The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1896-02-07

over which we had crossed as we ad.
| vanced. | had been too much occupied
with my personal difficulties to see why
the guns had kept off the road on the
| turf. had not seen my men leave, nor
| did I know where they had gone. If
had seen the enemy approaching the
bridge, I must have mistaken them for
our own men. Ihad certainly seen moth
| ing from which I was tempted to run
away.
AS arrived abreast of the gun teams
at the ditch noticed that one of the
led horses was mortally wounded. must
have been dazed at the helplessness of
nv situation, left alone and utterly IN
able to extricate my guns. To do what
! did was useless; nevertheless, l slip
ped to the ground facing the wounded
horse, with my back to the ditch. un-
| toggled one of his traces at the collar,
and as placed my hand on the other I
! was sharply ordered to surrender, and,
turning about, found myself looking
| into the muzzle of two revolvers in the
hands of large man with bushy red
beard My captor was Lieutenant Colo
mel Swanson of the Sixty-first Alabama.
I think I took fatalist's view of the
situation. He would either shoot me, or
he wouldn't. was sullen and silent.
He afterward said, and have no doubt
he believed, was drunk; but, on the
contrary, | was dreadfully sober Big
as he was, was worth something as a
shield Just then, for the balls were hiss
ing by like hornets, and, taking me by
the arm, he demanded my sword. l
think I was conscious that General
Warren and his staff and the rest of my
battery were observing me from the
edge of the woods within 800 yards, and
that it was just as cheap to cover my
self with glory while | was about it, so
7 pressed the clasp of my belt and let
my saber fall to the ground. have
since read in the Rochester Union that
I gallantly threw it away, etc.
Perhaps 80 men of the colonel's regi
ment were grouped together on the
bridge. In the dry ditch and under the
bridge were | should say, twice as many
unarmed skulkers, taking refuge from
the storm of bullets.
The scene at that moment remains an
indelible picture in my mind, and one
hardly paintable from a national stand
point. Crossing the knoll over which
the dusty turnpike led to the field, small
groups of stragglers and slightly wound
ed men in blue zouave uniforms were
Offering themselves, with no intention
al generosity on their part, as targets
for the bitumen clad Confederates group
ed at the bridge. The gun teams, bril-
liant in scarlet saddle blankets and pol
ished brasses, were swaying against one
another, the captains horse and mine
frantically plunging against the others.
The Confederates, who for the moment
dominated the situation, had no time
to gather in the helpless skulkers or
even to secure desirable saddle horses,
and marching me with few other pris-
oners taken on the road they speedily
fell back in the direction from which
they had come, abandoning the guns
which they had fairly captured.
After we got into the woods one OF
my guards generously offered me a
drink from his canteen of whisky,
which I gladly accepted, as l was weak
with heat and from loss of blood. When
we reached the turnpike in the rear OF
the Confederate line, l was helped up
on to the box of an ambulance beside the
driver, who was very young and great
ly excited.
"Doggone hot place back thar, mis-,
ter. Never seen ambulances in such
hot place befo'. Thar was two shells
come a-fyin down this yer road. Made
us git, show 'nuf. Reckon that thar
nigh mule got mighty near his last call.
Look O. that thar trace, mister Don't
YOU low that was a close shave for
mule?''
Of course l apologized for my care
lessness, not having been at the time
acquainted with him or the mule, and
expressed my sincere satisfaction that
they had sustained no further injury !
spent that night shivering around a
smoky guard fire and in the morning
was brought back to the neighborhood
of Early's field hospital, at Parker's
store. Whoever Parker may have been,
his store and tavern must. have done q
very small trade i'll its palmiest days,
for the long, dilapidated structure was
the only building in sight, except one
story house facing the store, ON whose
floor made my hospital bed.
Disposed upon the hard floor of this
house 1 found 10, perhaps 1S, wounded
Union officers. Most were severely hurt.
One had suffered double amputation.
Besides the officers there were as many
wounded men in the house as could find
floor room, and others-hundreds of |
them--lay on the ground under the |
burning sun. Surgeon Donley of the |
Pennsylvania Bucktails had been cap
tured, with his case of instruments. He |
had been permitted to retain his instru- !
ments long enough to perform the am
putations and dress the wounds of the |
officers before they were borrowed by |
the authorities of the neighboring hos
pital The poor fellows lying in the sun,
forced to wait day after day for surgical |
aid, built roofs of shingles or tore off
strips of clothing to shelter their wounds.
During the week that l remained
there the atmosphere was hazy with the
smoke of burning woods, and we lis
tened to a ceaseless roar of musketry