The record-union., 1897-06-11


land, and as she ran her prov up on
the sandy beach Nelson put spurs to
his horse and jumped him over the
gunwale AS he did this he drew his
sword and rode right into the crowd
of refugees, shouting: Damn your
souls, if you won't fight get out of
the way and let men come here who
Wilt" 1 realized from the presence
of Nelson that my regiment, the Twen-
ty-fourth Ohio, was probably in that
vicinity. / asked one of the boat hands
to take me on board, and after some
persuasion he did so. The boat re-
crossed and as soon as / got on shore
/ ran down to where the troops We're
ernbarking to cross the river to the
battlefield. 1 soon found Ammen's
| Brigade and my regiment. Hurrying
on board one Of the transports, l climb
ed to the hurricane deck, and there
| found my brother with his company.
He was looking across the river where
the most appalling sight met his Wis
ion. The shore was absolutely packed
with the disorganized, panic-stricken
| troops who had fed before the terrible
Confederate onslaught, which had not
ceased for one moment since early that
morning The noise Of the battle was
deafening It may be imagined that my
| brother was somewhat surprised to see
me. I made a hurried explanation of
the circumstances which had brought
me there and gave him news of my
fathers death. Then l asked him for
something to eat With astonishment
he referred me to his negro servant,
who luckily had a broiled chicken in
his haveTsack, together with some hard
| bread. l took the chicken, and as We
| marched off the boat I held a drum
stick in each hand and kept by my
brothers side as we forced our way
through the stragglers up the
road from the landing and on
to the plateau, where the battle
was even then almost concentrat-
ing. Right there I saw mau's head
shot off by a cannon ball, and saw i'm
mediately afterward an aide on General
| Nelson's staff dismounted by shot.
which took off the rear part of his
horses saddle and broke his horses
back. At the same time I did not stop
eating. My nerves were settled and my
stomach was asserting its rights. My
brother finally turned to me, and, after
giving me some papers to keep and
some messages to deliver in case Of
death, shook me by the hand and told
me to keep out of danger, and, above
all things, to try and get back home.
This part of his advice 1 readily ac-
oepted. 1 stood and saw the brigade
march by, which, in less than ten min
utes, met the advance of the victorious
Confedtrates and checked the battle for
hat q hOQfS
in the river and the heavy siege guns
on the bank above added their re1non-
strating voices as the sun went down
and the roar Of battle ceased entirely
But that night on the shore OF the
Tennessee River was one to be remem-
bered. Wandering along the beach
among the rows of wounded men wait
ing to be taken on board the transports,
[ found another member of the Seven
tieth Ohio Regiment named Scott. he
had a narrowing tale of woe to relate,
in which nearly all his friends and ac-
quaintances figured as corpses, and to-
gether we sat down on bale of hay
near the rivers edge. By this time the
rain had set in. 1t was one Of those pc
culiar streaming, drenching, semi-trop-
ical downpours, and it never ceased for
a moment from that time until far into
the next day. With darkness came un-
told misery and discomfort. After my
companion had related the experiences
of the day l curled myself up on one
side of the hay bale, while he occupied
one edge of it, and soon fell asleep.
Every few moments l was awakened
by terrible broadside, delivered from
the two gunboats which lay in the CEN
ter of the river hundred yards or so
above me. They were the Lexington
and the A. o. Tylor, 1 believe; wooden
vessels, reconstructed from Western
steamboats, and supplied with ponder
Gus columbiads. These black monsters,
for some reason, kept up their fire all
through the night, and the roar of this
connonading and the shrieking of the
Shells mingled with the thunders Of the
rainstorm, gave very little opportunity
for sumber. Still L managed to dOze
very comfortably between broadsdies,
and my recollection of the night is that
| from these peaceful maps 1 was aroused
every now and then by what appeared
to be a tremendous flash of lightning,
followed by the most awful thunder
ever heard on the face of the earth
These discharges seemed to me to lift
me four or five inches from my water
| soaked couch, and to add to the general
| misery the transports which were
bringing over Buells troops had a
| landing within twenty feet of my lodg
ment. All night long they wheezed and
groaned, and came and went, with their
| freight of humanity, and right by my
| side marched all night long the poor
| fellows who We're being pushed out to
| the front to take their places on the
| battle line for the morrow. By this
| time the roadway was churned into
| mud knee deep, and as regiment after
regiment went by with that peculiar
slosh, SloSh of marching men in mud
and the rattling of canteens against
bayonet scabbards, so familiar to the
ear of the soldier, l could hear in the
intervals the low complainings of the
men and the urgings of the officers:
| Close up. boys; close up!" until it
seemed to me that if there was ever
such a thing as hades on earth 1 was
in the fullest enjoyment of it. AS fast
as transport unloaded it's troops the
gangplank was hauled in, the vessel
dropped out, and another took the va
cant place, and the same thing was
gone over again. Now and then a bat
terry would stick in the mud. and then a
grand turmoil of half an hour would
follow, during which time every man
found in the neighborhood was i'm
pressed to aid in relieving the embar-
COED gun. The whipping of the horses
and the cursing of the drivers was less
soothing, If anything, than those soul
shattering gunboat broadsides. There