The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1897-03-18
ASOLDIER'S STORY
The Late J. H. Beadle at Fort
Donelson.
SCENES JUST AFTER THE BATTLE.
she First News of the yictory-Pen Pic
lures Along the Brigade Line-Suggest-
i've Sights at the MISUNDERSTANDING
/

extended battlefield of Fort Donelson.
A dreary night it was. The snow had
melted to slush, the air was loaded with
dampness and the darkness was such as
could be sliced with a knife. But our
brigade was i'll a deep hollow, and,
though very close to the rebel intrench-
ments, we were sheltered, aud very soon
cheerful fires were blazing all along the
line. Not far TO our left were the Elev-
enth Indiana and other regiments of
Lew Wallace's brigade, and the other
way were forest and swamp, for we
were ON the extreme Union right. The
darkness without was as light compared
with that in our hearts. We did not
know that the brave Iowans and ILL
noisans had captured the main earth
works, or that the water batteries were
silenced. And ignorance was not bliss,
for we firmly believed that our little
battle of that morning was but a pre-
lude to a bloody morrow.
"What can you do?" asked a despond-
ert corporal Of Company G. "They are
intrenched just the other side of that
field up there. If you go to the top of
that hill, they will shoot you down.
Across that level we can't charge in
less than ten minutes anyhow, and the
rebels can kill ten of us to our one Of
them that way. We just can't take it,"
Cant take it? Shut up! We must
take it. That's what we came here for.
We've just got TO take it, and we will
take it" said his comrade.
THAT'S the way to talk, said Cap
tain John T. Smith. "We came here to
take it, and we're not going away till
we get it.
This is but q specimen of what was
going on all along the brigade line, and
many a poor doubling fellow crouched
over the fire in gloomy silence, honestly
believing that he would be killed the
next day and killed to no purpose. There
was much recriminatiOn as to the past
days battle. | was very near complete
exhaustion by two nights without sleep
and two days of march and battle, but
we had to stay up till midnight anyhow,
and l exhorted earnestly, as much to
keep awake as to cheer others. About
midnight we lay down, and l scarcely
touched the blanket till l was dead
asleep. 1t seemed to me that | had but
closed my eyes when the covering was
snatched off, and even now 1 hardly
) know whether to laugh or shudder at
the first words / heard. A reckless lieu
tenant with whom l had snapped lies
Ton guard at various times stood over us
:sand shouted: Get up, boys! Get up
frand hear the little birds sing their
praises to On your souls, get upv'
This unique bit of blasphemy was
common enough in the army afterward,
but that was the first time L heard it,
and it struck me as a queer preparation
for a day of danger, with big chances
for death. l sprang up and promptly fell
again. l struggled to my feet, staggered
around a few seconds and leaned over a
log gasping for breath. What on earth
had hold of me? An agonizing pain
racked my left side, shifting slowly to
my chest, and when / breathed deeply it
seemed as if a sharp knife wa run IN
der my left shoulder blade. / thought
my joints would never become Timber
again. The gum blanket on which we
lay had not prevented the warmth of
our bodies from melting the frozen
ground below it, and we had sunk down
into a cold loblolly. Our Captain Wa
terInan was a doctor, and TO my COM
plant he sharply replied: you're beat
out; that's all. 1t will pass away" 1t
did pass away-about six weeks later
that is, the worst of it did. But Z 1-2
years passed away before / again drew
an unobstructed breath. Yes, it was in
August, 1869, ON the mountains of
southern Utah, that / for the first time
after DonelsOn enjoyed the exquisite de-
light of breathing to the very bottom OF
my lungs aud bounding over the hills
without a pulmonary wheeze. Two of
the strongest men in our company, Neil
Duyal and Tom Byerly, who rose with
the same symptoms, died within three
weeks, and two others never fully re-
covered. But | anticipate.
Daylight showed that our camp was
the scene of a battle the day before, and
several curpses lay about. One, two rods
or SO from where I slept, was frozen
solid. The fires Were soon blazing again,
and by a rare good fortune Commissary
Grubbs found us and soon had several
wagons there with provisions, which
were laid open for every man to take at
will, a there was no time for a regular
draw. What a glorious breakfast we had
pork broiled ON the Goals, strong tea
made in tin cups, fresh crackers and all
the sugar we wanted. / drank three
pints of tea and the pain in my side
abated. l have breakfasted in many ele-
CANT places, but never in hotel or res