, 1898-08-26
HOW MEN DIE IN BATTLE.
Regulars Usually First Examine How
Badly Wounded They Are.

Badly Wounded They Are.
"If you want to know now men die IN
battle, ask some of those who have
been at Wilson's Greek, on one side OF
the other" said Judge David Murphy
Of the Criminal Court to q reporter
Of the St Louis Republic.
II was In Totten's battery, and l saw
them, wounded and dying, falling thick
and fast around me. You may say that
| saw not one man funk In the face Of
death on that terrible day of fight and
bloodshed. While I was firing my gun
from Bloody hill a youngster, not more
than 20 years old, suddenly jerked his
leg. He uttered a sharp, quick cry,
then bent down and tore the trousers
away from the place on his shin where
q minnie had struck him. He looked up
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 to the fleshy part of his left
arm. Hit again!' 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 handkerchief
around 1t, and again went forward into
the ranks with his musket.
you're fighting In bad luck to-day,
Pete said a comrade. The youngsteI
turned his face to answer back, and by
the swapping of his eyes it could be seen
that his mind framed a sauey, defiant
reply. Just then his jaw dropped. A
ball plowed Its way through his mouth,
leaving nothing but a bloody tongueless
cavity. With a hoarse gurgle the fel.
low threw his gun on the ground and
fed back to the lines. He was found
in a hospital afterward, but never re-
covered.
ION the same day I encountered three
men under q tree. Their faces were
ashy gray, showing that they were
MORALLY wounded. I asked them why
they were not attended to, and n Of
them said that as 1t was all oyer with
them they wanted the surgeons to at.
tend first to those who could be saved
One Of the men was smoking a short
briarwood pipe.
What are you doing, my friendT l
asked.
Taking my last smoke he answer
ed, his CLASSY eyes looking steadily at
me. Another was reading a letter. He
held 1t up to his face, but l could see
hat he was not making any Roadway.
His eyes were growing dim, and his
weak, trembling hands folded the mis-
sive and thrust it into his breast pocket.
He was perfectly resigned to his fate,
and had not a word to say. When I re-
turned in the evening, after q lull, I
found the three men dead. Their faces
were lite and set in the shadow of the
tree under which they lay. By the pla-
cidity of the features l knew that they
had met death without 1unking.
That's all bosh about men raving
about mG1Aeer hame and beaZapA-Au
the men cen die, or near death,
were quiet and perfectly rational. They
made no fuss. Those that did were
usually delirious, entirely out of their
minds. The faces of these were fire.
quently distorted, and gave every evil
dence of the mental and physical agony
they unconsciously had endured.
"One thing struck me as peculiar.
Nearly all the regulars exhibited an IN
slant desire to examine their wounds
when they were hit, and the expression
of their faces indicated in a moment
whether they were slightly or MORALLY
wounded. They seemed to know with
unfailing certainty. If the wound was
slight and in a place where they could
tie 1t up conveniently they did 80, and
then went back into the fighting lines.
If it was mortal, their grave, pale faces
betrayed their knowledge. The volun-
teers were not so well posted, but they
were brave as lions, and seldom gave
up unless seriously hurt"