The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-06-22


 ing July sun, with shells and bullets fiy- ing over them for nearly two hours, when, at the word of command they rose and moved off in quick time, in perfect line to- ward the crater. When within about fifty yards of the enemy a terrible volley was poured into their line. and the devoted Alabamians trailed their arms and broke into double quick. Before the federals could reload our men plunged into the crowded mass and the work of death be- gan anew, but now with bayonet and clubbed guns.
 The scene Is said to have been indescrib- able. In places our mortar shells had ex- ploded In the crowded mass of men, tear ing them In pieces. In the hot sunshine the odor arising from the blood and man. gled remains was horrible. One man, the son of a prominent judge, leaped into the crater, striking a federal to the ground as he jumped on him. Quickly recovereing he plunged his bayonet through the pros trate man with such force that 1t pene- trated a plank, and when the gun was withdrawn the bayonet remained, pinion- ing the man down as boy pins fly to the wall As the confederate withdrew his gun Federal fired at him and the ball shattered his left arm near the shoulder. Swinging his gun with his re- maining arm he brought it down on the head of the Federal, crushing his skull The wounded man then escaped, living long to tell the tale.
 Ad1utant FonYille of the Fourteenth Alabama was hot while surrounded by enemies, but Captain Terrell of Dadeville at once slew the man who killed him. It were vain to even attempt to relate the one hundredth part of the personal con- nicts which en5ued when 1900 men threw themselves into the midst of the several thousand enemies. packed like sardines In the crater and ditches which formed our works. Death was everywhere and men fought like demons. Our men had heard the cry of the negroes to give no quarter, the broiling sun, the smoke. the smell of powder and blood, and the des peration born of the resolve to conquer or die brought on a delirium which all soldiers have felt. As it Is said that the work Of slaughter went on long after the resistance had ceased, and stopped only after Malone had exerted himself for a long time to stay the hands of his infu- riated men,
 Federal soldier visiting the scene long afterwards, relates that he with five white and fourteen negro comrades. had crowded into bomb-proof for shelter. Knowing that the Confederates had heard the cry of No quarter from the ne- groes, and fearing that the whites. too. would be slaughtered they deliberately resolved to kill all their black comrades so as to get an opportunity surrender and they carried their resolution into eff. feet
 The land on which the crater is situ- ated was owned by Griffith, and is now owned by his son. who was 13 years of age at the time of the battle. He pulled the lanyards for two mortars in rear of the crater for two hours during the bat tie. And when the mortar ceased firing he went to the edge of the crest and wifi messed the charge of Hahone's, Wright's. and finally of Sanders brigades. He says the soldier boys of the volunteer com panles drilling in the streets do not make a better line or move with more Precision than did Sanders brigade when they marched into the jaws of death on that eventful day Griffith went to the crater on August l, when the dead were being buried under flags of truce, and, with the vivid recollection of a boy he can tell many things forgotten by the men who took part in the same.
 He says in some places men were piled up like cordwood, tumbled into a heap at least six feet The blood had been mixed by the feet of the struggling men with the clay, until the mud so formed was ankle deep.
 The total loss of the Federals as report
 
 ed by General Meade on that day was 44Oo; and, when 1t Is considered that most or these losses were in a space not much larger than one of our city blocks. and that space cut by the ditches and banks or earth one can readily imagine what a scene of carnage and bloodshed. when so many men besides 1900 of our own were lost.
 The crater is now enclosed with fence. and growth of pines and cedar has sprung up as if to cover the awful scene. The works on each side have been leveled done, 1t is said to obtain the lead found In them-and the field is now cultivated The same spring to which we resorted at night continues to flow with cool. pure water so grateful to us during the weary months of the siege.
 The writer served in the trenches over month about 100 yards to the right of the crater but his command was ordered to the north of the James about three days before the battle, and he did not participate in 1t. This narrative is com