The record-union., 1897-06-11

skulkers of the day before seemed to be
imbued with genuine manhood, and
thousands of them returned to the front
to render good service. In addition TO
this 6 5000 fresh men under General Lew
Wallace, who had marched from
Crump's Landing, ten miles away, ana
who should have been on the field the
day before, had arrived during the
night, and the tide Of battle was now
setting toward Corinth. / met COM
rade drying himself out by a log fire
about a quarter of a mile from the
landing, who had by some process Sc
cured a canteen of what was known as
commissary whisky. He gave me one
drink of it, and that constituted my
breakfast. Cold wet and depressed as
I was, that whisky, execrable though II
was, brought me such consolation as
had never found before. I have drank
champagne in Epernay, l have slipped
Johannisberger at the foot of its sunny
mount, / have tasted the regal Monte
pulsiano, but by Jove! 1 never en-
joyed a drink as I did that swig of or
binary whisky, on the morning of the
7th of April, 1862 While drying myself
by this fire, I saw a motley crowd Of
Confederate prisoners marched past,
under guard. AS they waded along the
muddy road, some of the cowardly
skulkers indulged in the badinage
usual on such occasions, and one of our
fellows called out to know what COM
pany that was. A proud young chap
in gray threw his head back, and re-
piled: Company Q of the Southern
Invincibles, and be damned to you. }"
That was the spirit of that day and
hour.
At 10 o'clock the sound of the battle
indicated that our lines were being
pushed forward, and / made up my
mind to go to the front. l started with
my companion, and in very short
time we began to see about us traces of
the terrible battle of the day before.
We were then on the ground which had
been fought over late Sunday evening.
The underbrush had literally been
moved off by the bullets, and great
trees had been shattered by the terri
BILE artillery fire. In places, the bodies
of the slain lay upon the ground so
thick that I could step from one to the
other. This without exaggeration. The
pallid faces of the dead men in blue
were scattered among the blackened
corpses of the enemy. This to me was
a horrible revelation, and l have never
yet heard a scientific explanation OF
why the majority of the dead Confed-
crates on that field turned black. All
the bodies had been stripped of their
valuables, and scarcely a pair of boots
or shoes could be found upon the feet
of the dead.
In most instances pockets had been
cut open, and one of the pathetic sights
that I remember was a poor Confeder-
ate lying on his back, while by his side
was a heap of ginger cakes and sau-
sage, which had tumbled out of the
trousers pocket, cut by some Infamous
thief. The unfortunate man had evil
IDENTIFY filled his pocket the day before
with edibles found in some suffers
tent, and had been killed before he had
an opportunity to enjoy his bountiful
store. There was something so sad
about this that it brought tears to my
eyes. Further on, passed by the
road the corpse of a beautiful boy in
gray, who lay with his blond curls
scattered about his face and his hands
folded peacefully across his breast. He
was clad in a bright and neat uniform,
well garnished with gold, which seem
ed to tell the story of a loving mother
and sisters who had sent their house
hold pet to the field of war. His neat
little hat lying beside him bore the
number of a Georgia regiment, en-
broidered, am sure, by some tender