The times., 1898-09-18
HIT IN BATTLE.
observations of u Veteran I'm the
Civil War.
lion the 81. Louis Republic.)

(From the 81. Louis Republic)
IF you want 20 know how men die in
battle, ask some of those who have been
at Wilson's Greek. on one side or the
ether" said Judge David Murphy of the
Criminal Court.
II was in Totten's Battery, and / saw
them, wounded and dying. falling thick
and fast around me. You may say that
l saw not Cne man funk in the face Of
death on that terrible day of fight and
bloodshed- While l was firing my gun
from Bloody Hill a yOungster, not more
than twenty years old, suddenly jerked
his leg. He uttered sharp. quick cry,
then bent down and tore the trousers
away from the place on his shin where a
MIME ball had struck him He looked I'D
with a smile, patted the wound with his
hand, pulled the torn trousers down, and
went on shooting. Five minutes later he
yelled again. and his hand went up 10 the
feshy part Of his arm. Hit agin" he
said. and sat down behind the battle
ranks and examined his arm. The wound
was only skin deep, and that seemed TO
please him hugely, for he tied his hand
kerchief around it and went again for
ward into the ranks with his musket.
&" You're fighting in bad luck today,
Pete said a comTade- The youngster
turned his face TO answer back. and by
the swapping of his eyes it could be seen
that his mind framed a saUcy, defiant re-
ply. Just then his jaw dropped. A ball
pIoughed its way through mis- mouth,
leaving nothing but a bloody tongueiess
cavity. With a hoarse gurgle the fellow
threw his gun on the ground and fed
back of the lines. He was found in a
hospital afterward, but never recovered
ION that same day / encountered three
men under tree. Their faces were ashy
gray. showing that they were mortaIIy
wounded l asked them why they were
No at dad 70 nd n
that it was all over with them; they
wanted the surgeons 10 attend first to
those who could be saved One OF the
men was smoking short brierwOod pipe.
What are you doing. my friend2' l
asked
g Taking my last smoke he answered
his CLASSY eyes looking steadily at ne
Another was reading a letter He held
il up TO his face, but 1 could see that he
was not making any headway. His eyes
were growing dim, and his weak trsnl-
bling hands folded the missive and thrust
1T into his breast pocket. He was per-
fectly resigned to his fate and had not a
word TO say. When I returned in the
evening after a lull, I found the three
men dead Their faces were white and
set in the shadow of the tree under which
they lay. BY the pIacidity of the fea-
lures l knew that they had met death
without fiUnking-
4A&I al pOSn ABOUT men raVlng
about mother, home and heaven. All the
men | have seen die or near death were
quiet and perfectly rational They made
no fuss. Those that did were usually de-
lirious, entirely 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
desire 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
seemed to know with unfailing certainty
If the wound was slight and in place
where they could tie it up conveniently.
they did so, and then went back TO the
fighting lines. If it was mortal, their
grave. pale faces betrayed their knoWI-
edge. The volunteers were not SO well
posted, but they were brave as lions and
seldom gave up unless seriously hurt"