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

1ment alone. facing q whitening fire Of
artillery and musketry 81 When q whole
Confederate division emerged from g
Isheltering wood and dashed for the
peach orchard one Of the captains said
to the colonel, Hadn't we better get
ont Of this7'' e''s
= have no orders to get out. If / had
my old regiment, i could whip all Of
them was the response Twenty min
utes later, with 10 unwounded men and
MS nag intact, the colonel marched back
before the wave Of enemies. The loss in
killed and wounded was rs per cent.
Another striking battle incident. at
Gettysburg was the defense Of McPher-
sons woods by Meredith Is Iron Brigade.
Meredi 18th s men were the {" block hated
fellows" whose unexpected presence in
line OF battle warned the Confederates
that they must cope with the veterans
OF the Army Of the Potomac, not with
raw militia. w hen ordered to hold the
woods at all hazards that July morn
ing, they responded confidently, IF we
can't can do it, where will you find the men
who CAM? But that task was not to be
SO easy as it looked just then Archer's
lTennesseeans, backed by Davis Missis-
sippians, entered the woods from the
west, across the theoretical border line
OF Willoughby run. Then came the tug
Of war. For hours the fight went on.
I AArcher's men were captured s Davis
also The men Of iron charged forward
and gave back slowly They held the
vale OF Willoughby run, they battled for
McPherson's woods, they charged out
of the forest north along the bare ridge
and finally began the sullen retreat,
with backward steps, facing the over
lwhelming foe.
The brigade first entered those woods
with l, 800 fighting men; only 600 re-
tired to fight next day. Three command
Iers were shot down. The Nineteenth
Indiana marched out with rs muskets
as a remnant Of the 288 carried in.
Captain Edwards Of the Twenty fourth
Michigan led back SO ablebodied men;
leaving 400 to be accounted for among
the casualties. The Seventh Wisconsin
lost 178 killed and wounded out Of 800
engaged. In the Wisconsin Second the
casualties amounted to " per cent.
The Twenty fourth Michigan estab-
lished and defended for a time six diff
ferent lines of battle. Nine Of its color
bearers were shot down while striving
to keep the tattered flag afoat
In regular warfare between civilized
men the soldier has hope to sustain him
IN the most desperate straits. If nothing
Ielse, he may win the respect Of his vic
tor. But in combats against savages,
where the alternative is victory or
death, brute courage animates the hero
who stands until death brings relief.
Self destruction would seem natural and
excusable under those conditions but
we know that in the most noted of
modern massacres the victims have;
fought against fate, counting death in
battle. The British Isandlhwana and
Rorke's Drift expected no mercy from
the Zulus; so welcomed the cruelty Of
their spears
Major. Fetterman's men at Fort Phil
Kearny;; Nebraska, courted death, and
found III to a man rather than yield to
the fortunes Of the Sioux Fetterman's
| men, like Clusters at Little Big Horn,
were chiefly war veterans. The massa-
ere took place in 1866 just outside the.
fort, where the party, numbering 49,
fell into ambush and died in self de-
Tense, unseen, except by their savage
foes. Finding themselves surrounded,
the soldiers. who belonged to the garri-
son of regulars stationed in the fort, at
tempted to cut out their way through
the swarm of hostiles. The position of
the bodies gave evidence that Fetterm an
and handful had made a last stand on
the side Of the field nearest the fort.
There were no Indian bodies on the bat
tlefeld when visited by the whites, but
pools Of dark blood all over the hillside
and valley, where the fight took place,
showed that the Sioux had paid heavily
for their treachery and their triumph.
Clusters last battlefield presented evi-
dence of the most remarkable death
struggle in open field on record When
the Indians broke from cover and ran.
forward to attack, Captain Calhoun
company formed line to cover the retreat
of the main party to sheltering ridge
Calhoun and all his brave boys were
killed in their tracks Keogh's company
halted on the ridge, facing Calhoun's
battle-ground. This company was
slaughtered also. Meanwhile the main
party had retreated mile to another.
ridge. There the remaining companies
-of Yates, Smith and Tom Custer formed
a line with their backs to the river and
to Keogh's position and fought until
soverpowered In the general battle at
that point General Custer, his brother
Tom, Captain Yates and the adjutant,
also 80 soldiers, were killed. The rest
reiterated toward the river and We're
killed together near the stream. The
last stand was made two miles from
where the deadly struggle began. Not by
savages indeed, but by enemies equally
cruel in their practices, the Texans were
slaughtered at the Alamo The battle
began with a living chance for the 1873
men shut up in the old mission, but aft
er it had been surrounded by over 600
Mexicans, death was the certain doom;
victory out Of the question. The sturdy
4 Texans hurled the Mexicans from the