Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-16
THROUGH ELEVEN BATTLES
READS LIKE FICTION, BUT IS AC-
TUAL EXPERIENCE.
Near the Firing Line, but Never Re-
ceived Even
Scratch.

the veteran clerks in the patent Office in
this city. The battles referred to were
Manassas (firsD, Balls Bluff, Williams
burg, Seven Pines. Gaines Mills. Fraz-
| fers' Farm, Manassas (second. South
Mountain. Antietam. Fredericksburg and
Gettysburg. Mr.. Hummer was also in
| many skirmishes, and during the march of
Gen. Grant on Richmond. in the summer
| of 1864. the firing between the two armies
| was so regularly kept up day after day
that he kept no account of the various en-
| gagements, and considers that the last
| great battle in which he was a participant
was that Of Gettysburg. which, as is
known. was fought during the early days
| of July, 1863.
| During almost the entire period of Mr..
| Runners service in the confederate army
| he was a courier for former Senator Eppa
| Hunton of Virginia. the latter having been
| first colonel and later was promoted to
the grade Of brigadier general in the south
ern army. Although Mr.. Runners first
| battle was that at Manassas, or, as it is
| more usually termed, Bull Run. and which
| was fought on Sunday, July u. 1861, he
had been under fire before, and frequently
| he had been shot at by pickets on the north
| side of the Potomac while he doing
similar duty for the cause which he had
espoused on the south side of that historic
| river.
The morning of the day on which the first
battle of Manassas was fought found Col.
| Huntons regiment. the Sth Virginia, drawn
up in line of battle early as o'clock.
| 1t was. however, somewhat past the noon
hour before the regiment was ordered to
| take part in the engagement. Previously
| for six hours they had been shelled by the
| federal troops, but during that time were
| not allowed to leave the position to which
| they had been assigned by order of Gen.
| Beauregard when the line of battle was
| formed Sometimes. Mr.. Hummer said to a
Star reporter shell would come uncom-
| fortably near. and the man most directly in
| terested in keeping out of the way of the
| ugly missile would be very apt to dodge
| from Its course If he could do so. The ma
| 1or OF the regiment happened to see one of
| his men making movement of that sort,
| and called out to him. Don't dodge," AS
the major spoke the words a shell came SO
| close to the latter that he lodged involun-
tarily. and. noticing what he had himself
done, he again called out Dodge, but don't
| dodge too much!''
With his colonel. Mr. Hummer partici-
| pated in a charge into a piece of woods
ordered by Gen. Beauregard, because 1t was
| supposed there was a federal force In am
| bush there. but no Union troops were dis
covered at that place. and they, with the
regiment. marched to near the Henry house
where the heaviest fighting of the day took
place, and In this they also took part Mr.
Hummer visited this part of the battlefield
the following day. and he noticed that there
was not single stalk Of corn in a field
near by that had not been struck by a bull
| let.
Near the Terrible Slaughter.
AT the battle Of Fredericksburg Col Hun
tens regiment occupied a part of the line
| OF battle which was at a considerable dis
| lance from Marye's Heights. in front of
which there was terrible slaughter While
| awaiting the order to advance which how
ever did not come, Mr.. Hummer. by per-
mission of his commander rode to the top
OF hill and witnessed a part of the fight
Wnlch ne regarded as the most beautiful
Sisht OF the kind during his campaigning
FIRST the federals. in long and magnificent
ihes. would march bravely forward to at
tack the confederates, and they would make
steady progress until they arrived within
to or 800 yards of the confederate in
trenchments. when the cannon on the
southern side would belch forth the rifles
would be fired and the federal troops We're
forced back. Next the confederates would
become the attacking force, and when they
got about the distance above mentioned
| from the Union army they would be driven
back to where they had come from So the
battle ragged hour after hour back and
forth. until the struggle ended in the man
ner IN which 1t Is recorded in history. The
day succeeding these events Mr. Hummer
rode to the plain in front of Maryes
Heights. and there he found the dead bod
les to be so thickly strewn on the ground
that IN space of several acres in extent it
was only with the greatest difficulty that
he could KEEP mis- horse from stepping on
some of the corpses while he was moving
about
In the Battle of Gettysburg.
When the battle Of Gettysburg was
iousht GENERAL Hunton, who had been pro-
NOTED to that rank, was in command of
brigade in Picketts division. On the morn
ing of the Sd of July, when the famous
charge by that command was ordered by
General Lee, General Hunton's horse for
some unaccountable reason became unman-
ageable, and Mr.. Hummer was requested
by General Hunton to let him have the
use of his horse for the day. Mr.. Hummer
dismounted and turned his horse over to
his commanding officer and went into battle
on foot. He. however, kept close to General
Hunton's side, as his duty as a courier re-
CURED him to do. The charge was begun
but in few moments General Hunton
was wounded and Mr.. Hummer was at
once detailed to carry him from the field
which he did. and remained with him to
render such aid was possible to his
chief under the circumstances. But for this
seemingly untoward accident Mr. Hummer
Is or the opinion so he expresses it, that
he would have been among the slain in
the charge which so many military writers
nave described as one of the most mag
nifieent exhibitions Of bravery on record.
Horse Used to Fire.
The horse that General Hunton rode when |
he was wounded and which was used by |
Mr.. Hummer in all the other battles in |
which he took part. was, its owner de-
cares, a very remarkable animal In the
second battle of Manassas the horse was
struck twice with bullets spent ones Mr.
the horse little below the right eve but |
did not enter far. and the animal shook
his head as though fly had annoyed him.
but paid no attention to it. The second
ball struck the horse just below one of his
ears and he repeated his action of the first
OCCASION.
Until this battle was fought Mr.. Hummer
had been of the opinion that if in battle a
man could get behind a tree something
larger than his own body he was reasonably |
safe from harm. but after seeing a shell
pass through a tree which was fully six
feet in circumference and, after doing that,
take a good-sized slab off of another and |
to finally become imbedded quite deeply in
bank Of earth he changed his mind on the |
subject
On one occasion during the summer of |
1884 when the federal troops were pressing |
the confederates back toward Richmond |
day by day. the former captured one part |
OF the confederate line of intrenchments, !
and 1t became necessary for the southern |
ers to hastily erect some breastworks at an
other point in order to keep the Union army |
delayed in their advance as long posi-
BILE. The work was to be done at night by |
the men of the 10Th Virginia Regiment, and |
as they had but one field officer left, and
tho yrfo had Of