Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1900-04-12

New Hampshire at tine stormlng "l
Fort Wagner. In that affair eleven OF
ccers of this regiment were killed out
right.
In the attack upon the stone wall the
Seventh Regiment fought with Han
cocks division. This division was
brought in as a supporting column to
the initial attack. 1t consisted Of eigh-
teen regiments, and there We're nineteen
regimental commanders shot down and
disabled in one hour. Others were hit,
hut kept the field. In the brigade Of
Col. Caldwell. to which the Seventh
Regiment belonged, there were 116 off,
GERS present siXty-two Of whom were
killed or wounded. Gen. Hancock's d.
vision lost 2.O20 killed and wounded out
Of 4.S34 paper strength; that equals ~
per cent. Caldwells brigade numbered
1887 on paper, and lost 052 killed and
wounded-that Is to say, 80 per cent.
In forlorn hope attack upon log
breastworks at Petersburg in 1864 the
First Maine heavy artillery carried S32
men IN line and lost 632 killed and
wounded In rush that kept them un-
der fire not to exceed seven minutes.
At Gettysburg, during crisis. the First
Minnesota was called upon to charge a
moving line Of Confederates and cap
ture Its colors, In order to stagger the
assailants, who were marching upon
Federal batteries. The Confederates
held their fire until the daring Yankees
were close up, and 215 Of the Mime
| nf ctw
upon few square yards Of earth, just
at the point OF contact. In the second
battle of Bull Run. 1862. Duryee's zou-
ayes stood up in front Of battery
which was being mobbed by Confeder-
ate troops and left 10 dead companions
stretched IN regular rows around wheel
ruts and trail prints on the spot where
the guns had stood. The regiment mum.
bered 40 at the beginning Of the fight.
The heaviest losers at the battle of
Gettysburg were two opposing regi-
ments-the Twenty-fourth Michigan
and the Twenty-sixth North Carolina.
They fought In the first days battle al.
most man for man in the dueling con-
test which took place in McPherson's
woods. At the end Of the day nothing
remained Of either regiment except
their flags and two pitiful squads Of
battle-grimed soldiers. The Michigans
lost 397 out Of 406, and the North Caro-
/ linas 6SS out of $40.
The casualties sustained by these
troops were almost entirely from mus
kerry fire. Instances might be cited to
show that, under certain circumstances,
artillery fire was still more deadly dur
| ing the civil war. 1t must be taken for
granted that such was the case when
ever solid bodies Of troops marched up
to the lannon's mouth. In Pickett's
charge, when the assaulting column
closed In on the Federal works. the
Federal batteries stationed there in
some instances used double charges of
| canister at ten PAGES; that means that
the assailants who had the courage to
march up to the muzzles were swept
from the ground by iron hail. At the
battle Of Franklin. Tenn, the slaughter
Of the Confederate columns upon the
ground where the heaviest fighting took
place was frightful In the extreme.
Much of the execution Mt that fight was
due to cannon fire. The Confederate
army was about 10000 strong and be-
gan the attack on the Federal fortified
position at the close of November day.
probably as late as 4:3O p. M, so that
there was not two hours Of daylight
for fighting. Only one corps Of the
Confederates actually closed In on the
Federal works. and its strength was
probably not over 1900 men. In the
battle there were O,OO0 Confederates
killed and wounded. among them thir-
teen general officers. The officers who
fell were found close to the Federal
breastworks, In some cases In the ditch,
where they had been shot from their
horses while attempting to ride over
the works at the heads Of their col