The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-05-04

motion WIN my coinpohy. was shAf-s
in the line of duty, responsible for my
self end my company. remem Der now
finely the regiment marched across that
field through the shadows anu the sroks
TO unknown horrors beyond. We ndvnnceu
to within two or three rods OF the WOODS
and lay down. il WAS too dark py tnis
time for us 10 see whether the WOODS We're
occupied or not, but AFTER prleI inter
val we learned all about IL. While we
were all on the qui vive, wondering what
would come next a voice broke forth from
| the woods clear and distinct. "Whas
regiment is thats' Every heart STOOD
still. Who would answery Ana wnae
would he says 10 my Advertisements ana
dismay one of our men piped out. Sky
| first New York" Then came the pius-
terinq reply. Lay down your arms, or
I'll blow you all to hell" Instantly we
were on our feet, and by the time tne
orator In the woods had nnisheu speaSHe
his little piece our men had poured in
voley before they were ready Tor us
This must have seriously DAMAGED them;
for their return volley was lighter tnan
expected There was nothing for US 70 no.
however, but to fall back n few rods, loau
ing and firing. We soon halted, however,
and settled down to the grim game OF give
and take in the growing darkness. Inc
flashes of their muskets were all that our
men had to guide their aim. 1t was dis
NAL business. Our line tgrew thinner,
and noticed that
MY COMPANY WAS MELTING AWAY
before me. Anxious to hurt somebody. l
drew my revolver and emptied one barrel
| into the woods, but then considered that
l might want the rest for closer work be-
fore we goS through, and put it up again.
Soon felt a smarting pain In my left
knee and sat down aifew PAGES apart to
see what made it, Finding it was only
buck shot, FASTENED back to my COM
| pany, but IL took that buck-shot wound
| six weeks to heal. 1t seems to me now as
| IL had not been hack with my company
more than II minute when crash came
blow on my right leg, just above the
knee, ike the blow OF huge CLUB. Ihere
was no mistaking that. l dropped be-
cause ! had to, and / lay Hat ON my
back, so as to avoid other bullets, and
| waited for further developments. lhose
were solemn moments forknie, and yet not
so terrible as o1e might suppose. They
were not at all dreadful. l was just walt
ing to see If l was going to die from loss
| of blood, not knowing but an artery was
severed. l distinctly remember thinking
that / would hardly turn my hand over
| for the choice, whether to rise presently
to new, heavenly home, or to struggle
back through unknown suderlngs to my
old earthly home. But after few
| moments the instructive desire to live In
the body prevailed. ! saw that was not
| going to bleed to death, and so called u
| couple of men TO carry me back to the
road away from the firing lire In doing
this, one of them put his arms unoer my
| knees. and the pain in my wound soon
| became so frightfui that l begged them
| to lay me down and let me die. They
carried me to the read, however, snort
| distance, and there lett me.
| 60 I Low INV
! to the quiet stars and listening to the
combat which was still going on. This
| Is q narrative of personal experiences ana
| feelings, designed fer family use, ana SO
| Il is in order for me to tell how felt as
| | lay there 1t might be expected that
should say that was longing TO be back
| IN the fight impatient to be leading my
| brave men up to the, muzzles OF the
enemy's muskets. But II | were to say
SO I should lie. As lay there, was not
| at all smitten by a tit of tho herolos nor
any.hing of that kind. l WAS tired. al
| most exhausted by the exertIcns and ex-
citeilents of the day, Two days, In TACT.
| And it felt fine just to lie still there and
| rest. As long as l kept still my wound
did not pain ice much. mated puliets,
and had no appetite for glory or promo
| tion. and it was a relief to lie there out
of range of sthe detestable minies. More
over, had full confidence that my mel
would give a good account of themselves,
| whether / was with them or not. There
was q satisfaction, too, in feeling that
was through, that had kept in the line
| of duty until was
SHOT AND DISABLED,
and that l had given to my country all
| that she asked of me in the shooting line
of endeavor, and could now take up life
again on new basis To be sure there
were some chances against my getting
safe home again, but 1 had cheerful
confidence that should be able TO pull
through someho W. ] have often been
amused while thinking of my feelings as
| | lay there across the middle of the road.
| The prevailing sensation was one OF rellet.
! [ was no COW. boy or rough-rider l was
| lust an ordinary patriot and student,
ready to bleed and die If need be for my
| country, but never spelling for light,
| And ! know that many OF my bravest
| comrades were made of the same stun.
| My greatest want just then was water,
and that couldn't get until rebel sup
piled me the next morning. Even when
our regiment came back TO the roau
where lay, or what WAS left of 1t. no
one could get drop for me. Colonel
barlow came to me after the lighting was
over, anu showed nll the tenderness OF
| brother, letting me see side OF ms
nature TINT l mad never known anything
about before. He deplored the fact that
there was no way by which he could have
ma carried off and kept within our lines
and SO, after having me moved to the
side of tho road, and after my friends had
come ana talked with me and bade Inc
good bye, that splendid little regiment
marched away about two o'clock in the
morning, and left me to reach my home,
nearly dead, after about twenty -four days,
by the way of LIBBY Prison.
| The Sixty-flrst New York left about one
third of their number dead or wounded
on that field. including six out OF It's nine
officers, of whom three lost one leg eacn,
and one of them died in Libby Prison.
Only a month of lighting, and Its num-
bers were reduced from 49, to about 10
Dropping now the personal narrative,
let, us, in the brietest sketch, follow that
plucky little regiment under It's peerless
| commanders.
See them the very next day at Malvern
Hill, again enduring the pounding OF ar
tillery until nearly night, and again IN
open field engaging che enemy under
cover OF the woods until they had fired 20
rounds per man, and were gall ready TO