St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1898-10-05

leaden from lack OF sleep, all were per-
vaded by the subtle fuid-all were uncon-
SC Gus OF their clay. The men thrust for
ward their heads, expanded their eyes
and clenched their teeth. They
breathed hard, as il throttled by Juggling
at the leash. iyou had laid yourhand
in the beard or hair Of one of these men
il. would have cracked and shot sparks.
vi.
| suppose the country lying between
Corinth and Pittsburgh Landing could
boast few inhabitants other than alli-
gators. What manner OF people they
were it is impossible to say, inasmuch as
the fighting dispersed, or possibly exter-
minated them perhaps in merely class
ing them as non-saurian shall describe
them with sufficient particularly. and
at the same time avert from myself the
natural suspicion attaching to writer
who points out to people who do not
know him the surprising pecularities OF
people whom he does not know. One
thing, however, hope / may affirm OF
these swamp-dwellers without offense--
they were pious. To what deity their
veneration was given-whether, like the
Egyptians, they worshiped the croco..
die, or, like other Americans, adored
themselves, do not presume to guess.
But whoever, or whatever, may have
been the divinity whose ends they shaped,
unto Him, or 1t, they had builded tenn
pie. This edifce OF unhewn logs, CEN
trally situated in the heart Of solitude,
and conveniently accessible to the super
sylvan crow, had been christened Shiloh
Chapel, whence the name OF the battle.
The fact of Christian church-assum-
ing to have been a Christian church
giving name to wholesale cutting of
Christian throats by Christian hands
needs not be dwelt on here; the frequency
of it's recurrence in the history of our
species has somewhat abated the moral
interest which would otherwise attach
to it.
VII.
Owing to the darkness, the storm and
the absence OF road it had been impos'
sible to move the artillery from the open
ground about the Landing, The priva-
ton was much greater in moral than
in material sense. The infantry soldier
feels a confidence in this cumbrous arm
quite unwarranted by its actual achieve
ments in thinning out the opposition.
There is something that inspires conf
dence in the way gun dashes up to the
front, showing fifty or hundred men to
one side as if it said Permit me" Then
it squares its shoulders, calmly dislocates
a joint in its back, sends away its twenty
four legs, and settles down with quiet
rattle which says as plainly as possible
"I've come to stay" There is IA superb
scorn in it's grimly defiant attitude, with
its nose in the air; it appears not so
much to threaten the enemy as hold him
in contempt.
Our batteries were probably toiling
after us somewhere we could only hope
the enemy might delay its attack until
they should arrive. "He may delay his
defence if he like" said a sententious
young officer to whom | had impaired
this natural wish. He had read the signs
Alright; the words were hardly spoken
when group OF staff officers about the
brigade commander shot away in diver
gent lines, as if scattered by whirlwind,
and galloping each to the commander OF
a regiment, gave the word. There was a
momentary confusion OF tongues a thin
line of skirmishers detached itself from
the compact front and pushed forward
followed by its diminutive reserves o.
half company each-one OF which pla
toons it was my fortune to command
When the struggling line OF skirmlsher:
| hnI ant La Exra htstrd rah " ri
ahead, "See," said one of my corporals
''she moves!" "She" did, indeed, and ii
fine style, her front as straight as 6
string, her reserve regiments, in columns
doubled on the center, moving behind il
true subordination no braying of bras:
bands to appraise the enemy, no films
and drumming to amuse him; no osten
tation of gaudy flags; no nonsense
This was matter of business.
In few moments we had passed ou
of the singular oasis which had so mar
velousy escaped the desolation OF battle
and now the evidences of the previou
days struggle were present in profusion
The ground was tolerably level here, tn
forest less dense, mostly clear of under
growth, and occasionally opening GU
into small natural meadows. Here an,
there were small pools-mere discs G
rain-water with tinge of blood. Rive
and torn with cannon-shot the boles c
the trees protruded punches Of splir
tiers like hands. the fingers above TIL
wound interlacing with those below
Large branches had been Topped, an
hung their green heads to the ground, @
. swung critically in their netting {
strong moss, as in hammock. Man
had been cut clean off, and their masse
of foliage seriously impeded the progress
} of the troops. The bark Of these tree
from the root upward to height of tie
or twenty feet was so thickly pierce
with bullets and grape that one coul
E not have laid hand on it without CO.
j. ering several punctures. None had e
S capped. How the human body survives
] storm like this must be explained by Il
:, fact that it is exposed to it but a fe
t mo nents at time, whereas these graz
: old trees had had 10 one to take the
y places, from the rising to the going dow
II of the sun. Angular bits Of iron, concav
convex, sticking in the sides of nude
IS depressions, showed where shells ht
h exploded in their burrows. Knapsaci
&c canteens, haversacks dstended wi
n soaked and swollen biscuits, gaping
II disgorge, blankets beaten into the 81
r by the rain, muskets with bent barr,
10 or splintered stocks, waist-belts, ha
re and the omnipresent sardine-box-all t
al wretched debris of the battle still litter
ID the spongy earth as far as one could :
1t in every direction. Dead horses W,
is everywhere; few disabled caissons,
limbers, reclining on one elbow, as
IL were; ammunition wagons standing d
| n.