The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-09-18

brigade. On the evening Of June.2S.
1862, near sunset, our brigade received
orders to cook rations and be ready
to march at moments warning, On
that. order we boys began to hustle,
for We believed that big battle was
upon as. we could see it in the air.
Before We had time to start fircs even
we received orders to '.fall in, fall inl''
You could hear the order in every di.
reotion. We were directed also to re-
lieve, ourselves of all baggage. Well
did We know that this order meant q
battle. Our knapsaoks. blankets,
etc., were all soon tumbled into bag
gage wagons, and we were quickly in
line with our guns glittering in the
light Of the settirs sun, ready to
march, or do anything slse.
Starting on the march, our battalion
was ordered to ''front face aud the
various company officers made known
the cause Of the stir and confusion.
We were told that fighting would be-
gin on the morrow, and that we must
be "brave boys" and stand firm, be
true to our country, etc. That was a
solemn time to me; / will never for
get it. After this another thing was
done that made me NOPE solemn than
ever and it had the Same eject upon the
other boys. Our commander appear
ed in our front, with our battle flag in
his hand, ard said: "Boys, this is our
flag; we have no regular color bearer;
who will volunteer to carry it2 Who
ever will let him step OUT"
The "god Of the day" was now set
ting behind the western horizon. All
nature seemed araped in mourning. Il
was 5nlya q moment, though, before /
stepped out and took it. The officer
told me TO stand still until he made
another call. Then he said: 'iIwant
five men to volunteer to go with this
color-bearer as guard" It was not
long before the required number VOL
unteered. I Irepeat,- it was one Of the
most solemn moments Of. my life. I
knew that to stand under it in time Of
battle was hazardous, but 1 was proud
that I had the courage to take the po.
sition, for it was a. place Of honor.
The officer in charge ordered us to take
our places in line, and soon we were
on The march.
We marched all night slowly, occa-
sionally battling. The entire army
seemed to be on che move. Every
thing indicated a great battle. We
continued our march until about
nSsa ssao lext DAY, when we halted.
and laid down by the roadside. /
dropped downby my flag, and was SO,
worn ont that I was goon sound
asleep. Oh, / was sleepiDg SO goodl i
Suddenly i was awakened from my!
sweet rest BY some Of the boys pound
ing me in The side. g ct up! 'Gstup!
There ia sslg katt aging, aud NO ,5l,f
are getting ready to so into it.'3 /.
jumped mp quickly rubbed ~ syey5
and was soon In my place. W IEHFe,moyed
off in the direction Of heavy saTi1 6 Jug 81
Cannon wess booming and small arms arm i,
could be heard distinctly. II was
now after 4 o'clock p. m. 4 and in lesa
than me hour We had crossed override
Chickahominy and wers into tie,
thiekest of the engagement at Me-
ohanicsville. The battle ragged furi.
ously until about o'clock as night.
The casualties Of my ola battalion
were very heavy. We fought under
very many, idisads antages. The enc 4
my had felled larg trees in their
front, and ditwas with great difficulty
that We made our way through this
ENHANCEMENT of treekops, saplings,
vines and every other conceivable OBJ
struction, ,.nnder q heavy fire. Many
Of che boys were killed in trying ito
get through. I had to wrap my flag
around the staff while crawling through
this abatis. ss,ass 3.
GMy flag was riddled in this battle,
having beer pierosdwith ten bullet
holes through it's fold i. while . splin-
ter was torn. out Of the stp d about six
inches above my bead. 81 came out,
though, without scratch, and was ]
ready for duty the next day. In this
engagement some Of the boys we're
shot down By my side comrades
whom dearly loved. Two of
them, Murphy and Lambert, were k:lls|
ed.
When the firing ceased. our lines
fell back i Short DISTANCE, ia thick
woods. ana huadled aronnd talking
ever ths.vssious incident ef the bat
Al