The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-05-22
GOING INTO BATTLE.
Experience of Men Who Have
Marched Into the Jaws of Death.

Experience of Men Who Have
Marched Into the Jaws of Death.
The Memphis Appeal interviews two
ex-confederate veterans about their
feelings on going into battle One de-
scribes the sensation as follows:
J II noticed some of my companions
were gloomy at times, particularly just
| before an engagement" said he, but as
for myself, believe 1 was always the
same. 1 watched the men around me
in order to understand their moods and
discern, if possible. what their feelings
were. Before going into a battle most
of them would lapse into deep revere,
especially if they were not marching.
My observations taught me that such
! men We're thinking of loved ones far
away. In such cases concluded it was
deep affection and not cowardice that
made them moroSe and gloomy; and
/ such were really their emotions, as you
would readily believe when, few min
utes later, you would see these same
men in the thickest of the battle, flying
into the very jaws of death and almost
daring their comrades to follow them.
Such is the difference in the DISPOSE
tions of individuals. I always felt after
a battle just as 1 did before going into
it, though L cannot ascribe it to SUI
perior courage, for have known many
more courageous when that quality was
most needed than l ever was. 1 was in
several close places during the war,
but was not seriously or even painfully
wounded. At the battle if Shiloh we
were within 40 yards of the Yankees
and under the hottest fire 1 ever en-
countered. l saw men falling all around
me, and afterwards it appeared marvel
Gus to me that a single man lived
fhrOnQh
terrific, and offered one of the best tests
of the courage of men l ever expect to
undergo, and l do not care to go
through it again. But, as 1 said, never
had a chance of feeling, even under
those trying conditions. 1t all depends
on mans disposition, whether or not
he feels any apprehensiveness Brave
men are not essentially insensible to
danger, and 1 believe the bravest man
is the quickest to realize a danger and
probably feels it keenest."
Another said: 'In the calm just be-
fore the cattle, when every man is busy
with his thoughts and not a word is
spoken, there is in every heart the wish
for a peaceful environment. Minds
turn to thoughts of Home. Sweet
Home and there is the secret wish in
every mans heart that he was far
away from the scene of battle. In this
reverent silence the value of a soldiers
life is measured to him. He realizes
what prize life is. He thinks what an
awful thing war is; what grief it is la
den with. what cruelty it brings and
how insignificant any cause is that
must triumph through blood-letting. He
marvelS, if he has an imaginative mind,
that ruin and wreck, death and desc
lation, tears and shattered homes and
hearts are one and all an integral part
of the right for which he is fighting.
Then comes the order TO wheel into
battle. There is just a flash of terror
in that order. The guns roar The bull
let's whiz through the air. Now and
then can be heard the commands of
officers. Occasionally the notes of a
bugle float above the din of the battle,
and its wild, romantic calls are like
the voices of the night birds. heard one
moment and hushed the next, and ap-
parently coming from everywhere and
nowhere. By this time the soldier has
become another being. He feels as lit
tie dread of the missives of death that
are flying about him as he does the rifle
he holds in his hand. He has merely
been transformed into an instrumental
ity of war. His only thought is TO rush
at the enemy and sweep him off the
face of the earth. If in the thick of
battle he is hit, unless the wound
strikes a vital part he probably does
not know it at first. 1 was shot once
while carrying a cOmrade to the rear. !
knew it instantly, because my mind !
was on the wound of my fellow soldier. |
Had l been in the front ranks, which l |
left only at the piteous pleadings of !
my comrade, the chances are that the |
wound in my leg would have escaped |
my notice, for a time, at least. 1 felt !
a little sting and then a dead feeling |
in my limb. That was all the sensa- |
ton [ felt consequent to being shot |
1 believe. as a general rule, all men |
just before going into battle feel like |
they would like to be at peace with the !
world. | felt that way just before |
every battle I ever fought in. After
the fighting began, however, this feel
ing gave way TO one of indifference
and disregard