The National tribune., 1900-11-15

4
passing through the AIR, bat our Dick was
| equal to the occasion, ana translated the
| voice of another as, 1l'seW comm; whar's
dat niger! | Sc Il comm ;iwhars dat mig
ser:' In the trenches the danger from
stray balls was not very great, so long as
we kept our bodies tbehInd bur works. On
one occasion one OF Co. IL raised himself
above the works and shouted to the enemy,
only lew yards away:r~Oh, you fools,
you can't hit anybody" Immediately fol-
lowing Johns assertion was Il thump. The
shot had struck our comrades head. The
wound did not prove fatal.
| \ day spent III the trench was any
| thing but agreeable, as the scorchIng rays
Of Old Sol poured down without any re-
-;ard TO our comfort. We would stand in
mud and water for hours where not a
breath of air was stirring; with a Mid
summers sun beating down upon us until
we felt a sense OF smothering suffOcauon.
| special attention would always be gwen
us when moving past any exposed posi-
uOn, and Il liberal sprlnklIng OF rebel snot
and shell would generally increase our de-
sire to gain the protection of some friendly
shelter. If we could not readily reach shell
| Ter we would lie down and tiatten out as
| ,nln as possible; then turn ourselves edge
ways to the enemy until the firing ceased,
when we were up and away IKE a shot.
occasionally when on duty III the trenches
we would elevate our caps on ramroads,
SO they would show above the works, III
| order TO test the Workmanship of the enc
my. Sometimes the enemy hit the mark;
which fact taught us to be careful of our
neadS when they were inside of our caps.
As Il rule we went on duty every Otner
morning; that is, about hait of the regl-
ment would be ordered out each morning
10 relieve those who were on duty the pre-
vIOus day. OftentImes when IL camp we
,yarn frnI in, yp1tIn lott tn mr.
Northern homes, many of which cast q
shadow over home circle. When these
came with trembling hands and aching
hearts the seal was broken, and, after long
days and weeks of weary watching and
waiting, the tIdIngs they brought to many
an aching heart were, killed, wounded or
missing"
AS L have said, our camp was located
on the low grounds u half mile i'll the rear,
but not far enough away to escape the
mewing and shrleklnS of balls and shells
from the enemys guns. Therefore, we re-
manned quiet, as there was no particular
pleasure i'll rambling about the hills and
ravInes, where balls and shells were fall
ing. Many were the daily incidents of the
long and trying siege, which, should try
to enumerate, would I'LL q volume. We
used 10 go on duty directly in front of the
formidable Fort Hill, to the left of the
jackson road, where We made ourselves
us comfortable as possible, never failing
TO observe all precautions and, with good
head protection, do the watching and
shooting, while our comrades did the rest
ing. Our trenches or rifle pits were pro-
yided with head logs, which were propped
up a few inches, leaving space large
enough TO poke our guns through as often
as occasion required. But should we de-
part from this rule of warfare and expose
any portion of our body above head log,
we were almost sure to be rewarded by
hearing the whiz of rebel ball. Once the
head log was hurled into the trench upon
Co. by a solid shot from the enemy. Co.
h Immediately came to the rescue, and
helped to eXtricate the boys from a not
very desirable situation. Strange as it may
appear, none was seriously injured.
WRESTLING DICK.
Some writer's contend that there was no
heavy gun called Whistling Dick in posi-
ton anywhere along Grants line. We
claim, however, that a 1OLinch gun was
brought up from the YaZoo landing, and
on June ~ was placed in position on Nc
Pherson's line. We also claim that it was
this gun, Whistling Dick, that silenced the
enemys gun named Whist1ing Dixie, which
was in position some distance in the rear
of the enemy's main line. Dick played an
important part in McPherson's front, and
succeeded in silencing number of the
enemy's guns.
June IA number of the heavy guns of
the enemy gave Dick their attention. Dick,
however, stood the racket without injury,
and a: regular intervals grOwled out his
response. Early the next morning the
enemy made another effort to silence our
Dick, but without success. Dick continued
TO hurl shells to the close of the siege.
Night after night we were entertained
modOre POrters fleet of mortar boats an
chored in the river above the besiegcd city. |
The burning fuse of the large shells from
the guns of friend and foe was q grand |
sight, and from our position in the trenches |
we would watch them as they described a |
half circle through the air, accompanied |
by an unearthly screeching noise that |
would strike terror to the hearts of those |
not used to them. When one of the enc |
sent a lO0-pOund shell in our direction, it |
was not quite so entertaining.
LOGAN IN THE TRENCHES.
One day during a terrific artillery en-
gagement Gen. Logan Joined us in the
trenches. However, to see Logan in the
trenches was nothing unusual, but upon
thus occasion Logan observed some of his
men standing in an exposed position, earn
estly engaged in watching the puffs of
smoke from the enemy's works, and APP
obliviOus of the fact that they
were target for the enemy's sharpshOot-
ars. Logan in commanding tones ordered
the men down, saying: Men, don't I'M
necessarily expose yourselves" The men
while Logan walked along the
trench to point which seemed fitted for
his purpose, when, raising himself up high
enough to get good view of the enemy's
works, he drew his field-glass and was in
tently studying the enemy's line of battle,
when one of the men in the trench ad-
dressed him: General, please get down;
don't unnecessarily expose yourself"
To this sally, which was only to remind
the General of his own words of caution
10 the boys, Logan, in his usual happy
vein, replied: Boys, never mind me. 1t
axes men to make good soldiers; we can
lind General almost anywhere" The
Enemy had hand-grenade or shell. These
we're about six inches long by three inches
N diameter, with short fuse attached.
After lighting this fuse the shell was
thrown over into our TRENCH only a few
yards away. Sometimes it burst, but
,ften it was seized by willing hands and
brown back to those that sent it, there
o play mischief among it, friends.
WOODEN GUNS.
Such incidents remind us that there
we're men in our regiment who were first
md foremost in putting into practice any
scheme to modest the enemy. or Hanson
Barr, q member of Co, G, will make spe-