Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-07-23

| frame dwelling. Its occupants did not
even live at the place during the war
The party was now well out OF the VIII
derness, and was entering the locality
made famous by the battle OF Spotsyl-
vania Courthouse. the beginning OF
Grants campaign against Richmond;
| Passing the AlsOp house. which Is sun
! standing. and which was a hospital du-
ring tho war the carriages soon halted in
! front OK the monument which marks the
spot where General Sedgwick was Killed.
II Is a more pretentious affair than the
| Stonewall Jackson shaft, but Is not as
impressive. 1t stands at the junction or
by-road with the pike, overlooking the
| wide held. at the other side OF which were
| the Confederate works Against the al
vice OF his officers. General Sedgwick came
out upon the open space at the luncloh
| OF the roads, although the Confederate
| sharpshooters had found its range with
deadly effect. The General laughed as
| inc men lodged the bullets. "Ihey
! couldn't hit an elephant at this distance.
| ne said, as he encouraged his men 10
| stand upright. moment later, however,
there came another whistle OF a bullet.
! and General Sedgwick fell. with wound
In MS head under the eye. lie dled IN
stantly.
81 met his body on this by-road." said
| Major Hine. Il had been at work down
| the road strengthening bridge for ar
| tllery TO pass over. General Grant came
| by. had seen him before, but had never
| spoken 10 him. He told me that he hoped
some other places In the road he wanted
repaired as quickly as possible. When
had finished went up the road to report
10 General Sedgwick. but met some sol
he bad been killed"
THE STORY OF BLOODY ANGLE.
From Sedgwiclxs monument to Bloody
angle was a short journey. AS the car
RACES drove through the woods. the Con-
federate trenches were plainly discern
able, but at Bloody Angle itself the works
were not so well preserved. Standing
on the brow of the hill, where the
hercest fighting occurred Colonel Bird.
who was on General Barlow's staff. point
ed out where he had helped TO form the
army assigned 10 attack the Confederate
WORKS al the angle thereafter 10 be known
by its sanguinary title.
Il was busy all night" he said. "As
we were very near TO the enemy, and as
absolute quiet was necessary, we ordered
the soldiers TO throw away the caps of
thelr guns, so s to provide against even
me accidental explosion Of a weapon. l
can remember the pitiful look some or
lhe men gave while obeying the order
To- they knew that they would be help
Iess II attacked, and at any rate, some
thlng desperate was being planned. We
maze every man hold his canteen, so
mat II should not rattle. In the morn
ing we moved forward The Confede-
rates mad placed an abatis Of rails stuck
In the ground on end as their first line
Of protection. and then had piled the
ground with timber. It took several
away, so that the enemy had some little
notice of our coming They were in pens
OF logs and could not get out to fight. so
that we captured them after a brief con-
met. ana then We bagged a whole diVi-
sion, including General Johnson, whose
headquarters had been established ~ The
McCool house. We could not advance
however because our line had become
0IG0Tg4ufyaI frrr nj d.. e.,
ing continued. re-enforcements coming up
on both sides"
The Landrum house, near which Han
cocks men were massed by Colonel Bird,
sun stands. and is occupied by the Lam
drum family I'VE had 500 bodies in
and around our house" said Mr. Lam
drum. as he told of his experiences during
the fight.
MILES AND MILES OF EARTHWORKS
The hill back Of Bloody Angle is literal
~ plowed into earthwOrks. The trenches
are so close together that a man can step
from one 10 the other for great dis
lance. Like all the other works. they are
covered with brown pine needles, while
the woods in which they are situated look
to-day as they did during the hours when
they were the centre of hand-tO-hand
hghting. Many Of the trenches were
made 20 serve as graves the raised earth
being simply turned back over the dead
which filled the eXcavated line.
on the hill near the Landrum house,
where HancOck's artillery was stationed,
the lunettes In which the guns We're
placed stand to-day Just as they appeared
In 1854 There are eight or ten OF them
IN row. looking brown and SON bre with
their carpet OF pine needles, and the sun
filters down upon them through the pine
branches. Although now silent and de-
serted, one can easily imagine the thun-
derOus terror Of the guns on that event
full day when the Blue and the Gray were
struggling together from early morning
until long after nightfall for the posses
sion or the strategic point. Looking from
these fortificatiOns over 20 Bloody Angle.
the woods and fields seem again alive
with men fighting like madmen. the at
mosphere Is again heavy with rain and
smoke. and the cries Of the soldiers and
the shrieks Of the wounded are again
resOUnding upon the air.
II was at the Bloody Angle that the
firing was so severe as TO actually cut
in two an oak tree twenty-five inches in
diameter From the top Of the tree Mr..
Landrum took twenty-nne pounds OF
bullets while the stump is still preserved
In Washington.
Writing to General Halleck on the 18th
Of May before the heaviest days lighting
had occurred General Grant estimated
that he had then lost a010 men in six
days fighting around Spotsylvania Court
house. 1t is said that in thirty days he
lost $3.50 men actually killed The Con-
federate loss was also enormous. Even
time the ground Is turned in the spring,
while bullets are as numerous in the soil
as stones Mr.. Landrum said 10 me that
he had found so many corpses on his |
place that the keeper OF the National !
Cemetery at Fredericksburg grew tired
Of coming after them. This. IL is 20 be |
remembered. Is thirty-five years after the |
battles occurred.
1t was az his headquarters just IN the !
rear Of the Union lines that Grant wrote |
the historic line. saying that he proposed |
TO fight ii out on this line If IL takes |
all summer" The site Of his headquar- |
tiers is. Of course. included in the boun- |
Diary OF the proposed park
The interest Of the Old soldiers all over |
the country in the present appearance |
Of this locality is shown by the large |
number Of letters which Mr.. Landrum re- |
ceives. He had one I'm his pocket the !
other day. II had been addressed rather !
Indefinitely 90 "Landrum House, Spot |
sylVania Courthouse, Va" and asked |
for some particulars as 10 the condition |
of the Bloody Angle and its contiguous |
fighting ground at the present day. There |
Is no doubt that when the proposed park |
Is established. and its battle-helds made |
easily accessible by good roads and cleo !
trio lines. the number of veterans who |
will revisit these scenes will be almost !
beyond computation.