, and
again the iron missiles swept over and
around us. Several more of our men were
wounded by bursting shells. Everyone was
forced by the advancing flames to desert
the rapidly burning boats. A few OF the
private soldiers and of the tugs crew leap
ed madly overheard, and in three minutes
only the wounded and the three Journalists
remained on the barges. We threw many
bales of hay into the water, and helped the
We got off ourselves, the water feeling
very comfortable after our hot work
But we were captured by the confed-
crates, who came out in yawls fully armed.
when we thought we should escape by
swimming.
All the thirty-lve were killed. wounded
or made prisoners Colburn was sent north
by the fiag-of-truce boat after reaching
Richmond, Va. But the Tribune cores
pondents, after lodgment in seven prisons
finally escaped from Salisbury, N. c., hav-
ing been shut up almost two years.
They made their way, IN Elid-winter, with
many adventures, to the Union lines at
Strawberry Plains, in east Tennessee, so
near the close of the war as to be de-
prived of any further campaigning.
Addres. of Henry Mosler, War Artist.
When Maj. Anderson, after the surrender
Of Fort Lincoln, made his return through
the states, a glorious reception was given
him at Cincinnati. and this impressed me
so much that l concluded to make little
sketch Of the same, and then decided to
send 1t to Harper's, and upon the strength
of this little sketch, to my surprise, in re-
turn received check, and also a request
whether or no I would be willing to act as
their war artist in the west.
This I accepted, with great pleasure and
through an old friend a.man Of consider
y, i
Introduction to Geo. D.. Prentice of the
Louisville Journal. I reached Louisville
promptly, and Prentice advised me to wait,
but gave me q letter to GEM Rousseau Che
only Rousseau), who was then reffeaeang
with a handful of men fppm MNldrangh
Hill. I started on. however. to Lebanon
Junction, about twenty-one miles from
Louisville. There I 'encamped with few
the bridge being destroyed by the coafed-
crates.
While sketching around this place. a re-
enforcement arrived, and this troop was
headed by a thin. dried-up looking man.
with dusty uniform and only colonel's
shoulder strap. 1 strode around as proud
as possible, when all of sudden this man
rode up. looked down at me and said:
What are you doing here?"
In reply, looking up from my work, said:
II am special artist for Harper's Weekly"
and with that I pulled out of my pocket
my credentials: This will certify that Hen
ry Mosler is special artist for Harpers,
1t did not impress the man as I expect
ed, but quite to the contrary. He called
emphatically:
1--WE don't want any Of you id artists
nor confederates around here! Pack up and
go homer
AS a young man hardly. twenty, with no
military experience, l gazed at him per-
fectly dumfounded, and told him that I
should go anyhow. He faced about and
left me.
I slept all night on the ground, the COM
mon soldiers being kind enough to lend me
a blanket, and next morning early I joined
a party Of men pushing up a steep grade q
hand-car loaded with ammunition, heavily
guarded. for the support of Rousseau. We
reached the small retreating army of vol
unteers, but 10, and behold! here was that
man again.
l saw that Rousseau bowed in subm ssion
to this evidently superior officer. 1 stepped
forward and handed my letter to Rousseau,
who handed it to the less agreeable man.
They conferred, and then the unknown"
looked at me again. by Cd" said he,
you did get here, did your"
told him: Il Informed you yesterday
that I would come"
We'll, since you are here, suppose we
will let you remain"
1t Is useless to state that this man was
no other than Gen. Sherman. We became
better acquainted, and soon he was most
friendly inclined. l messed at his head
quarters, slept in the same room with him.
and ate at his table for some months. He
was always opposed to sitting for mis- pic
ture. l, however, succeeded, while he was
walking up and down, In making a sketch
OF him, which showed him afterward, ard
also published the same in Harper's. He
took this very good-naturedly. Ny exper-
lence with Gen. Sherman was, possibly, the
most important event to me at the begin
ming OF the war. and likewise after tho bat
Tie OF Shiloh, he rode over the field with
me, showing me the points he defended.
&c. The facts that I got from him, how