The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-26
SEN Stations IN BATTLE
HOW SOLDIER FEELS WHEN I'M
DER FIRE FOR THE FIRST TIME.
Experiences at the Siege Mt DoneIson
Familiarity with Danger In
creases Courage and Lessons Fear,
New York Evening Post.

be a man of peace by profession. even if an
American citizen, he is usually very fond of
hearing and reading about battles Love of
fighting, indeed, seems 10 be characteristic
Of all humanity, civilized as we'll as uncivil-
lied. The fighting man is. the world over.
the popular hero, even III this normally pa
cific republic.
Men who have never seen a battle are
generally very DESTROYS of seeing one. all
the more DESTROYS. perhaps, the less their
prospect is. As d rule they want to take part
in a battle, if not for the cause it repre-
sents, for the sake of experience which
they are apt to be singularly anxious TO
share. Very few of our rising generation
have any personal acquaintance with war.
which may account for the eagerness of
many 70 participate in the Spanish conflict.
before it is too late. The older and passing
generation who were alive at the outbreak
OF the rebellion, have or had realizing
sense of the horrors of a long and terrible
strife
When a boy 1 fancied, like most bows.
that fighting must be romantic and attrac-
tive. And the fancy was the more vivid
and impressive, perhaps, because our coun-
try then enjoyed profound peace, without
the least likelihood of its interruption in an
ordinary lifetime. Some years later the
firing on Sumter brought on the civil war
at which the North was surprised. though
1t had no reason to be: impartial observers
having regarded it as inevitable for wears.
That was my chance to see something of
war, and as military correspondents were
in active demand, l attached myself to a
New York paper in that capacity and was
assigned to the Southwest for service
For the first ten months, in my depart
ment, the Unionists had very little success
We were entirely new to war We consid-
cred skirmishes noted battles; and those
who had been in two or three ranked them
selves as veterans. l had been in several
campaigns without any positive results
though had had the satisfaction of hear
ing good many guns fired in anger, ac-
compamed by a few casualties. But we
were steadily, though slowly, learning the
martai trade l had often heard the whis-
thing of bullets and the bursting of shells
but not in very dangerous proximity Still
as was forced to admit to myself, had
and felt Inundated by the fact after be-
ing with the army five or six months. 1
was independent, and could go where 1
plased, as l soon learned. having a rowing
exclusive, unconstra ined free-and-easy
command of One, which pleased me. To be
a military correspondent in the Southwest
ern armies, as they then were, and to be in
the twenties, toe, was not quite devoid of
compensation, as things go.
y NOLONIEER EAPERlENCE.
The first time l was fairly under fire was
al Donelson, fought in February, 1862: the
siege lasting three days, though generally
reported as but two. During those three
memorable days 1 was introduced to the
music of musl1et and minie-rihe balls and
cannon shot; acting as arnatuer sharpshoot-
or, and winning a reputation ] did rot de-
serve, ard having served as aid for General
Grant, bearing important orders in crisis
of the battle.
Comparing notes with many a volunteer
officer afterwards as to his early sensations
under fire. found that theirs were substan-
TALLY the same as mine. Before any actual
experience a mans notions are usually eX-
aggerated alarming. chaotic He is inclined
to think that he will never survive his first
engagement; that every shot strikes some
lowed by the death of a victim. After he
has been awaile among bullets, whizzing
above him, to the right and left of him, and
doing no apparent damage, much less in
ficting visible death on all sides, he is
likely to reconsider the question somewhat
calmly, perhaps to underrate the peril. He
may remember then the military declaration
that mans weight in lead, discharged in
the form of bullets, Is required to kill him.
Very soon the declaration seems monstrous-
ly untrue. He cannot understand what
vast amount of ammunition is wasted on
every field.
Raw recruits burn powder at prodigal
rate, and do very little else. To use up
Carriages QUICKLY
valor and efficiency. They enjoy firing their
piece, though they fire it in the air. The
sound and smoke of the field are to their
minds what mainly constitutes the battle.
cool soldier seldom knows If he has Killed
anybody. such is the excitement, confusion.
and uproar of an engagement; but the un-
slain many. Long after the latter has
learned that the firing of the average mus
ket is commonly harmless he believes that
his own is dealer of destruction.
1t is hard, If not impossible; to tel Just
differently men constituted. But, as
rule, the longer they are engaged the less
they feel Every added moment reduces
their apprehension, their nervousness. mo
one can calculate time on the battlefield A
minute may seem an hour and an hour a
minute The excitement is intense. a may
is keyed up to his highest, even though un
conscious of it. He lives days and weeks,
sometimes, in an hour. Fighting is the hard
est of hard work; it is exhausting. Inc en-
listed man is not long actively employed at
any one time, because he cannot pear the
he is relieved. and fresh troops are brought
up. The highest officers, who mainly OBJ
serve and direct who must be cool anu
calm, feel the pressure, too. only certain
amount of perfect rest, of oblivious sleep.
can restore them. and every great general
must have the power of snatching rest ana
sleep under the most adverse circumstances.
NO TIME TO THINK.
No new soldier can think much, the en-
listed man least of all, when under fire. The
rage of battle, the fury for conflict. pos
sesses and absorbs him. The wild beast is
in most of us; it is aroused to excess by
the clash of arms. by the roar of guns. NO
doubt fighting is at once natural and I'M
natural We lose our best. our highest selves
in warfare. He who has gone through
battle is never quite the same afterward
He sees himself and his fellows in new
light. often at the worst But he rarely re-
grets the experience: it is so strange, so
tumultuous. so peculiar and so Illuminating
And he is almost certain, so perVerse are
We to long for more experience of the same
baleful kind.
l remember that the first day OF De
cember another correspondent from New
York and myself were in sparse WOOD not
far from the breastworks, looking around
for adventure. We were on loot, having
marched from Fort Henry, eleven miles ais
tant, across the neck of land separating the
Tennessee from the Cumberland rivers.
Many of us had come without horses. tents,
or provisions, expecting TO take DonelSoH
before breakfast and we were surprised 10
find a formidable fortified post for General
Grant had been wholly deceived by MS
scouts as 10 the strength of the place.
While in the woods some held pieces
opened on the fort which we could nor see
for the intervening trees. The enemys bat
teries Immediately replied Grape and CAMS
ter ratified all around us, cutting OH the
twigs and boughs of the trees over our
heads and giving US vivid sense or war.