The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-01-17
A RECOLLECTION OF PELHAM.
How two of His Guns Held Out Against
Six OF the Enemy.

one day IN the i3tter part OF August
1868 Il write from memory only. GEN
eraI Pleasanton. with a large force Of
cavalry, had been feeling tor General
Lees army. which lay near Orange Court
House and "Our tftZ', even then boy
general had been CALAMITY lighting every
inch OF the ground 20 prevent PleasantOn
from crossing the Rapidau. and success
FULLY; for, so far as l know. none OF MS
troops had crossed the river /, with a
party Of nine, had hanked the right Of
PleasantOns line and was pushing
through the WOODS 10 gain the rear. when
] ran into and was captured by the Sixth
New York Cavalry | had on pair OF
new boots and two beautiful blisters on
each heel. As long as could move, under
excitement. ! did not feel the pain; but
when captured and made 10 stand still
a while. / found / could not walk. For
tunately. | had been turned over TO
good fellow, sergeant In the Sixth New
York. who, seeing my inability 10 walk,
gave me the privilege OF riding behind
him, thought but a few moments before
he mad his siX-shoOter at my head and
was about 10 see how much OF a hole
a 40-calibre bullet would make Ia q man $
skull at a close distance.
As we rode to the rear we emerged
from the woods and to our left was a
large open field, in which was sIX-gun
battery having a picnic. 1 said: Ser
geant. that Is my branch of the service.
As we are not under any special orders,
please ride over and let us watch the
guns When we arrived We found Six
gun battery OF 3-inch steel riAes-theB
the best gun known for field use. The
guns were new. the harness. men, ana
horses were sDick and span, but they
We're doing some very poor shooting.
On the opposite side OF the river prob
ably three-quarters Of a mile or so, there
was a formation Of the hills. by which
the road was concealed, except for what
I guess was about 20 yards. train Of
wagons was attempting to pass this open
space. They would come in view one at
"A time evidently each driver would lake
"a good start and by the time he opened
up on the road his mules were going al
Il gaiiop. 1 would see him standing %
in his stirruDs, cracking his whip ana
could imagine the oaths and curses b.
uttered. j even thought / could hear
some OF them as some lOud-mOuthed tcl-
low would come in sight and make the
200 yards run-such "a dash as he had
never made before, IA soon as the lead
would begin, but they shot slowly and
with poor effect The Sergeant and I sat
for some time watching the fun, when
he said: Look at the guns coming out
of the woods ! raised Up eyes from the
road and the demoralized drivers to
point a mile or 50 from where We were,
back from the road probably n quarter
or "A mile was q body OF woods with a
bare hiil sioping 10 a hollow. q point
probably a little over half way between
the timber and the road. Out from this
timber was coming a section Of Pelham 8
Battery at a full gallop. down the hill
over the branch. where we lost sight Of
them, and them coming IN sight again
road was hidden by the hill
An Infantry charge reminds you OF
moving wall that cannot be resisted. a
charge of cavalry stirs the blood: but
have never known excitement 90 equal
that Of q battery Of artillery going into
action on q full run under fire. over tic
top OF the hill came these two guns
cloud of dust almost hiding them. the
horses straining every muscle, the men
hanging 10 the horses or any part Of
the gun on which they could hold those
Of the men that were mounted riding It
full speed. When the top OF the hill was
reached there seemed to be no stop. The
men threw themselves from their horses
or fell from the guns and gathered I'm
little squads; the guns were brought into
action, and in half the time / am telling
you this there was a little putt Of smoke.
a hOarse, shrieking sound the sound az
the explosion OF the gun, and the fall of
No. 1 at the sixth gun, whose leg was
severed from his body. The sergeant aLl
] both broke into a simultaneous cheer.
for, though an enemy, he was a first
class soldier and recognized the gallant
fight the two little guns We're going 10
put up. They looked little from our dis
lance. but. like little men, they spoke
loud. and with that sort OF a sound that
Ildlt NilD thAih IOA lNttl INC. Inc second
shot was almost as quick as that from
the first gun and feil just IN front Of
the battery, then a shell from the first
burst over the third section a fourth,
fifth and sixth following IN close success
sion that had we known then of oufck-
firing guns, we would have thought these
rebels across the river had two six-pOund
quick-firing guns. and that the men be-
hind the guns knew how 70 use them,
The Yankee battery was taken so much
nv cI1rfof-ica az The plIg9alf4r ~
guns daring 10 break up their fire on the
wagons that they did not recover their
balance until Pelhams guns had fred
five or six rounds, then they began 10
reply About this time II occurred 70 me
that / had no business there. that those
rebels were no respectOrs of persons and
that / might get hurt as for long time
/ knew that they had no more sense than
to shoot 20 kill. / suggested this 10 the
sergeant. and for once during those davs
the Yankee and Rebel thought alike and
we not only thought quick but we moved
quickly. and soon We're out of direct
range But We could not get out OF the
sound of those two little splt-fires on
the other hills II was slap-bang. slap
bang, until the sound was almost con-
tinuOus.
They got in about as many shots with
two guns as their adversary did with
six: the latter We're evidently green
hands. we rode back some distance the
road not being In the direct line OF FIRE.
and halted Win the sixth New York
Regiment. In a short time--T cannot saw
how long. for I do not believe any man
can estimate whether a battle lasts len
minutes or two hours-the six-gun bat-
terv came to the rear. The little devils
on the other hill had made II 100 hot
for them.
anisode brought out by the unwilling az
pelham's portrait at the George y
oickett camp. and II you think 1t worth
a1n ulIhliSn IL
"'''''' ]. b. MOORE.