The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1897-05-27
How Shells Fall i'll Battle.

very lew OI Ille war historians. says
an old army man, give fair idea of
how bullets, shells and cannon balls
come at a fellow in battle. Sometimes
he continues, twenty big cannon balls
would be fired at company and not j
man would be injured, when suddenly
a ball fired at n higher elevation would
cut off large branch of tree which
would fall with a crash and halt
dozen men would be carried off disa-
bled. A half day would pass with
hurtling shells flying over the line,
when suddenly one would strike in a
group of men, explode, and a dozen fine
soldiers would be disabled.
Sometimes at close range every shot
would tell, shells from rifled cannon
crashing into the massed troops like
destructive thunderbOlts, but more fire.
quently shot and shell fell short of the
line or went over it, the men changing g
position as the gunners got their range.
At first there was Il belief prevalent
that a rifled cannon could not be fired
without killing somebody, but later the
boys affected to believe that the "whis-
tiers" scared more men to death than
they killed outright
AT all events they became so indiffer-
ent 10 artillery firing that when oppor-
tunity offered they would, rs they lay
in line, so to sleep. At Cave City, Old
Hannibal, the largest man in the COM
pany, was taking Il nap while the Con-
federate artillerymen were experiment
ing on our line. The firing was wild
for a time, but suddenly six balls were
planted in rapid succession few yards
in front, throwing dirt over the men
and causing Il general scramble. Old
Hannibal slept through it all, but the
next broadside showed, as one of the
boys put it, that the burned fools were
trying to hurt somebody, and most par
ticularly Old Hannibal, and a half
playful attempt was made to wake him
or drag him out of range.
The rough horse play was resented
by the rudely awakened sound sleeper,
and, half awake, he ran back to the
danger line, just as the Confederate
battery began to deliver another series
of shots. They struck to the right and
left of the dazed, bewildered man, but
he stood stark still, ducking his head
and putting up his arms, as would
boy under storm of snowballs. When
the storm was over he turned to his
frightened comrades with the remark:
They never touched me-" and walked
nonchalantly away, although his face
months.
After that Old Hannibal was little
superstitious. He believed that the
whistlers, as the boys called the cap
shells, pursued him or that in some
way he was u special mark. If he was
lying in the mud a shell would burrow
into the ground near him and not eX-
plode. If he thereupon left his place
in line and went behind tree a she'll
would strike that and scare all the men
Confederates bombarded our camp for
three days and did no damage. The
next morning cannon bali Knocked a
tin cup full of coffee out of Old Hanui-
bars hand, just as he was raising the
cup to drink. He explained to the boys
that he didn't care anything for the
cup. but didn't like to lose the coffee.
They volunteered to make him barrel
of coffee if he would move out of camp
an intimation that they regarded Old
Hannibal in the light of hcodoo.