The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-06-06

with the living The shrek men heard
rending the air was scarce other than the
shrek Of a corpse. The dead horseman
rode on Till he passed through the interval
OF the Thirteenth Light Dragons Then
al last he dropped out OF the saddle
scientific man, comm5E1t3zs O. this
story Of the death Of Nolan, is inclined
to ascribe TIE uplifted arm and the reten-
tiOn Of the seat in the saddle TO the infIu-
ence Of intense excitement dominating
every element OF activity as long as any ac-
tivily remained" He thinks that il Nolan
had been quietly jogging along IN the ranks
OF the six hundred thinking OF nothing but
keeping in line and getting ahead, he would
at once would have gone TO the ground IN
der that blow. But, as a matter Of well
established fact incidents OF a similar
kind have been often noted on the battle
field During the American civil war a
great many were recorded For instance.
Capt. A Il. De Graf related that a ser
geant Of the Fifty-seventh Massachusetts,.
in charge Of the Ninth Corps on the Con-
federate works east OF Petersburg leaped
upon the parapet. and. with his cap in his
left hand and his musl,et in his right. stood
cheering and gesturing with his arms 20
incite his comrades TO come On. Suddenly
a she'll took his head of as completely as
knife could have done. but the tall form
still waving frantically. but with ever less
ening sweep and power. until the forces Of
the body collapsed. when the headlcss
trunk toPpled over 20 the ground
Another American writer during the
civil war says:
Advancing through the tangled mass Of
logs and stumps. ] saw one OF our men
aiming over the branch OF a fallen tree
which lay among the tagled abatis- call
ed to him. but he did not turn Tor move.
Advancing nearer I put my hand on his
shoulder. looked IN his face. and started
back. He was dead-shot through the
brain-and so suddenly had the end come
that his right hand grasped his musket
and he still preserved the attitude Of
watchfulness. literally occupying his post
after DEATH
Such cases seem to be. indeed. very COM
mon. and they appear to establish beyond
! doubt the existence OF q ''rigor mortfs''
peculiar to the battlefield. or, at any rate.
peculiar TO cases of sudden death from
physical injury. Dr.. Carpenter regarded II
as tetanic in its character spasmod.c
rigidity Of muscles similar to that Of lock
Jaw. and he believed that after a few
| hours IL relaxed for a time. and would then
be followed by the ordinary rigor norris
There seems TO be some doubt about this
however. Some medical authorities who
have had great experience on the field re-
gard II as merely the ordinary rightly Of
! death, FASTENED by special circumstances
There was. II seems clear, nothing very
exceptional in the case OF Captain Nolan
SO far az the retention of the seat on horse
| back and the sustaining OF the arm were
concerned: the CHASTITY feature of the Incl
dent was the blood-curdling shrek of what
kinglake regards as the soldiers corose
! This has been explained as the effect OF
| the collapse Of the chest walls That ex-
! PLANTATION would. no doubt. be sufficient to
/ account for something like a deep sigh,
| but. surely. could hardly be the cause Of
/ such a cry Of unearthly agony as could re
| heard above the tunnult Of a brigade OF the
| cavalry in motion. II probably was rot
| the mechanical collapse Of the chest walls
! that drove IL forth from a corpse. II was
| far more probably the last despaIrine cry
| of living man. or some involuntary play
! OF nerve and muscle before tho final ex-
| tinction of the vital spark. And here again
| the Incident was not only by any means
! unprecedented, though, according to King
! lakes description. the really hideous cir
| cumstance was that the wild cry of agony
broke from the lips Of the unfortunate
/ captain some time after the fatal stroke.
/ There are many instances on record in
which \ mortal wound has extorted a
/ piercing cry at the moment OF injury. and
! sometimes the cry has been accompanied
| by extraordinary muscular action Saws an
American writer. describing an ineident OF
! the Cuban war:
AN infantTyman passed by hurriedly
| loading his gun as he went; turned and
! fred; went on, and then his body shot up
| into the air, il seemed to me twice his
| height. and with a scream that pierced
my ears through the din he fell to the
| ground dead