The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-01-02
BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS.
There Were Features That Have
Never Been Matched in tho Annals
of Warfarc--ThcS Scene Was One of
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bnuttcraDlc hOTTOT.
The losses were found to be- killed
2,2i6; wounded, 12037; missing, 1888; total
1866. The damage inflicted upon the enc
my is not known, but as he was the as
saulting party as often as the Union
army, there is reason to believe that the
losses on the two sides were about equal.
Taking twenty-four hours as the tine
actually occupied in fighting and count
ing the casualties in both armies, it will
be found that on that bloody field every
minute recorded the loss of twenty-five
men,
AS the staff officers threw themselves
upon the ground that night, sleep came
to them without coaxing. They had been
on the move since dawn, galloping over
bad roads, struggling about through for
est openings, jumping rivulets. wading
swamps, helping to rally troops, lodging
bullets, and searching for commanding
officers in all sorts of unknown places.
Their horses had been crippled, and they
themselves were well-nigh exhausted. For
the small part | had been able to per-
form in the engagement, the general rac-
commended me for the breVct rank of ma
| mertorious services" His recommends ia
tion was afterward approved by the
president. This promotion was especially
gratifying for the reason that it was con"
ferred for conduct in the first battle in
which / had served under the command
of the general n-chief.
There were features of the battle which
have never been matched in ;nr annals
of warfare. For two days nearly 900
veteran troops had struggled in a death
grapple, confronted at each step with
almost every obstacle by which nature
| could bar their path, and cropping their
| way through tangled forest the impene-
trable gloom of which could be liieHcd
| only to the shadow of death. The under
growth stayed their progress, the upper
growth shut out the light of heaven. Of
| iicers could rarely see their troops for any
considerable distance. for smoke cloudel
| the vision, and a heavy sky obscured the
| sun. Directions were ascertlmed aad
| lines established by means of the pocket
compass, and a change of position often
| presented an operation more like II prob
| lem of ocean navigation than question
| of military manoeuvres. 1t was the sense
| of sound and of touch rather thah the
| sense of sight which guided the move
| ments. 1t was q battle fought with the
| ear, and not with the eye.
| All circumstances seemed to combine
| to make the scene one of unutterabc hor-
| ror. At times the wind hoWed through
| the treetops, mingling its moans with
| the groans of the dying, and heavy
| branches We're cut off by the fire of the
| artillery, and fell crashing upon :he heads
| of the men, adding a new terror to battle
| Forest fires ragged; ammunition trains ex-
| ploded; the dead were roasted in the con-
| tlagration the wounded. reused by it's hot
| breath, dragged themselves along with
| their torn ana mangled limbs, in the nal
| energy of despair to escape the ravages
of the flames: and every bush seemed
| hung with shreds of blood-stained cloth
| ing. 1t was as though Christian men haG
turned to fends, and hell itself hat
| usurped the place of earth Cam.
pa!gning with Grant" by General Horace
Porter in the December Century.l