The Virginia enterprise., 1898-08-12

/
ment What Not our President? z" &
Yes" General Grant laughed heart
My, and the two men drove on, stiu
talking about horses. 81
Just Before the Battle.
y read with q grent deal OF interest.
what such gallant soldiers as Sheridan,
Sherman, Grant and their predecessors
had to say about the fear In the SOL
der" remarked Detroit veteran the
other day. They are right, for I never
yet got an honest expression from even
the most daring and reckless fighter
that he did not admit desire at times
to escape the terrible dangers one con-
fronts In battle. To me the greatest
dread was always In anticipation, for
once in the thick Of the fight one is sus-
tained by sort Of frenzy, a dogged de.
termination to win, an ecstasy that lifts
one above the thought of fear. The
strain comes on the eve of battle, when
you are held In reserve, when there Is
lull that gives time to think or wnen
you feel the temptation to stampede
running like an electric thrill through
the ranks. once stood near an Indi-
ana colonel when a bullet cut the skin
from his cheek and the whistle of the
balls was all about us. He was slight,
scholarly man, almost effeminate In ap-
pearance and expected that SO close
call would force some evidence Of tim
1dtty or dread: But the gallant little
officer never turned hair. He did not
change his position or wipe the blood
that trlckled from the wound. learned
afterwards that it was a triumph Of
will power and moral courage over the
instincts of nature. -
II wanted to turn and rum he said.
There was nothing Of money value in
my possession or that could command
which would not gladly have been turn
ed over In exchange for place of safe
ty. had to bring to my support all my
patriotism, sense of honor, personal and
family pride, ambition, fear Of disgrace
and the thought of what my men might
think and do in case showed the white
feather. To stand there as target
was far harder than it would have been
to plunge into the thick of the fray.
But it was my post and held myself
there by sheer force Of all that was best
in my nature =
II have seen strong men stand pale
and trembling as they awaited the or
der to charge, and put them down as
the bravest of the brave, because they
knew the keenest fear and yet had the
courage to resist Its impulses. Under
like circumstances have resorted to a
thousand expedients to quiet my throb-
bing nerves, counting the buttons on a
comrades coat, taking critical invoice
of his equipment, trying to be amused
at anything odd which might be discoy-
cred in this inspection.
"And the same men are not equally
brave at all times. saw troops time
| and again that had been stampeded,
overcome and completely routed, after
| wards behave like heroes. I noticed
that when the boys were called out at 3
| or o'clock in the morning and went
into a fight on empty stomachs they
were much more apt to finch than
when they were wide awake and un-
troubled by the pangs of hunger. There
is lots Of nerve even ina hot cup of cof-
fee. Soldiers that are new to each 9th
er do not put up the fight they after
wards do when friendship and conf
dence are established. When these ex-
ist each man knows that he can depend
upon the others and they fight as a unit.
To use a familiar expression of the day,
they do team work and fight with a
mutual reliance that has won many a
doubtful contest. ..5-
Another thing that should be i'm
pressed upon new recruits is that they
| should stick together in the event of
| disaster. Early in the war when we
| were forced to retreat, 1t was every
! man for himself and it was a sure thing
that the enemy would take the hind
most Thousands were thus captured
! or killed that would have been saved
had they done as we learned to do later
in the conflict. We stuck together, raj
lied more closely at every opportunity
and stood off the pursuers on many oc-
casions when our case would have been
hopeless had we adopted the individual
| plan of retreat. Stick together until
you escape, are REINFORCED or are taken
| in bunch.
"There was another thing we older
soldiers learned. In the raw state of
our service we thought it unmanly to
put a tree or log between us and the
enemy. We must stand up and fight
like men, But we got bravely over
that false idea of heroism. The great
est degree of safety consistent with a
proper performance of your duty is due
your country, your families and your
selves. detroit Free Press.
Unicn Losses IN Twe'v. Battlce.
=. In the twelve greatest battles fought
during the civil war the Union losses
were as follows: July 1-3, 1868, Get
~tysburg, SOTO killed and II, ,497 wound
ed; May 8-1S, 1864, spottsylvania, 2,725
killed and 13,413 wounded; May 81,
1864, wilderness, 2,246 killed and 12,-
O37 wounded; Sept. II, 1862, Antietam,
2,1O8 killed and 9,549 wounded; May
1-3, 1868, Charlottesville, 1,6O6 killed
and 9,762 wounded; Sept. 1920, 1868,
Chickamauga, 1856 killed and 9,749
wounded; June IA, 1854, Cold Harbor,
1874 killed and 9,O77 wounded; Dec.
| lila, 1862, Fredericksburg, 1924 killed
and 9,6OO wounded; Aug. $3.50, 1862,
Manassas, 1,747 killed and 8,452 wound
ed; April 81, 1862, Shiloh, 1,754 killed
and 8,408 wounded; Dec. 81, 1862, Stone
River, 1,75O killed and 1902 wounded;
June 1910, 1854, Petersburg, 1858 kill