The National tribune., 1901-06-06

deatn-lrOm tne Wltnerlns cTOSS-ATe into
which they had rushed-they fed like
a flock of shcep"-as one of our men who
was wounded expressed it.
Down in the valley there by the creek
they reform. We cannot see them; 1T ls
too dark. They move toward our right,
and we hear them shout as they charge
again. 0ur musketry redoubles. Every
man does the work of two. We have no
supports. To be driven would be oestruc-
ton. The battle, the country, Freedom,
all we hold dear, rests on the men in that
one thin line, and they know it; and right
nobly do they bear the responsibility. AS
at first, so now again the rebels assault
in vain, and are driven back in confusion.
Yet, with an abandon of herOism, they
reform again. move still further to our
right, and advance a third time to the as
sault. A third time they are utterly re-
pulsed. But the ammunition is getting
low in our cartridge-boXes. OF their bU
rounds few have more than 10 left NO
more are to be had, for the ammunition
wagons are a half a mile away. what
the men have they hoard. The fire slack
ems to save the remnant for a last effort
The enemy work still farther around to
our right. They enter the breastworks be-
yond our line crumble up and drive back
Il short distance our last regiment, the
10th " Y. Advancing a little way, they
are checked by the fire of small COM
mands. borrowed for the emergency from
Gen. WadswOrth, and from the Eleventh
Corps, and placed seemingly in echeion.
Made cautious by their enormous losses,
the rebel officers satisfy themselves with
the foothod gained, and the battle on the
right ceases for the night. 1t is 1870
o'clock.
Then we begin to gather up the prison
erS. One, two and half dozen in
squad our boys bring them in. A bright,
oln
by me, and the first question we asked
him was: How many men have we been
fighting| The reply was, for substance,
"JOhnsOns Division Of at least 1000 mus
kets actually present in the attack" "
TIVE hundred muskets against 1000, we
said to ourselves; and again we thanked
God for the breastworks. Such was
the seeming chance, such was the Provi-
donce Of God that saved the Union army
at Gettysburg.
1t was during the first Of the four
charges made by the rebels that the event
occurred which was Ito use Wendell Phil
lips's wOrd) the "nub" of this story, and
which l will now describe.
/ had taken my post where | was in
duty bound to be, at place where | could
best see the enemy as they came on, so
as to give orders if need be. This was
about a rod back from the breastworks,
and / stood behind a tree some eight or
nine inches through, to shelter myself, as
also, in duty bound from any stray bullets
perchance. What | had especially in mind
was that If | saw the enemy getting near
enough 10 begin to come over the breast
works | could give the word to fix bayo-
nets, so as to drive them back. | had on
the breastplates under my blouse, buckled
firmly on with the swordhelt.
At the first of the onset, as | was watch
ing the flashes of the powder, now toward
us, now from our pickets toward them,
suddenly one of our men flung himself
lengthways upon the breastworks to roll
over to our side, when Z-t-t-t came bullet
and the lance flash of flame from little
way off above to the left, not more than
three or four rods away. could see with
my ears the track of the bullet through the
air, as | could see with my eyes the long
lance-fash of flame of the powder; and
| heard the thud of the impact, and saw
the body roll back to the front.
After the battle found that it was one
of my own men. Also, / found behind a
tree, just where the shot came from, a
dead Confederate, who, our boys thought,
fired the shot, and was Immediately shot
in return.
Thus | stood, watching the flashes Of
the muskets, when, thir-T-r-r-t, ] felt the
impact of u bullet on the breastpates,
and putting my hand to the place | found
that, coming straight for the center of the
body, a bullet had struck the edge of the
breastplate which Tapped over, had bent it
back half an inch, then had slipped off
on to the other plate underneath, sinking
in it nearly another half-inch, all in the
wink of an eye, and then had stopped and
dropped down.
On account Of the roll of the land the
man who made the shot could have been
little if any more than three rods away,
l,t ha hraa Ctrla tho hniIpt
would have passed right through my body,
smashing the spine, and producing instant
death. Thus was my life saved at Gettys-
burg; and those breaStplates are God s
hand to me reached down out of Heaven
to save my life, according to the word
spoken in my heart, by which word | was
decided to enlist.
Whenever | have told this experience
people always ask, Did it not knock you
DOWN." To which l answer, mo; nor did
il have any tendency that way" There
was no sense of blow at all. The bullet
was going too fast. But there was a
strange, distinct effect. There was made
on the flesh just behind where the bullet
struck red spot like blister, about as
large as the palm Of the hand, and the
place was tender and sore-as near like
n blister as could be and not be one. 1t
was as if the flesh had been struck with
a round piece of water soaked sole-leather
times enough to blister it. This sore place
certainly was not caused by the impact
of the bullet, for there was no sense Of a
blow at all; and there was no tint of black
and blue as a blow must have made But
if the place had been made by a blow, IL
could not have been larger than the end
of the fora-finger, for the boss on the in
side of the breastplate, made by the push
ing back of it by the bullet, was not
larger than that, and only from that boss
could any impact have come. | thought
the matter out thoroughly at the time, and
solved the problem involved in it.
That sore place was certainly caused by
q fluid, which was contained in the bullet,
and went with it as it went; and which,
when the bullet was stopped, flowed out
from it, and passing with violent and re-
volving swiftness through the very fiber
and grain of the steel into the skin, by di-
rect action upon it, producing the effect.
BY this experience l received a lesson in
natural philosophy such as, perhaps, was
never given to any other human being. AT
least, never heard of the like. Such is
the story of the breastplates, as it has en-
| tered into and been a factor in my life;
nor will it be thought strange that they
are treasured as sign and token of an
event, of importance to me far above the
scope Of human speech to express.
And now, at the close of the story, the
reader will very naturally ask, "Was there
given you from the Lord a mission CORE
spending to the word that was spoken in
| in this strange coordination of events in
your life?" To which / answer most en-
phatically, "There certainly was mes
oud rniSSiOn rivan tO mo from tho