The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1901-10-10

and he picked up a couple of skids which
had been cut for loading the guns on the
wagon.
They rolled it down to the bank. and the
boys gave a loud cheer as they came.
Everybody was getting nervous and
| fretful over the continued lOng-range FIR
ing, which accomplished nothing. This
was something new, at least, and promised
well.
The rebels quickly caught sight of the
alarming object, and concentrated their
! fire upon it.
I 81. Shorty. Tom, and Abe took shelter
\ behind it, and We're delighted to find it
entirely bullet-proof. They could hear and
feel the balls strike, but none came
through.
Bully; she's regular Monitor said
Shorty. "Hunch her forward. boys.
We're safe so long as we keep behind her.
| Say, 81, yell to the fellers to keep down
the crosS-fire. / stretch out farther than
| the rest of you fellers, and one o them
cross-shots may hit my little tootsie-
wootsies. 1 distinctly felt the wind of
bullet going by my high-bred instep about
q minute ago."
Great Scott. you don't expect We can
| get anything big enough to shelter them
feet of yours" protested 81, as he pushed
the gum forward. You know we never
could build the breastworks high enough
for that"
| ne DDSS bdCh III the ltsil saw int
ger, and kept the rebels so busy that they
did not have much chance to make long
range cross-shots behind the gum.
ST raised his head carefully to the top
| of the gum, took deliberate aim at one
of the men standing up behind the sluice-
gate at the farther end of the bank, and
| dropped him. He then dropped himself,
TO reload and help roll the gum forward,
while Shorty rose and fired. Then, one
after another, Tom and Abe did the same.
As all four were dead shots, this pro-
duced a turmoil in the group behind the
gate, and other men were hurried up to
concentrate their fire upon the gum.
Monty. Harry, ALT, Gid, Sandy, and
| Pete slipped in behind, and were followed
by the whole of Co. Q, who now regarded
the rolling gum as n company affair, and
| were wildly eager to make it a success.
| Four of the strongest were called up to
take the work of rolling the gum forward,
while 81 and the others were to devote
their whole attention to the duel with tho
men behind the timberS of the sluiceg gate,
who were now making their utmost efforts
| to stop the steady advance of the ter
rible thing.
The rest of Co. Q crawled along the
bank, and kept up regular oblique ire on
the rebels on the farther bank. Some of
the other companies initiated Sis tactics
by rolling the other gums down on the
| CIOSo DuL hcI Ndo dACobl ~ 10
ahead that it was clear that Co. Q would
have the chief glory of the success, if II
was going to be success.
Look Quit Look out Brace her with
those skids. quick shouted 81. as he
dropped down from firing. They've got
a ield-piece trained on US, and are going
to give us something hot"
Lay low, everybody shouted Shorty,
fixing the skid on his side in the bank,
while 81 did the same with the other.
Hug the ground, if you ever did. If it's
a solid shot or shell, good-by."
1t was not either. but heavy charge Of
''horse-canister," such as batteries fire to
cut down carriages and horses. 1t struck
the gum a fearful blow, driving the skid5
back into the ground, and filling the air
with splinters. But the gum stood the
shock, and its protective power was unin-
jured.
Keep down, Keep down." 81 yelled at
those who wanted to jump up and cheer.
The next'll be a shot or a shell. Let's
see how she takes that"
But before the next time" Col. Nc
Gillicuddy's foresight come in. He had
had a couple of guns worked up into a
good position, where they instantly let
drive at the rebel cannon with such eff
feet as to give the rebels something more
to occupy their minds than the improvised
gabon.
aigs," said ST, after a couple more shots
from our guns did not get a reply from
the rebel cannon. 'They socked it to him
good and hard the first pop, and are kick
ing the carcass. Roll her forward, boys"
The constantly shortening range of Co.
Q's fire was now rapidly thinning the de-
tenders along the farther bank, but the
men at the sluice-gate held on obstinately.
The gum was now not rsOre than 1OO
yards from them, and every time that
those behind it fired they brought down
some one at the gate.
The big siege-guns, half a mile away,
decided to take hand in the game, after
the crushing of the field gun. 1t was
close work now to hit the enemy without
any risk to their own men, but the gun
was carefully trained on the gum, and
fired. The aim was very good, and the
shell burst only rod short of the gum,
with a terrific crash, tearing a big hole
in the bank.
81 at first thought the shell had come
from a siege gun on our side, and shouted
to the men to roll forward, that he might
take advantage of the confusion among
the rebels.
He was startled to see the gum drop
into the hole made by the shell, leaving
him and the rest uncovered, but his nerve
did not fail him for an instant.
up, everybody Forward, double
IQulck-CuITSe. ne SGlleu, duu AuSHCu ONSA
the gum straight at the rebels behind the
gate.
The audacity of the thing, coming on
the heels of the nerve-shaking explosion,
paralyzed them. They glanced around to
see that their supports on either side had
gone, and that there was no way of re-
treat, excepting along the narrow bank
behind. and they threw up their hands in
surrender.
sHooray for the 2O0th Injianny Vol
unteers," shouted 81 and the rest. jump
ing on the gate-posts. The 2OOth In
jianny's the first over the works. Run
back, Pete and Sandy and bring the Color
Sergeant up. We're half a mile ahead OF
the Others Hurry him upi'
But he needed no hurrying. Col. Nc
Gillicuddy, the Adjutant, and he had been
eagerly watching from the hill behind
every step of the advance. They trem-
bled when they saw the rebel shell burst,
but the instant they saw 81 unhurt and
running forward, they knew that the line
was won, and the Sergeant ran forward
at the top of his speed with the flag,
yelling at those in front to make way for
him. The whole regiment was pouring
after him in stream which filed the
bank, all yelling as if to burst their lungs.
The whole rebel line was now running
back, and the shouting Union soldiers
were pressing after them along the banks,
| through the shallower water and the
swamps, and wherever they could ind
foOthod.
So the first line was forced, and the
army found itself a mile nearer Savannah