Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-07-05

NNlNSH Of us. Roll call show
NCNSEN ed thirty men missing
W1$NSNp y from the first compa
WSMH ny. which had carried
~ MS only fifty men into &C
~ NWS ton. besides several
from each Of the other companies
Some of the missing we found dead ol
wounded in the creek and woods. witt
a larger number Of the enemy In the
same condition. but after a careful
count we found the Johnnies had Sc
cured about twice as many prisoners
as we.
The proceedings Of the next hour OF
two would not have interested any CT
william spectator in search Of the glory
of war. Several mounted men who
had been hurried away to farmhouse
known to be about u mile down the
road came back with all the farmers
wagons, carts, colored men, spades and
picks. Into the wagons and carts on
a lot Of pine tufts hastily picked were
placed the wounded and our own dead
The colored men. under the direction Of
the farmer. who had kindly volun
teered to help. buried the Confederate
dead near the roadside. Some Of the
wounded groaned terribly, and one
Door fellow almost broke my heart by
family screaming Father" every mo-
ment. didn't feel any better When
we learned that the wounded boy
whom we were about to cart away
was a son Of the old man who was
preparing the dead Confederates fol
their last home. Then we knew why
the old man had offered to assist the
burial party and why he had looked 50
quickly and intently through the gath
ering dusk into the faces Of the dead
The boy had been brought In later
from the woods. and the father would
never have known Of his presence had
II not been for his cries.
The next scene was equally painful
the old man begging. with tears In bis
eyes. to be allowed to take his wound
ed child to his own house and the ma.
jor insisting on his duty to carry all
the wounded captives 10 our own camp.
Several minutes before the old farmer
had been to us only stay at home reb'
ell Now there wasn't q man of us who
would not have added our entreaties
to his had we dared. 1t was q great
relief to all Of us when our assistant
surgeon. who had been rapidly eXamin'
ing the wounded, assured the old man
that the boy would need frequent sur
gical attention instead Of home nurs'
ing If his life were 10 be saved, so he
would be better off in our hospital.
Then the surgeon offered the farmer
his hand, and after a shake the old
man sighed:
"I'll take your word for It."
l couldn't understand why mere
handshake was so convincing until one
Of our middle aged chaps told me that
both men were Freemasons. But the ag.
ony for US was resumed after we start.
ed for camp, for the major. though
true to the letter Of his duty, was a
Freemason himself, so he halted us In
front of the old mans farm long enough
to let the family come out and bid the
boy goodby. perhaps for the last time.
They came down with lantern. for II
was now quite dark, aud the mother
sobbed and walled as she leaned over
the cart and did all her thinking aloud
and told how handsome and chcery her
boy had looked when he took dinner al
home q few hours before for the first
time In months. His pretty sister,
whom all Of us had adored from time
to time as she stood at the farm gate
with her father to see the soldiers pass
by, prayed aloud for heavens curse ia
fall on the man whose bullet had pierc.
ed her brothers lungs. and am sure
each Of us trembled at the thought that
the bullet might have been his own
Near them stood a little brother and
sister crying in the pitiful, hopeless
way that my brother Ned did when he
first heard that was going to the war
Yet this was not the only family that
suffered by that engagement. Besides
the men killed outright. some of ouI
own comrades died afterward of their
wounds without father, mother sisters
or brothers to say goodby to them. MOI
all the missing were taken prisoners
by the enemy. and nearly half veal
of awful uncertainty and Of frantic
letter writing passed before we learned
this through our captured men who re-
turned when exchanged. One of oul
men. whose leg was broken by bullet
and who then was knocked senseless
by a glancing shot on his head, floatet
down the shallow stream some dis
tance before he came to his senses anC
got ashore. Stanching his wound by
tying strip Of his shirt tightly around
his leg. he bound the broken limb ir
twigs and then spent two whole day:
and nights in crawling on his hands
and one knee to our nearest picket sta
ton, several miles distant. In the ear
ly spring a colored man who went tt
the creek to fish found the remains Of
one Of our men beside tree, a mile
below the scene Of the fight. ant
scratched on the bark Of the tree were
q few words telling how the poor fel
low had died a lingering death frou
wounds. exposure and starvation.
Yet the entire engagement, in which
a full third Of the men on the
bridge were either killed. wounded o.
capturcd within 10 minutes, was ir
military parlance merely a little