The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-06-27
THE SALT LAKE HERALD SUNDAY. JUNE 81. 1897.

bullets and shells were flying like hail,
and finally led q small fcrlorn hope 10
silence o5Ir fort and save a lire OF re-
treat for those OF G0rdOn's soldiers who
had survived the battle and given it up
as hopeless" Mr.. Grady heard this re-
cital with unfeigned eagerness. and 1
continued: You already know from
what General Gordon said here TO me
and has explained to you before, that
on that eventful morning q couple OF
hours after daylight, he saw a vast
federal army drawn W around the
breach he had made under cover of
night, and his little force hemmed in
by a murderous fire from the right, left
and front. To advance was Impossible.
To retreat, even over the co rods Of
space that interviewed between Fort
Stedman, where his men lay and their
own works, must cost him at least the
half of his surviving batallicns.
There was only one gun in Fort Has
kell bearing upon Fort Stedman, and
that was in the center of the wall fac
ing the high embankment and parapet
of Fort Stedman, behind which the con-
federates had taken shelter. So long
as they remained there this gun could
do them little harm, but when they at
tempted to get back to their own works
they passed directly under the fire of
gun in the angle of our fort, which
raked the ground ahead of them with
spherical Casa terrible missile at
that range, almost as deadly as can
lister. The confederate sharpshooters
back in their old lines kept up fire
upon the angle. hoping to silence that
piece, but without effect. Our gunners
were Germans, and the chief of artil-
lery of our brigade, a German major
stood upon the banquette, field glass in
hand, with head and shoulders above
charge of the gun. My company was
stationed around that angle, and after
firing savagely for some time the
major suddenly told his gunners TO
cease, and called out to the riaemen
who were nearest the embrasure,
Shoot the man on the white horser
l was summoned away at that time by
moments afterward to find Che ciece
again in action, the major at his pest.
and just as | reached the spot the SER
geant of our company, crouching so as
to keep his head Yellow the paraoet,
moved back from the opening of the
embrasure, and. handing me his rifle,
said: Here. Vet, try your hand. See
if you can bring down that man on the
white horse / had a reputation for
craftsmanship, and. Selling the rife.
advanced close 10 the embrasure. where
l could take aim with my head some
what sheltered, and not be harmed by
the flash OF the cannon barking at nv
elbow. A hasty glance at the ground
in front of Fort Stedman showed me
that there was a stream of confederate
soldiers in very much of a rout pouring
out of the captured fort back to their
own lines, and that the shots from the
gun by which l stood plowed through
the mass with fearful effect man
on white horse, with mis- face turned
toward Fort Stedman. was trying to
urge and guide his frantic steed toward
that fort. BEHIND him were 200 or 800
soldiers in gray, struggling after
through the retreating mass. The
white horse was plunsing and leaping
so wildly that [ found it impossible to
draw a bead upon his rider. But
kept my eyes upon him across the rifle |
barrel, moving the muzzle to cover him |
as he moved The smoke from the gun
beside me occasionally cut off my
vision, but l was not long in discover
ing the true situation. The man on the /
white horse had brought up from the 4
old confederate lines a handful of dar- |
ing men, to charge upon the battery 1
which was Strengthening his retreating /
comrades, in the hope of saving the /
many by sacrificing the few. l had |
heard of that white horseman several |
times in the course of the morning He |
had been seen again and again gallop- /
ing back and forth over the narrow
field which was the scene of this
strange combat. For all that we read
Of daring deeds in war, such Incidents
are few and far between, at least shat
vas my experience during three-years'
service in the army of the Potomac. I
had heard of such things in thrilling
accounts of olden wars, but had come