The National tribune., 1901-04-04
FIGHTING THEM OVER.
What the Veterans Have TO Say
About Their Campaigns.
TOO BUSY, To- RUN.
comrade Reed Says the, i4sh U. s. stood Their
Ground at Gaines Mill.

a reader for several years | never realized
how far it could reach lihti | wrote an
article on Second Bull Run in your is
sue of Dec. 20 last. Sometimes something
has to open our eyes TO the magnitude
of things, or we never would comprehend
them. l have lived about 200 miles from
the city Of Chicago for the Inst 81 years,
but it did not seem so big town, after
all, until / was on my return trip from the
National Encampment held at Buffalo,
N. Y, three years ago.
Well, since that article on Bull Run
came out l have been made to see that
the old NATIONAL TRIBUNE has fright
smart list of readers, as | have been
opening, reading and answering letters
since, from New Jersey to Minnesota, and
all good ones, and / expect more to fol-
low.
But, Mr.. Editor, what = Grand mistake
| made in not finding out if any of the
good old 18th N. Y. yet existed before
l ventured TO write on war subject. l
am reminded of what the good book tells
us in Proverbs 1917: He that is first
in his owR cause seemeth just; but his
neighbor cOmeth and searcheth him." And
one Friday, as | came from the postofiice,
/ stood my old bike on the front porch,
kicked off my shoes, hung up my coat, and
tumbled into the old armchair to see how
81 and Shorty were making it, and the
Spy of the Rebellion, and comrades of
the Fighting gThem- Over column, when,
away down in the northeast corner, | saw
Jim Allen, of the 10Th N. Y. Jim had his
fists all doubled up and blood in his eye.
Jim is my neighbOr, you see-just lock on
the map and you will find it so-and here
i'll the West the man who tells the first
story in lumber camp don't stand q
ghost OF n show. l don't know just how
big Jim is. So 1 will go slow For we
might meet at some Encampment, you
know, and | might be as scared as | was
at Gaines's Mill on June q, 1862; and
can assure Jim l am man of peace
every time. This would not have been
written if Jim hadn't told of the old 18th
running at Gaines's Mill.
But as Jim has jumped on with both
feet l will wiggle out if can and run
again.
Jim begins by saying he noticed letter
from one of the 18th Regulars in THE
NATIONAL TRIBUNE, and then, just as
polite as can be, he says: Il would like
to ask him what bis regiment did ON June
27, 1862, at Gaines's Mill"
Now, Jim, you know some people don't
like to answer all the questions that are
asked on some subjects, but l will do
the best | can to comply with your de-
mand. You must promise me you will not
ask any more such questions. If you have
a file, just turn to the isshe of Dec. 8,
1897, and you will find what two of the
18th did, at least.
To answer your question, I will go back
to our first line of battle, formed about
Sor o'clock a. IN. (the 14th) on sandy
piece Of ground which descended to q
low, swampy piece of timber in our front
This timber was in a circular form, and
came up near our right and farther on
our left, where the splendid old 5th n. Y.
IOuayps wprp lined nm
Straight in our front was road
through this piece of swamp, and we
could see the higher land beyond. In
moment rebel battery came in view, on
the run, and opened up on the 18th. Well,
we didn't run then, did we, Comrade
Jim? The Johnnies had too high a range,
and about the second shot stirred I'D
nest of darkies who had made headquar-
ters in an old log building little in our
rear, and there were nine kinds of juba
danced to get over each other and away
To get out of this running scrape indi-
vidually l will have to say that l was in
the regiment but little that day until near
sundown. Again / refer to my article on
Gaines's Mill of Dec. 0, 1897, which fully
explains all that, and that was written
before ] ever knew the 18th had run at
that battle. Serg't Kerns and l had vol
unteered as scouts at the cali of our old
commander (Old Paddy, took to the tim
bsr on our right, and worked our way to
the front, feeling out the advance of the
enemy.
Near night was advanced far toward
the rebel line / saw what took to be
graycoats coming in ON our right, and at
that time the 18th was the right of the
line, as no other troops were in touch with
US on the right. l ran back and gave the
alarm of our right being turned, and / am
sure / WAS the first one to serve that no
tice. A fine new regiment was rushed in
and formed on our right. This was at
dark. 1t was large regiment, and each
man wore white straw hat. l had now
fallen back into my company, and was
doing some tall shooting at a large col
umn of men in gray on our front The
Johnnies opened upon the white hats from
the timber, only a few rods in their front
They stood like men, or rather fell, for
that line of white hats was a splendid
mark for shooting in the dark, and / re-
member yelled:
Throw those hats awayr'
We were told at the time that the straw
hats were worn by the 18th n. Y. /
know they did not run at that time, and
/ know the 18th did not i know the
14th was on the same ground near dark
| where Kerns and l left them in the fore
noon, when we took to scouting.
Now / know of my own personal knowl-
GOSt tudt SUue uttle udrk
was in line for a short time, and while
| there the rebels made three or four ad-
vances on our line and came out of the
swamp in our front, it seemed to me six
deep, and advanced part way to the bat
terry we were supporting. The big guns
did not seem to stop them, and each time
the 18th advanced through the guns, which
ceased firing, and put Johnny back where
he belonged. Then as they came out
again we fell back behind the guns and
| let them pound.
| / will not deny that the 14th may have
| been forced back, as other troops were
that day, but | do deny they ever broke
| like flock of sheep, as Comrade Jim says.
l have never heard 1t from any source be-
| fore, and had it been so it seems as
| though / certainly should know it. Some
how we held our line all day, and were
| there at night, and lay on the field until
| late in the night, when we fell back over
the Chickahominy, and marched and
fought a week, back to Harrison's Land
| ing. At Malvern Hill, near the close of
the seven days fight, we did good shoot
ing. Comrade Jim tells us his regiment
lost about 800 at Gaines's Mill. l think
the 10Th N. Y. was nearly twice as large
as the 14th, and the loss Of the 14th was
24S, on that day, when Jim says we ran.
The above figures took from THE Ma.
TIONAL TRIBUNE a few years ago, when
the Fifth and some other corps were writ
ten up by the Editor.
/ fled the papers away, but fail to
find them at this writing, or could give
the loss of the 10Th as well. l have never