The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-09-28
BY CHARLES l.. SHIPLEY.

When a man dies in his bed.
surrounded by friends and all the
comforts that contribute to make
the parting of soul and body to
some extent less hideous in their
aspect, and when his will is re.
signed and he has finally submit
ted to the last summons of his
Creator, his countenanCe. as a
rule, bears none of the startling
expressions, nor his body any of
the groteSque contOrtiOnS that
have always been noticed among
the heaps of slain men that nave
in every conflict strewn the bat
tleheld.
Many writer's have given ac-
counts of this gruesome subject,
which. while they will cause
many a faint heart to futter, are
vet both valuable and interesting
i'll their details, as they describe
a subject that has a direct bear
ing upon every citizen of a coun-
try-military duty and many
times its fatal result; death.
All battlefeldS are not alike.
and while some are strewu with
men in every hideOuS state of mu-
tilation-headless, armless. leg
less. breasts and stomachs torn
open, and viScera strewn around,
there are others where the Specta-
Gle of life like corpSes, in which
sudden death was succeeded by a
"'ligor mortiS, y in which the body
retained the exact attitude and
position in which it was when
oveItaken by the hand of death.
In the latter instances the cause
of death was generally a rifle
ball either through the brain or
heart, causing in nearly every in
stance immediate death, yet not
inticting the terrible mutilati0n
OF shell, grape or solid shot.
Death from lightning strokes
has produced a like phenomenon,
and men and amin Is have been
found dead in upright ana life
like positions. a horse even stand
ing erect on his four legs. with
with his eyes wide open and nos
trlls diIated by the terror which
the storm produced. Where
death is slower this phenomenon
does not occur, but where sud
den advent Of death gives no
chance either for a physical or
mental action, the body usually
retains the last position, and the
countenance the last expression
adopted in life.
At the battle Of Inkerman, in
the Crimea War, it is said that
long files of dead looked as if
they only needed the word Of
command to reCommence the
battle, as they lay with guns and
swords i'll firm clasp, cartridges
III the mouth, and arms extended
as if eager for the fray.
Almost every death on the bat
tlelield is different, and the man
ner Of death depends upon the
nature of the wound and on the
man, whether he is cowardly or
brave, whether his vitality is
large or small, whether he is a
man of active imagination or dull
III Intellect, or whether he is of
nervous or sympathetic tempera-
ment.
\ celebrated writer who served
Ill the late war gives a graphic
description of the behavior of
wounded men. He says:
"On the second day of the
battle of the Wilderness,
when | fought as an infantry
soldier, i saw more men killed
and wounded than | did before
or after the same time. | knew
but few of the men in the regi-
ment in whose ranks | stood, but
| learned the christian names of
some of them. The man who
stood next to me on my right was
called Will. He was cool, brave
and intelligent. In the morning
when the Second Corps was adj
vancing and driving Hills sol
dierS slowly back, | was Hurried.
He noticed it, and steadied my
nerves by saying kindly, "don't
fire SO fast. This fight will last
all day. Don't hurry. Cover
your man before you pull your
trigger Take it easy, my boys,
take it easy, and your cartridges
will last the longer.
During the day | had learned
to look up to this excellent sol
der, and lean on him. Toward
evening we were being slowly
driven back to the Brock road
by Longstreet'S men. we made a
stand. | was behind a tree fir
ing, with my rife barrel resting
on the stub Of a limb Will was
standing by my side, but in the
open. lie, with a groan, doubled
up, and dropped on the ground
at my feet. He looked up at me.
His face was pale. He gasped
for breath a few times, and then