The Washington weekly post., 1899-11-28
GUN NO. 5.
BY n QUAD

spoke OF IL as chLni1nS Gun- re utu
so because Shuman was sergeant Of the
third section OF the battery. and because
We came to know him wen, along With
many Of the other gunners. before his
gun had fired a hostile shot. IL was
rified nine-pounder the same as all 9TH
ers, but for some reason IL had vcice
peculiarly its own. With thirty guns play
irg to right and left we could pick out
No. ) without a miss
At first Bull Run il was the Sixth Regi-
ment which supported and saved Smiths
Battery from capture and Ii was Com
pany H. which lay in line directly behind
No. ). That was the battery's frst fight
our first fizht-aEd there were good rea-
sons for one to be proud of the other.
! The enemy came charging and yelling
three different times, and each time, as
they neared the guns, the srtillerists fell
fat and we rose up and poured in vol
( ley which numbered the earth with deac
and wounded. In the last charge they
reached Shuman's gun and began TO drag
il away. Only Shuman and two or three
gunners were left When the sergeant
saw that his gun had been captured. he
/ sprang up with a wild, desperate look on
mis- face and cried out to US:
They're rot my gun, boys-they've got
my gun, Rally. Company H-for Gods
! sake. rally and get it back"
4 And with our captain crying "halt!' at
| the top of his voice, and with the briga-
/ dier cursing and stOrming that we should
move without oroers. We dashed forward
as one man. There was only a sputtering
/ of musketry before we were upon them
4 Then Ii was the bayoret and dubbed
musket-even the fist. In five minutes we
/ had baaped them up or driven them off,
/ and the gun was recaptured. At second
/ Bull Run. as the Sixth was extended in
/ battle line. Company II just fitted into
gap in half-destroyed stone wall The
gallant Kearny had fallen az Chantily.
/ and the blue masses had been slowly
crowded back to the old battle ground As
/ regiments and brigades fell back, the
| feet of living men kicked aside the skulls
and crushed the bones of the dead OF
months before Exultant and implacable,
/ The gray masses followed. and there was
desperate fighting over that vast grave
yard.
There they come-get ready-here Is
where we roll 'em back
/ AS a regiment in gray moved straight
up for the gap. while other regiments
moved upon the flanks, Company II poured
/ in its fire and defied death. 1t beat back
/ the regiment-ten to ne-once-twice-
! thrice Then ii was decimated-and more.
! OF ninety-five men. only sixty could ham
die musket.
/ L can't spare a mani You must die
where you arer replied the brigadier
when asked for re-enforcements.
The sixty men were reduced to fifty
| fve-to fifty-to forty, and we were yet
/ holding the gap and holding the enemy
when there was a hip-hurrah from the
rear. and up came "Shuman's Gun" on
/ the full gallop. No care for the dead-no
/ care for the wounded. The gun swung in
to position and unlimbered, and Shuman's
voice was heard above the crash of battle
/ shouting:
Down on your faces, Company HIM
| going to use canisterr' II was but a
! single gun from the battery-but it was
| Skuman's gun-and as we fell on our
| faces the wicked missiles pinged and
screamed above us and shriveled up the
/ head of the advancing column as fire de-
stroys a dry bush. The sunners worked
with bullets flying about them as thick as
! leaves falling of an autumn day. and the
gun held the gap and saved brigade.
| And though the whole army was pressed
/ back and the fee gained another victory,
those of us who lived laid our grimy hanGs
! on gun or wheel and accepted il as 4 COM
! rade
When Joe Hooker went down into the
! Wilderness TO flank Lee out OF Freder-
| icksburg, the Second Brigade was with
him, and Company II gathered wild flow
ers by the wayside and in the forest and
made wreaths 10 hang upon the muZzle
of Shuman's gun. We were in the path of
Stonewan Jackson as he advanced silently
/ ha in 10 q
evening and fell like n thunderbOlt on the
Federal army. Surprised and panic-strick-
/ en-. we gave way and became fugitives,
and of the artillery Shuman's gun was
almost one of the first pieces captured.
The sergeant fell back with us, crying and
wringing his hands, as men do when death
has taken all they love.
They've got No. 5, boys-they've got
my dear old gum he kept wailing. and
we could say nothing to comfort him.
For half an hour it looked like a rout of
the whole army. Then the Federals halt
ed in theiI tracks and turned at bay. Shu-
man was still with US, and of sudden he
swung his hat and cheered and exclaimed: ::
Don't you hear her, bOys-Old No. 81
There she goes againl The rebs have got
her, but she's right ahead of us and We'll
have her again.
And above tne CRASH anu IUdF We CduSHt
the peculiar tones of Shumah's gun, and
Company II cheered and cheered and
pressed forward until it became a wedge
for the brigade. Yes, down there at the
edge of the forest, where we had cut down
a few score trees as an abattis, the enc
nv were using old No. against US. IL
was the weakest spot in their line. A
thousand men seemed to define the fact at
once. and, paying no heed TO orders, a
/ ttousaud men pressed forward But Com
many Fl was first of all. Shuman's gun
was the magnet. We leaped over the
wounded and dead--we cheered and
shouted-we dashed forward and the gan
was ours. And when ii was ours again
we hugged II and called il pet names. and
we cared so little for the cyclone Of death
sweeping over those fields that We lifted
the sergeant up and paraded him around
Hooker was driven back In disgrace. but
We sang songs as We marched back to the
river. We had not been defeated-we had
retaken old No. D.
; There came = day. before Grant
marched down over the same highways
i'm search of the same Old gray Hon, chen
Sergt. Shuman was commissioned lieuten-
ant. He had earned MS promotion ami
more. bat h would not accept H. A.
sergeant he would be in charge Of No. >.
As lieutenant lie would be in charge OF
a section. And, toO. there came day
when the overworIZed guns were ordere J
10 be turned over and new ones issued
A piece OF artillery is not Ike a man.
When il has been fired about 50 many
times the metal Is weakened. When
!, Company Il heard OF that order every
man talked mutiny. and the crew of No.
were ready 10 defeTt. We went To our
captain. and h 20 the colonel, and some
how II was fixed to keep No. In the bat
terry. Gun and caissOn showed ffty-two
sears OF iullet and bah, ana every spoke
Of the wheels had been stained with
blood over and over again.
shuman'g gun was with us as We fought
20 the right or LEFT a. Petersburg, seek
ing 10 break through and seize the rail-
reads. but when Grant finally settled
Z dowru 10 wear out the f5js We made dis