Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1896-05-30
RIDDI.ED WITH BALLS.


of the civil war-that of an oak tree
twenty-five inches IN diameter cut in
two and completely riddled with
musket-balls. 1t stood in the rear oi
the Confederate lines at the battle OF
Spotsylvania Courthouse, May ~,
1864, and with some others il was
Immediately behind the bloody angle
when General Hancock made his dash
on this celebrated salient in heavy
rainslorm on the morning of the 18th
of May an (on account of the removal
Confederate guns during the previous
evening" succeeded in capturing this
part of the Confederate works.
This was Immediately followed by
an attack upon the Union troops by
General Gordon's Confederate division,
who succeeded under the most terrible
fire in recovering part of the works
and preventing the Union forces from
gaining any material advantage by
their occupation of the remaining part,
until early on the morning of the 18th
of May, when the Confederates having
succeeded in building breast work in
General Gordon's rear, cutting off the
salients, he then retired under its cover
with his troops, having stood for
twenty hours under one of the most
terrible fires known in the history OF
the war
GENERAL MCGOWAN REPORT.
This is an example of its intensity
and fierceness, for in his official report
Brigadier-G General Samuel MCGOWAN,
who commanded brigade in General
Nilcox's Confederate division, says
"To give some adequate idea of the
intensity of the fire, an oak-tree twenty
two inches in diameter. which stood
just at the rear Of the right Of the bri-
gade, was cut down by the constant
scaling Of musket-balls and fell about
II o'clock Thursday night, inuring in
its tall several soldiers of the First
South Carolina regiment Further
on he says, The trenches on the right
of the bloody angle ran with blood
and had to be cleared of dead bodies
more than once" So in future years
il some descendant of an old Confed-
crate wishes to see in what manner his
ancestor fought and died, he can, if he
should come 10 Washington, see this
relict and learn from it the manner of
men who knew how to live and die
for their country.
He will also find large serier of
portraits of the most prominent officers
and statesmen arranged in series of
this case. Also, curious specimen
which newspaper men were put to
find paper to publish their paper on.
1t is copy of the Daily Citizen, of
Vicksburg, edited by j. NJ. Swords
and published ON wallpaper. Think
OF it, We scribes OF later times, of get
ting out an edition of paper upon
one side of piece Of wallpaper.
4 BATTLE FLAG.
From Arkansas they have a battle
flag of one OF her famous regiments
pierced through and through with bull
letholes, showing the hard fighting it
must have gone through; in fact the
whole centre has been carried away by
a piece of shell and to preserve it from
falling to pieces. so the story goes, a
brand-new shirt was confscated from
the back OF a new arrival and made
to do service in rescuing the old flag
from ruin, and 10. now it has a large
white disc in the centre, not as a sign
OF surrender but as an emblem of a
former victory.
JACKsoN's GUN.
You will find here also relict of
one of the first tragic events of the
civil war after the attack on the Mass
achusetts troops in Baltimore on the
10th of April, 1861. 1t is double
barreDled shotgun with which jackson,
the proprietor of the Marthall House,
Alexandria, Va, killed Colonel Ellis.
worth, of the Ellsworth Zouaves, after
they had hauled down the Confederate