The National tribune., 1899-06-08
A BOY LIEUTENANT.
tContisRed Aiom frs. pagcl

they got a hsttleiull and then trade
it Of for tohhcco;:others would save
enough TO lfakSh them drunk. So
the order wa Issued: Drink your
whisky on the. .shot, or let 1t alone
entirely" z-ard
One hot gay!.91 July, when we
were in the tEonE line near the Nor
folk Railroed.w Lieut. Edgerton
obtained permission to go to the
rear to purchase something good
to eat" 1t was a risky matter to
get back from the trenches, but
Edgerton made the trip safely, and
walked to a suffers tent, three
miles away, where he made his pur-
'chaSeS. ..-- Is. 80
From the. Christian Commits
sion S agent he obtained some, corn
starch, and returned loaded down
with condensed milk, white sugar,
cheese and sclf-raising -four. He
promised us "slapjacks with white
sugar on them. and corn starch
pudding for supper. This in addl-
ton to our regular fare, with tine
soft bread and some tea that we had
obtained from the Commissary,
would make a meal good enough
for Gen. Grant. In a square hole
in the ground. which served as a
kitchen, Lieut.. Edgerton prepared
his supper. The pudding was a
grand success and was set aside to
cool; the sfapjacks were light and
feathery, "just like the ones we used
to have at home" How pleasant
was the odor which came from them
and how we applauded Edgerton S
efforts. The last slapjack was
Drowned; supper was ready.
Whish!-whish!-whishl She'll
Look out, boys"
We scattered A deafenlng
report, cloud of smoke, and a cry
of agony from Edgerton. :
20, Lieutenant, are you woanded!
I called.
-'@Woundedl Worse than that!
See there!" q
Edgerton pointed to the Cook
hole" where lay our eagerly antic1-
pated supper covered with dirt, and
total wreck
That's a dirty rebel trickl". said
Edgerton, almost crying.
] could haFe cried too, if it would
have helpedomatters. Our supper
that night had abut one course
hardtack. ..afr
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. -
The Union bEeastworks on this
part of the line were the strongest
and best of any that we had seen
The top of the parapet was at least
eight feet aboVesfhe bottom OF the
trench or traverse" as the passage
way behind the earthwork was
called. A trat&om; or bench OF
clay, was ARRANGED for the men TO
stand upon when firing, and the
top of the parapet was well supplied
with sandbags. The traverse was
wide enough for,the men to march
four abreast. Behind the traverse
were long excavations about eight
feet wide and from four to- SIX feet
deep. These were % the Sleeping
holes" Behind them were Cook
holes" where the men made their
coffee. All the earth taken from
these excavations was thrown on
the side towards the enemy, thus
increasing the. protection. All
these places were connected with
numerous little alleys and covered
ways that ran In every direction.
The construction of bomb proofs
had not been carried out to any
great extent at this time. but the
constant dropping of mortar shells
soon made them a necessity.
On the transom behind the para
pet were lot of forked stakes
driven firmly in the ground We
soon learned that by resting a
musket over the parapet and plae-
ing the small Of the stock, just be-
hind the trigger guard, in the
forked stick, that the gun would be
sighted just right to sweep the top
of the enemy's works. This was
an arrangement for night shooting
and a very effective one it was.
Behind us, the long, rihed, thirty
two pound siege guns kept up a
constant fire day and night. The
crack of those guns would almost
lift a man off his feet, and the
shrieking projectile would go hurt
ling through the air over our heads,
with a "whir-r-r" that made our
heads ache. We would sleer
soundly with the artillery on both
sides firing, but let the "popl" "pop!'
"pop!" of pickets rifles break out
and every man was up and in his
place in an instant. As | watched
nights, through a crevice in the
sandbags, Iocould hear the town
clock in Petersburg striking the
hours, and 1 set my watch with
Petersburg time. The cars could