The National tribune., 1899-09-28

the mems attention, and his self-confidence
and vanity grew rapidly upon the liberal
| applause bestowed on him. He was a
capital mimic, too. and daring as well, and
it was not long before he began to take off"
| those around him, which his comrades en-
| joyed even more than his declamations.
| The 11th of May, 1864, saw all the clouds
| OF battle which had been whirling for days
in such apparently diverse directions,
| gathering about the deep gorge in Rocky
Face Ridge through which the railroad pass
ed. BuZZard ROOSt. as this was named, was
| the lmpregnable citadel behind which the
rebel army had taken refuge after its rout
| at Mission Ridge the previous November,
and the rebel engineers had since exhausted
every effort to make it still more unaSsail-
able. The lofty mountain rose precipitouSly
for hundreds of feet on either side the narrow
gorge, and the last hundred feet was a
sheer wall of perpendicular rock. The
creek which ran through the gorge had
been damned, so that its waters formed a
broad, deep moat before the mouth of the
gorge. The top of the ridge swarmed with
men, and to the rear of the gorge guns were
maSsed IN emplacements TO sweep every
foot of the passage.
1t seemed madness to even think of fore
ing such pass. A thousand men in the
shelters of that faStness could beat back
myriads. and it was known'that Joe john
ston had at least 0,0O0 behind the Ridge.
Yet Sherman was converging great rivers
of men from the north, the northwest and
west down upon that narrow gap, as if he
meant to move the eternal rocks by freshet
of human force.
The rebels thrown out in advance of the
gorge, on outlying hills, rocks and cliffs,
Were swept backward and into the gap by
the resistless wave of blue rolling forward,
fiery and laundering. gathering force and
vehemence as 1t converged into Shorten-
Ing Semi-c1rcle about the rugged stronghold.
The 2OOth Ind: moved forward and took
Its place in the line on hill commanding
view of the entrance to the gorge, and
there waited its orders for the general ad-
vance, which seemed imminent any instant.
For miles to the right and left the woods
were cracking with musketry. interspersed
with the booming of fieldpieces.
The regiment had stacked arms and
broken ranks.
For an hour or two the men had studied
with intense eagerneSS the briStling forti-
ficatlons OF the gap and the swarming foe
men at the foot of and on the summit of the
high walls of rock. They had listened
anxiously to the firing to the right and left,
and tried to make out what success their
comrades on other parts of the long crescent
were having. They had watched the
faces of the officers to read there how the
battle was going.
But one after another found this tire
some after awhile and set himself to his
usual camp employments and diversions.
Some got out needles and thread, and be-
gan repairing their clothes. Some gath
cred in groups and smoked and talked.
Many produced the eternal cards, folded up
blanket for a table, and resumed their
endless sevenup and eucher or poker for but
tons and grains of corn. Jim Humphreys
found his way into one of these games,
which was played behind a clumpof bushes,
and the buttons represented dimes. He
was accumulating fractional currency.
Gid Mackall embraced the opportunity to
cook for himself a savory stew with some
onions distributed by the Sanitary Com
mission. Sandy Baker went over his gun,
saw that every screw was properly tight,
and dropped the tinleSt amount of oil on the
trigger and the hammer, to ease their work
ing. Pete SkldmOre wandered down to the
flank of the next regiment to find out if
new had occurred. Harry Jos.
lyn got himself into the exact position of
soldier" with his heels together, his toes
pointed at an angle of As degrees, and
went through the manual of the piece end
lessly. ST and the Orderly-Sergeant COM
muned together about the rations for the
company, and the various troubles there
was always on the Orderly's mind about
the company'S management. Shorty got
off by himself, produced from his breast his
of Maria, and read over her last
letter for the thouSandth time, though he
knew every word in it. But he seemed to
get a new and deeper meaning every time
he read it.
Groups of officers would come up to a little
rise in front, study the distant ridge with
(Continuesl on firth page,