Evening star., 1898-09-03
HOW MEN DIE IN BATTLE.
The MOrta1Iy Wounded Await Denth
Calmly and BraveIy.

| taimiy ana braNely.
From the ST. Loris Republic
! IF you want to know how men die in bat-
tie, ask some Of those who have been at
! Wilson's Creek. on one side or the other"
said Judge David Murphy of the criminal
| cot rt-
| II was in Totten's Battery, and / saw
thom. wounded and dying, falling thick and
fast around me. You may say that l saw
! not one man funk in the face of death on
tfat terrible day of fight and bloodshed.
! While Twas firing my gun from Bloody
| Hill, younster. not more than twenty
years old, suddenly jerked his leg He ut
| tered a sharp. quick cry. then bent down
and tore the trousers away from the place
| on mis- shin where mimic had struck him.
| He looked up with smile patted the
wound with his hand, pulled the torn frous-
ers down and went on shooting. Five min
| utes later he yelled again, and his hand
went up to the heshy part of his left arm.
Hit againr he said, sat down behind the
battle ranks and examined bis arm. The
wound was only skin deep and that seemed
to please him hugely, for he tied his hand
kerchief around il, and again went forward
into the ranks with his musket.
You're fighting in bad luck today, Pete
said comrade. The youngster turned his
face to answer back, and by the saapping
OF his eyes 1t could be seen that his mind
framed saucy, defiant reply Just then
his jaw dropped ball ploughed its way
through his mouth, leaving nothing but a
bloody, tongueless cavity. With a hoarse
gurgle the fellow threw his gun on the
gre rnd and fed back of the lines. He was
found in a hospital afterward but never
recovered.
ION that same day I encountered three
men under a tree. Their faces were asny
g1ay, showing that they were mortally
wounded. ] asked them why they were not
attended to. and ono of them said that Il
was all over with them; they wanted the
surgeon to attend first TO those who could
be saved. One If the men was smoking a
short briarwood pipe.
What are you doing. my friendT I
asked
Taking my last smoke he answered.
his CLASSY eyes looking steadily at me. An
other was reading letter. He held it up
to | is face, but could see that he was not
making any headway. His eyes were grow
ing dim and his weak. trembling hands
folded the missive and thrust il into his
breast pocket. He was perfectly resigned
to his fate, and had not a word to say.
When / returned in the evening, after
lull. found the three men dead. Their
faces were white and set in the shadow of
the tree under which they lay. BY the
plscidity of the features 1 knew that they
had met death without flunking.
That's all bosh about men raving about
mother, homo and heaven. All the men
have seen die, or near death, We're quiet
and perfectly rational. They made no fuss
These that did were usually delirious en-
tirely out of their minds. The faces of
these were frequently distorted. and gave
every evidence of the mental and physical
agony they unconsciously had endured.
"One thing struck me as peculiar. Near
ly all the regulars exhibited an instant de-
sire to examine their wounds when they
were hit, and the expression of their faces
indicated in a moment whether they were
slightly or mortally wounded They SEEM
ed to know with unfailing certainty. If
the wound was slight and in a place where
they could tie Il up conveniently they did
so. and then went back into the fighting
lines. If ii was mortal. their grave, pale
faces betrayed their knowledge. The vol
unteers were not so well posted, but they
were brave as lions, and seldom gave up
unless seriously hurt" :"