The National tribune., 1899-08-17

At the ridge we met another section of our
battery coming to our support but Gen.
Hovey, the commander of our division,
being present here, seeing it would be i'm
possible to check the advance of the enemy,
ordered it to retire with us. Buthe, fearing
the recapture of that 9Th Miss. battery,
ordered two of our Lieutenants to take
number of their cannoneers, and if possible
either spike or run the guns to the rear i'm
mediately. These orders were acted on at
once, and while the roar and crash OF the
battle came drifting toward thecrownof the
hill, they succeeded in drawing away two
of the guns; but were compelled to abandon
the other two, not until after they were, for
the time, rendered useless. They were
spiked by Lieut.. Murdock and Private John
Dice, of my company. To one of the other
guns was hitched the two horses that We
had captured little before, and these came
off the field with our battery. .is s,'s.'' -
The other gun, beautiful 12-pound Ma
poleon, was fast among several small trees,
while close by stood a couple of large bay
horses How these had escaped harm is
beyond comprehension. One of these
small trees was cut away by Private Phil
Hysner, Of my company, and these horses
were hitched to the gun. Vol Firman, one
of our wild, reckless boys, sprang into the
saddle and forced the team out and over the
mass of dead and dying that thickly cov-
cred the ground all about there. Then,
instead of coming back to escape by the cut
in the ridge, he dashed over and down the
rough hillside in the immediate front.
ARECKLESS DASH.
Urging the horses TO furious speed he
came on down like whirlwind, over logs,
through brush and briars, across bitches
and gullies, over and through a squad of
rebel prisoners crushing one poor fellow
under the ponderous gun wheels, until he
finally guided the good team out to the
road and the field beyond, safe from all
possibility of recapture.
While all this was being accomplished,
under the immediate commands of Lieut..
Murdock and Mitchell, the remainder of the
battery, moving back ON the road, met on
the eastern hillsides the 10th Mo-, 18th Iowa
and other regiments of Crocker's hurrying
into battle.
/ shall always remember how glad we
were to meet these gallant men; but shall
also always remember that, as they went up
the hill with the rallying regiments of my
own division, they were not met by single
shot from rebel artillery. When they
reached the crown of the hill, without doubt
they saw the terrible ruin there; without
doubt they saw the riven and torn trees,
the dead and dying artillerymen, the dead
and dying horses, and the two silent. harm
fpr II
but others than their regiments hours be-
fore had wrought the awful destruction.
Though all the scenes and incidents
that l have described and related are
stamped clearly and distinctly on my mind,
still not alone to my memory has all this
been trusted The old letters written on
the hills about Vicksburg, the testimony
| of my living comrades, and the official re-
ports of the battle, confirm all have said as
| TO who was the true and real captors of that
9th Miss. battery. Ihave been explicit and
definite in the description of the capture and
disposition Of this battery and its guns for
the simple reason that it has been so often
and SO persistently claimed by others. l,
as well as any other soldier should be, have
always been jealous of the honor and the
1 tSASiis sNHO bAic osiNiSioo vi my He
men of Crocker's Division were there, but
not until after the teeth and claws OF the
lion had been drawn and clipped; not unit
after he had been shorn of his strength and
rendered powerless to do harm
i CHARGING TO WIN.
As for the Goth and 32d Ohio, they beine
away OFF in the valley to the right witt
Logan, had from start to finish no part il
its capture. The comrades who mad,
such claim were simply mistaken as to tn,
location Of this battery. They have con
fused its capture with the taking of some
other on an entirely different part of the
field. They should all remember that Gen
Grant reports the capture of 80 pieces O,
artillery at this battle, and, remembering
this, 1t would indicate that there was glory
enough all along the lines, without neces
sity on the part of any one toclaim the homo,
and glory due and belonging to my brigade
Our battery, after passing down the road
to the east, and having been joined by
several other batteries, took position on {