The National tribune., 1896-02-13

haQ IOSl great dlnuuHt VI DiOou. 1lS
was as pale as death. As we passed
him, said: There lies poor Clark
deadi" But he did not die; his leg wa:
amputated, and some years after the wal
/ saw him stumping around on crutches
A little further on we passed Serg't
Terpening, Little Terp," we used to
call him in the company, one of the best
soldiers ever knew; small in stature,
but larger heart was not to be found
in the regiment, and as brave as the
bravest. He was being carried on a
stretcher by two men. Years after, when
/ met him, he said he spoke to me and
tried to cheer me up, but only smiled
a sickly smile, and said nothing.
That night | stayed in the old Nal
vern Mansion. / remember of going
up stairs and into a good-sized bedroom
and squatting down in one corner among
room full of dead and dying, the floor
covered with blood. You wonder
HOW COULD SLEEP IN SUCH A PLACE,
but / did sleep, although suffering ter
ribly from my wound, and the cries Of
the poor fellows made it seem almost
impossible to do so.
In the morning, although stiff and
sore, / got up, went down stairs and saw
the army on the move to the rear. |
did not need to be told what it meant.
The army was retreating, and if / saved
myself from being taken prisoner |
would have to get move on me quickly; /;
so, without waiting to have my wound
dressed, and bare headed, started down
the road toward Harrison's Landing.
1t was raining, and / had not gone far
before my shoes pulled off in the mud.
The road being full of cavalry, infantry
and artillery | could not stop to hunt
for my shoes, SO walked those seven or
eight miles in my stocking feet. Icame
across Albert Smith, of my company, on
the way. He had a wound in his neck.
We walked together some distance, but
i lost him in the multitude, and did not
see him again.
At Harrison's Landing ] sat around
some time, waiting to have my wound
dressed and watching the Surgeons am
putate arms and legs, and could not but
admire the courage and fortitude Of those
who underwent the terrible ordeal. One
man in particular seemed in the best of
spirits, for he sang the Star-Spangled
Banner while his limb was being ampu-
tated. ! began to feel
THE pANGs OF HUNGER.
j had had nothing to eat since before
the battle of yesterday, so thought L
would go and look for something. |
saw crowd of soldiers rallying on some
hardtack and coffee, and | started in
with them, but soon had to get out, for
they nearly skinned my feet. | had
not yet secured pair of shoes. / think
] felt better plodding around in the wet,
soft mud in my stocking-feet than /
would with my shoes on, as the mud at
that time and place was almost knee
deep. One of the men gave me hand
full of ground coffee, which / ate, but
did not get any bareback. Seeing
another crowd, / started for them, but
this proved to be different lot of men;
it was Surgeons examining the wounded
and sending the worst cases aboard the
transports which lay in the river.
fell in line, and when my turn came the
Surgeon said: Young man, where are
you wounded?" / showed him my
wound, and ] heard him say to an as
sistant: "That is bad wound; j fear
a mortal one; let this boy pass" And
/ was escorted down the wharf and out
to one of the transports As soon as /
got some Of my clothing of, and with
some assistance, / got into one of the
upper berths. That night / had a
piece Of soft bread, the first that | had
tasted for many day. The boat was
on its way up the Chesapeake long be-
fore morning, and when / tried to get
out Of my birth, sometime in the fore
aoon, / was SO stiff and sore, and nv
wound panied me 50, that / had to be
helped out.
After a while some of us thought we
would slick up a little, and the idea
seemed to strike US that it would be a
good thing to wash our clothes. A rope
was procured, and our pantaloons tied
on, thrown overheard, and left trailing
behind the ship. Somehow the rope
broke, and we were minus our panta-
looms This was very embarrassing TO
me, and ] presume the others felt their
loss equally as well.
That afternoon, when our boat tied
up at the Seventh street wharf, Wash
ington, ID. c.. we all went ashore
and got into carriages, and being the
first arrival from the battlefield, it
seemed as if everybody in Washington
had turned out to welcome us. When
men, women and children surrounded
us ands sasked us innumerable questions
about everybody and everything, We felt
that it would have been better had we
deferred our washing another day. Our
under-clothing, however, was all right;
not hole in it except that made by a
bullet, and we got through this trying
ordeal without any further mishaps.
j was taken to the judiciary Square
Hospital, where ] received a good, sub
stantial meal, and that night slept in a