The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-11-27

All through the hours of darkness the sur
geons are at work with the thousands of
wounded. All through the following day
Lee waits for renewal of the battle. but
Mcclellan has had enough. With the COM
ing Of another night. therefore, gathering
up his wounded and prisoners. sending his
trains ahead, the great Virginian silently
moves his columns down to the fords of
the Potomac, and by dawn of the 18th all
are safely across. Lee has slipped away.
No wonder the Presidents somber eyes
are clouded as he sadly studies the dread
list of the slain. No wonder he scans the
bearded faces Of the generals to
meet him the day he closes his memorable
visit to the field. Is there none among
them who can take this splendid army and
do something with it against these skilled
fencers of the South? Men in overwhelm-
ing number. guns the best that money can
buy, supplies in abundance of every kind,
all these nave been lavished on our leaders,
and to what end? No wonder, as he drives
away, his face lined with care.
There is significance in the greeting &C
corded the little soldier still in supreme
command when he rides his lines a day
after the battle. The corps of Porter, held
throughout the combat in safe reserve,
swings its caps and cheers with great en-
thusiasm. The corps of Sumner shouts with
modified rejoicing. The men of Mansfield
rise and salute in silence. The thinned bat
talions of the First Corps make no sign
whatever.
witnessing this sight, Fred Benton con-
trasts it with another which it was his
rriyilnoo 70 nnfo tho nYoyi0trc daV Still
serving at division headquarters, acting as
Inspector general. he and other officers had
been sent under flag Of truce within the
picket lines of the Southern army to seek
the wounded and to render aid. All about
the barn and buildings of the Miller farm,
where the brigade had rallied and hung so
long. lay scores of stricken men for whom
the surgeons were doing their best, but so
| very many seemed past help. Along the
| pike the Georgians, too, lay thick, and gray
uniformed officers moved to and fro among
| them or conversed in low tones, curiously
scanning, from time to time, the two or
| three staff officials in blue who followed
the surgeons, pencil and notebook in hand.
| Suddenly the talking ceased, for, Issuing
| from a narrow roadway that trended west
ward from the pike, there came a tall,
| COMMUNICATING officer, gray-bearded.
| yet alert, a soldier who acknowledged with
grave courtesy the salutes that greeted
| him on every hand. Men sprang to their
| feet and gazed at him almost in alteration.
| Even the wounded strove to rise. Some
| few hailed him with feeble, childish
voices. AS for Benton and his two associ-
/ ates they needed not the little group Of
staff and orderlies to confirm them in their
belief. They knew him at a glance-the
great Virginia leader-and Benton instant
ly, the others following, stepped forward
and stood at salute. Lee saw it. and. turn
ing so as to half face the Northerners,
with punctilious courtesy lifted his hat.
then quickly refined back as a dust-covered,
battle-stained battery came jingling out
from the lane, and. turning into the high
way, pulled YEARLY on to where the spires
of the Maryland town pierced the blue be-
yond the southwark wood. Jaded and worn
were the horses, black and powder-stained
the men, and of a sudden one Of these. a
slender stripping, jogging along beside his
gun, caught sight of the group Of horse
men, darted from his place to where the
commanding general. the picture of the
soldier and the gentleman, sat In saddle
at the roadside, and there, with boyish
laugh, held forth a grimy hand. Its
Bob" he cried. Don't you know me,
father" And Lee, the cavalier, bent low,
and with love and tenderness, with who car
say what pride and rejoicing. clasped the
hand of the private soldier in the Rock.
bridge Artillery. his gallant younger son
In what other army would one see the like
of that?
Then the general rode on toward the
bunker Church, where still the men OF
Jackson lay in readiness, and then up rose
rank after rank with mighty shout tina,
marked his onward going adown the weary
yet intensely loyal line until lost within
the distant walls of Sharpsburg. Despite
the dire carnage of the day of battle, there
beat no soldier heart in all the Southern
host that was not true TO Lee.
Presently, as the time accorded for their
sad mission had well nigh expired, Bentor
! was aware Of a young officer in the uni,
form of the horse artillery. who had beer
chatting with comrades across the way
and now. d~ismounting. stepped briskly
toward him. lifting a jaunty forage cap.
Your pardon. SIR" he courteously spoke
lis this Captain Benton, ~who-visite<
charlettesvrla not long ago? by name Il