The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-10-05

sept. lilly. 1000.
silently looked at us as we.march-
ed past them. One wounded
man, blonde giant Of about
forty years, was smoking a brier-
wood pipe. He had a firm grip
on the stem. / asked him what
he was doing. Having my last
smoke young fellow, he replied.
His dauntless blue eyes met mine
and he bravely tried to smile.
| saw that he was dying fast.
"Wounded soldiers almost tore
their clothing away from their
wounds, so as to see them and
judge Of their character. Many
of them would smile, and their
faces would brighten as they rea
lied that they were not hard hit,
and that they could go home for
a few months. Others would
give quick glance at their
wounds and then shrink back as
they realized the truth that they
were mOrtally wounded. The en-
listed men were exceedingly ac-
durate judges of the probable re-
suit which would ensue from any
wound they saw They had seen
hundreds of soldiers wounded,
and they had noticed that certain
wounds always resulted fatally.
They knew when they were ia
tally wounded. and after the
shock of the discovery had pass
ed, they generally braced them,
selves and died in a manly man
ner. 1t was seldom that an
American or Irish volunteer
1unked i'll the presence of death.n
SCENES ON THE BATTLEFIELDs
OF THE CIVIL WAR.
The war between the North
and South furnished many ex-
amples Of the peculiar death phe-
nOmenOn known as "rigor
mortis.'
On the field of Fort Donelson
nothing could be more terrible
than the silent indications of ag-
Ony that marked the pale fea
lures Of the pale corpSes that lay
everywhere in every conceivable
attitude. Though dead and rigid
in every muscle, they seemed to
writhe and turn to catch the
passing breeze for a cooling
breath. Staring eyes, gaping
mouths, clinched hands, and
strangely contracted limbs,
seemingly drawn into the small
est compass. as ii by a mighty
effort to rend aSunder some ire
sistible bond that held them
down to the the torture Of which
they died.
One sat against a tree, and
with mouth and eyes wide open,
looked up into the sky as if to
catch glimpse of its fleeting
spirit. Another clutched the
branch Of an oyerhanging tree,
aud hung half suspended, as if in
the death pang he had raised
himself partly from the ground;
the other hand grasped his faith
full musket and the compression
CT his mouth told of the determi-
nation that would have been fatal
to a foe had life ebbed a moment
later.
A third clung to a bayonet
with both hands which was buried
in the ground. Great numbers
laid in heaps just us the artillery
fire had moved them down,
mangling their forms into an al
most indistinguishable mass OF
rags and flesh.
On the field of Antietam a
number OF peculiar cases were
observed One Confed / a G
corpse was found, semi-erect, one
foot on the ground, one knee
against bank of earth and one
arm stretched forward on low
breastw0rk. Another leaned
against a tree with his right arm
raised above his head, his hand
still holding the cap with which
he had been cheering on his
comrades. Many were found
with cartridges between their
thumbs and forefngers and with
the paper which they had bitten
off between the teeth; everything,
even to the expression on their
faces as it was when the bullet
pierced the heart and all the ma
chinery Of life, muscles and
nerves, came to a sudden stand
still.
At Murfreesboro the appearance
of the field was remarkable for a
Iap0a pronor+ian had ham slain