Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-07-17

II IS uStDHlSHHlS NOW IluNH tllid@t
can be done by the buckshot which can
be put into an old horse pistol aft
erward learned that all the horses in
the first set of fours, as well as two of
the men, were hit, though none was
seriously injured, by that grayish
brown mans double shot.
In half a minute some of our men
were on the bridge, but so were some
of the enemy. Ten seconds later tho
bridge was jammed with horsemen.
Fire fast! Fire fast" screamed
our major.
The major meant WELL but how much
firing could be done on bridge only
wide enough for about four men
abreast after the men in front had
emptied their revolvers? How were
any but the surest shots and those near
est the front to fire without hitting their
own comrades, who already We're using
their revolvers as hammers or hitting
the Johnnies with bare fists? There
was little firing ON the other side, for
nearly all the Confederates carried
ehotguns or muzzle loading muskets,
which they could not reload in haste,
so after firing once they used their
guns as lances, punching our men in
breast or face and being horribly ours
ed IN return.
Meanwhile each horse was looking
out for No. /. The horse is n wedge
shaped animal, and each of our four
footed wedges pushed his head and
shoulders between those of horses in
front of him. This gave the animals
absolute rest as well as safety while
their riders We're fighting.
The major turned to the rear, first
cautioning his captains to maintain
the pressure, and soon we heard him
say:
1.-Two rear companies dismount!
Third company deploy on the right;
fourth on the left! Pepper their rear
with carbines as long as there's man
of them in the saddle! Aim carefully!
Be careful not to hit our own mem"
This promised sickening slaughter,
for our men with their carbnes could
get within 100 yards of the most dis
tant Johnny and do a great deal of
and fire more than single shot. Prob
ably the enemy would follow our ex-
ample as soon as they saw what we
were up to, If any of them were left
after we had given them a volley or
two. This is not joke. Our Sharp
carbines were as true as sporting rifles.
For several months we had been
taught, when fighting dismounted with
carbines or revolvers, to shoot from a
rest whenever possible. and our prac-
tice shooting showed that anywhere
within point blank range we could
shoot well.
At the majors orders three men of
every set Of fours in the last two COM
panies dismounted and hurried to trees,
logs and fences near the creek.
''Now, men," said the major to US,
''as soon as they begin to fire and clear
away the rear you press upon the ad-
vance with all your might. If we
drive them off the bridge, divide, right
and left, as soon as you get across and
ride down their fanks, and Wen cap
ture every mothers son of them who's
alive"
This seemed practicable, and hoped
1t might begin at once. Had there been
no other reason 1t would be vastly
pleasanter to take a lot of prisoners
into camp than to bury an equal num-
Der Of Confederate dead, for burial
party duty stays in ones mind.
why don't those skirmishers begin
firing" shouted the major, though 1t
was not easy to hear him above the
horrid din on the bridge
Crack" went one of our carbines. l
relned my horse toward the edge of the
road to see when the enemy's rear
should become weak enough for the
pressure to begin.
Crack, crack, crackp' sounded in
rapid succession, but the sounds were
not like the report of revolver or car
bine. Something new was occurring
on the bridge, for all the men, both
gray and blue, seemed to press to one
side. A second or two later that entire
bridge, containing 40 or 80 Union troop
ers and as many Confederates, went
down with a crash and a splash into
the creek below.
Here was the unexpected again, and
a great deal Of ii, too, so looked anx
iously at the major to see what he was
going to do about 1t. He didn't seem a
bit puzzled. On the contrary. the bridge
had scarcely fallen when he roared
"Skirmishers cover the road on the
other side Of the bridget Don't let
reb get away! Second company dis
mount; lie down along the edge Of the
bank! Cover every reb trying to get
out Of the water and order him to come
ashore herer'
Out of their saddles dropped Nos. /,
and 3 Of each set OF fours in our
troop, and In less than half n minute
each had picked out for himself a gray
target in the great gully below. The
skirmlshers had already begun TO
blaze away at the gray targets on the
other side of the bridge, but the John
nies, like sensible soldiers. broke right
and left into the woods, left their
horses pretty well sheltered from fire
by the standing timber and then took
cover themselves behind the trees near
est the creek and began to operate ex-
dCLly dCCOIuluB W our ldCllCS, ming Ol
our skirmishers and trying to secure
prisoners from the struggling mass
below. We were the stronger In num-
bers and weapons, but nature gave the
enemy one immense advantage. AS
members OF the Potomac army will re-
member, creeks on the Virginia coast
almost invariably have one bank high
and steep and one which is low and
shelving. and where we were fighting
the steep bank was on our side.
Our fellows could not easily get out,
much less drag out prisoners, but the
Johnnies had scempered up their own
side before all OF rs were in position to
fire Some, too, whose horses had been
hit or who had dropped their guns dur
ing the tumble had the presence OF
mind to take Yankee carbines or horses
with them. One had the impudence to
lead away two Of our horses including