The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1897-07-08
'eferred to and the rattle Of canister against

the dry trees under which the two were halted
| gave confirmation Of the fear Just expressed.
| His voice being for instant drowned, the
| general concluded: 'There, there, General
| Steedman, you can their exact position
| now! You must take that ridge More desper-
| ate task was never placed before mortal, but
with u salute and the reply, 'I'n do It, gen.
| eral, Steedman rode to his command that was
| standing ready to charge the wood it was then
| facing. Minutes were Invaluable as the Con-
| Eederate General Hindman was. with all haste,
| crowding his division forward to occupy the
| key to the whole field To hold this was to So.
| cure D Confederate victory, to retake it to
| snatch possible Federal victory from certain
| defeat.
"No time was spent in maneuvering. At the
COMMAND, Right face! Forward march, the
division was moving in columns, the line Of
skirmishers marching in their position, In ad-
| vance. General Granger, an interested specta-
tor saw his friend Steedman GA the verge Of a
desperate venture from which he could scarce
hope for his return. Fiding forward. he touch
cd him on the shoulder and said Familiarity,
'Sted, old boy, it's going to be deuced hot in
there. Yes, General Granger, it looks so. ,
The former in the most feeling manner con-
tinued, 'Sted. il anything should happen In
the attack have you any request to make Of
me?' To the feeling and most fitting query the
pIACIACAA SOlu1er, "1GnOuF inc least CLEAN or
sentiment, responded: 'Yes. General Granger.
II fall. please my body decently buried
and my name spelled correctly in the news
papers, is that ALP Yes, general, that is
ALL Not little taken aback, Granger spurred
ais horse impetuOusly and rode away, mutter
ing. Hes deuced cool, anyway while Steed-
man solved every doubt and drowned every
fancy by the stern command. 'Forwardl'"
Steedman's division did take the hill
and hold it, too, the terrible and bloody
Horseshoe ridge,' otherwise there
would be no glorious memories of the
day to relieve the dark retrospect Of dis
astrous Chickamauga. The narrative
quoted says that Thomas rode up to
Steedman and grasped his hand, with
the hearty greeting, General, you have
saved this armyV All histories tell
how Steedman led the van with regi-
mental flag in his hand and was wound
ed while waving it to cheer his men.
The flag incident was thrilling indeed.
Thomas mentioned it in his report, but
the prosaic language Of history fails to
show how the tide of battle was again
turned by the heroic soldier who was
the Napoleon of the hour.
tive, "more vindictively did tho enemy resist
With every foot gained the interest of the as
sailants deepaned. Two thirds of the slope had
been wrested from the defenders, and clearly
victory was possible if every man did his duty
as before At this critical juncture a staff
officer. observing that the -th regiment had
turned Its back to the enemy and was moving
to the rear, reported the fact to his superior
A glance in the direction indicated confirmed
the startling news. The regiment was actually
marching down the slope, its colonel riding in
the rear. Steedman dashed along the line and
firmly commanded, '-th, haiti The men
obeyed the command of their general, who in
stantly said: Colonel -, this is all q mis-
take. l have given no orders to fall back
Move at once up the slope to your position
Instead Of accepting the opportunity to re-
trieve his error the colonel replied piteously,
General, my regiment has suffered terribly
4 know it, colonel. All the regiments have
suffered severely, and I am sorry for it. but
we have time neither for regrets nor discus
sion. You Will a once move your command to
your position Having no love for that posi-.
ton the colonel replied that he did not be-
lieve his men would go up there again.
more shameless SANDER upon true men coward
lips never uttered, for Steedman, taking the
colors from the hands OF the color bearer, re.
piled, You can go off the field and disgrace
yourselves, but God reigns you shall not
disgrace this flag, and wheeled his horse to
retire.
"The humiliation was CALLING and stirred
sergeant OF the regiment to make q manly ap-
peal General said he, I'VE will defend that
flag If somebody will lead u.s. Brave boys I
will lead you, said Steedman, waving the flag
above his head. 4 will bear your flag IL you
will defend it. 'Tention, -th! Bout face!
Forward! Double quickl Marchr The COM
mands were obeyed, and squirting his horse up
the slope at gallop, the men followed closely,
rending the air with their shouts. The space
they had abandoned was already filled with
enemies, who poured stream Of balls that
tore the flag into shreds as it waved above
their commanders head and made havoc with
the line. It was the work of but few mo-
ments, A few leaps forward, and Steedman's
horse plunged forward to the earth in the
throes OF death. His rider was thrown violent
~ far ovor his head and severely stunned.
The brave men paused for nothing but their
flag. which they bore to the front, where they
fulfilled their heroic promise most faithfully.
Recovering somewhat from the shock pro-
duced by the fall, the general bound up his
bleeding hands and mounted another horse.
Dreadful battle ragged all along his weakened
and meager front. Hindman's division Of vet
Grams, with every advantage, had been forced
to yield before the valor Of Steedman's two
brigades. With one deafening shout and one
singing volley the latter charged and carried
the crest Of the ridge.''
The Confederates made several des-
perate attempts to recover the ridge,
finally throwing the strength of several
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