Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1899-04-22
TWO WAR STORIES.
LonEstreet's Irresistible Charge and
nm Experience at Stone
River.

"I know something about that my
self" said the corporal. "On the Sec
ond day at Chickamauga, as there had
been so much marching and counter
marching, two or three of us on adj
vance picket duty felt that there wasn't
going to be much of shower, and we
were scouting with instructions to
keep our eyes open in the woods in the
direction in which we would have bet
money there were no confederates. We
struck several detachments from other
commands, and it seemed to be q very
general opinion that we wouldn't have
much work that day on our part OF
the line. We found a very nice place
and sat down to rest, and were engaged
in little discussion as to where Rose
Grams had made mistakes, particularly
as to our own regiment, when there was
a sudden roar and rumble off toward
the river.
ut sounded at first.as though great
body of water had broken loose and was
coming down upon us. 1t grew louder
and came nearer, and as we sat strick
en- dumb by the appalling noise we
saw coming straight toward us a
rapidly moving mass or cloud of gray.
1t seemed at first like heavy thun-
dercloud rolling along the surface of
the ground and enveloping trees and
brush as it came. We soon saw that it
was great charging column, line upon
line, of confederates. The mystery was
there was no firing. They came whirl-
ing through the woods like resistless
| tornado. They were on us and over us
and speeding away before our wits
! came back, and we understood that
this charging column in gray meant
| death and destruction to the right wing
of the union army. 1t was Longstreet's IS
magnificent charge, and in it's sweep
forward the tremendous column paid
no more attention to the pickets OF
scouts or detachments in front than
if they had been so many dead leaves
Literally we were knocked down and
trampled on, and, bruised and bleed.
ing, we crept away to join, later in
the day, our own regiment, which haC
made the best fight it could against
this tornado of war. When an army
got ready to go it joined issue with
the other army without any ceremony
''Do you remember that eNperienc,
at Stone river?" said the doctor
Early on the morning of the 1st o
January our brigade, which had beer
roughly handled the day before, was
sent to the extreme front as sor
of grand picket or observation corps
1 remember that it was very dark
Aroused from the troubled sleep il
biSouac on their arms, the men, stiff
and sore, shivering with cold, move,
sullenly along in the dark. They cam
at last to where they were to form il
line of battle. This was in front of tn
command that was to be relieved. A
the men struggled to form a respecta
BILE line on the uneven ground they cam
in contact with logs which seeme
clustered in confusion all over tn
ground. The men kicked at these i
the dark and grumbled as they trie
to find place for their feet.
"Only a few hundred yards to tn
front was a heavy mass, darker tina
the darkness, which we knew was tn
confederate line. AS the purpose wa
not to make an attack, but to guar
against attack, the men were require
to be very quiet. So they stood wit
their arms at a ready when dayligh