Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1899-05-31

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vania h d taken their position. On
our left. hcyondCo. NJ and in advance
of that company, was moro Uf our
regiment, and then came the Third
artillery. Ihtse were all In plain
sight. and certainly no one could
have desired n more inspiring battle
scene The men in the firing line
were hammering away, the volun
tecrs with the Springfield and the
regulars with the Krag-Jorgenson,
while from behind graves and trees
on the slope came the answering fire
of the enemy. Every few minutes the
roar and rattle of Utah freight
train" would come from the right,
where the battery was located on the
road leading to the top Of the ridge
toward the church. 1t would have
been much more enjoyable if those
pestiferous Mauser and Remington
bullets had not persisted In enforcing
on ones mind the fact that there was
''some one cunning for YOU" The
Third artillery made a beautiful ad.
vance across the field. After starting
they marched straight across with
out a stop, firing mt will as they went
forward. 1t was a splendid sight
and ELECTED very favorable comment
from Brig. Gen. Macarthur. OF course,
during u advance to the foot Of
the hill we could not fire a shot be-
cause of the men in our front. Reach
ing shelter. we threw ourselves down
in the long grass among the tombs
for a rest and then began to work
slowly toward the crest of the hill,
where we could look across the open
eXpallse nearly n quarter Of a mile
wide to where the large stone church
doomed up with its massive dome.
II is an inspiring structure to me,
standing as it does alone. except for
its inclosing wall and a very for
midable stone block house on the left
of the Enclosure. | believe | have a
photo of the church somewhere and
II | get home safely | hope To show it
To you.
Just on the crest Of the hill was a
road with a stout barbed wire fence
on each side, and after catching our
breath and a good hard grip OF our
courage the line advanced. The lead
was whistling wickedly as we start
ed forward and the necessary delay
in getting through the fences did not
improve our equanimity, but at last,
In spite Of vicious barbs and torn
clothing, we entered upon the last
advance of theday toward thechurch
above mentioned. There was con.
siderable firing at will on our part
for hall the way across until, fearing
our men would do themselves more
harm than they would to the enemy,
the order Cease firing was given.
With two or three halts we made the
trip safely in face OF n most disagree
able fire, for it came from the front
and left flank, very low and extreme
ly wicked. Skinner received a flesh
wound in the thigh, hut speedily re-
lieved our anxiety by shouting, ut
is only "A scratch" and we left him to
the care of Shugart and one other.
who bandaged him mp and the for
mer brought him tn ove neal the
church on his shoulders.
The insurgents did not await our
coming. One of the Utah guns was
hauled by hand up the ridge in our
rear. but before il could he put in POI
sition the eneIn. had quit the block
house and fled before the steadily adj
vancing line Of Americans, whose
Long Toms" as they call the
Springfield rifles now, wrought such
terrible havoc. For some time there
was a desultory flank firefrOm Maus
ers on our left, but 1t ceased after a
while and all was quiet.
The church attracted me most, and
going over to it we found n young
iisurgent officer dying on the pave