Sunday morning globe., 1901-09-29
Cen. nelson A. miles
Recites as a Companion Piece to
Judge Mackey'S
BRAVEST DEEDS OF THE WAR
The Following Daring Feais Of Arms BY
Confederate Soldiers Which Came Under
His Own Eye-The Magnificent Sang
FrOId Of Young Confederate Colonel Lead
lng His Men 10 0eathl

AS companion al wv
Ntac.ev,s "Brayest Deed Of the War"
published in last Sundays GLOBE we
this week give LieutenantGeneral Nel-
son A. Miles story off, Inc BraVesI
Deeds ! Ever Knew. Ihe GeheIal
says ,..-4
In relating a few of the bralyest'
boldest, and most heroic acts JhaI haNV
come under my observation, / recal
a scene at the battle Of Frederickspurs'
Va. December 13, 1862. the Army
of the Potomac had crossed the Kappa
hammock under very difficult clrcum-
stances. The opposite shore was llneu
with Confederate sharpshooters' ana
pontoon bridge had to be lalu uhuer
the ERE Of their rifles. Our own snarp-
shooters were aligned along the Danh
of the river hOtly engaging the Ilhe'
men on the opposite side, in oruer 10
attract their attention and as mucn as
possible draw their fire away from lhe
corps of engineers Who were ehsdsSu
In putting the pontoon boats INTO Ine
river and lashing them togeJhei' %
hot was the fire that many OF lhe men
were killed, and volunteers We're calleu
for TO take their places and carry ON
the desperate work. And there was
ready response to the call; Tor, slngu-
lar as it may seem, in almost every
desperate emergency there was no ldCh
of heroic spirits, ready to volunteer 10
o-cupy the most dangerous poslIons'
The bridge was finally compleVeu'
and a regiment passed quickly over
storming the banks on the other slGe'
driving back the skrmish line OF the
enemy. and taking possession OF lnaI
side They were quickly touoWeu uy
lrigades and divisions, who look pos
session Of the ground and drove lhe
enemy out of the city, back ON TO Ine
hills beyond, where the army OF NorIh-
ern Virginia had taken mp It's posluoh
in battle array. Many hours OF lhe
day and the succeeding night were oc'
cupied in crossing the army over on
the pontoon bridges The troops Jnen
moved out across the low ground ana
gradually ascending the heights Oh
Fredericksburg, encountered the Con
federate forces, who we're IN very
strong positions, partly behind stone
walls, whence their fire was most ue'
structive and effective in checking the
Union troops,
While my command of two regi-
ments was supporting one part OF Jhe
advance line, although not at the mo-
ment hotly engaged themselves, ana
the men we're lying down in order 10
escape the severe fre'of shot and shell
that swept over the field, Capt. VIII
lam G. Mitchell, of General Hancock
STAFF. rode up to me and said:
General Hancock sends his comph-
ments. and directs that you move your
command to the right and engage the
enemy in that direction"
This order was given under one OF
the most terribly destructive fires that
have ever experienced. Men were
falling rapidly about us, and the whiz
of bullets and the cracking of bursting
shells were heard on every side. Men
under such circumstances usually dis
nIav some trepidation, excitement, en-
tbusiasm. or emotion Of some kind. In
fact. II is very rare that at such a
time men do not exhibit strong feel
ing either in their tone of voice or the
expression of their faces, or do not
otherwise indicate the feelings in
spired by such appalling circum-
stances.
But this young officer was as cool as
~ on dress parade. He showed him
self the beau ideal of chivalry, and
DIeHNAltA "a DNAAN kAANAAN Ma N'-N - N
knight in action. His voice was as
clear and quiet as If he were in a
drawing-room, or as If he were speak
ing under the most ordinary circum-
stances. His large, clear, dark eyes
indicated the cool fortitude that pos
sessed his soul He had finely chisel-
led features, a spare form, dark eye
brows light mustache, and straight,
black, unusually long hair and had the
attitude, appearance, and manner Of
the true soldier.
On another occasion in the next en-
suing desperate battle, which occurred
on the field of Chancellorsville, during
the worst and most desperate lighting
of the second day Of that battle when
the Union forces were being assaulted
at every point, and In several places
were being driven back in some dis
order. duel was being fought by two
batteries, one on the Union and the
other on the Confederate side, near
where General Hancock, with his stan,
had taken station. In the shifting
phases of the battle, a division Of the
Confederate infantry made a strong as
sault upon one portion Of HancOcks
line. and it became necessary for him
to change the front Of one Of his divi-
sions I'm order to meet this threatened
onslaught. It was one of those cases
where the element of time Is Of the
most vital Importance.
In this emergency General Hancock
turned to his trusted aide-de-camp, |
and pointing to the danger, gave him
directions to proceed as quickly as
possible to the threatened point and
change the front OF the position there,
in order to make a counter attack on
the enemy Mitchell, with his soldiers
instinct, realized the Importance Of Civ
ing the order with the least possible
delay; so instead Of going round to the
rear Of our own battery, then engaged
i'm the duel, he dashed between the two
batteries, with a total disregard Of his
own safety, and succeeded in safely
conveying the order changing the front
Of the division, and in saving that part
Of the deld from disaster
In doing this he had to defy the
dangers from the shot and she'll OF the