The National tribune., 1903-03-05
Johnston Finally Retreats from Bentonville.
and the wounded Make Painful Journey
to Goldsboro y

ALI S wound was paining him exceeding
~. but the importance he felt as Sturgeon
OF the Post aildi the urgent need of car
ing actively and Immediately for his ter
ribly hurt comrades, had for the time over
mastered it. Now, however, that til,
Regimental Surgeon was present and still
more skillfulIy relieving their sufferings
RELOCATING him to the position of subordi
nate and mere attendant, his own pain
became almost insupportable.
AS the Surgeon was completing his
round and losing the pressing need of lis
services, Alf threw himself face down
ward on pile of brush in front of the
fire, breathing ont his agony in deeI
Sroans into the pine boughs. The Sur
geon FASTENED to him. but ALI, with great
mas nanimity, waved him off to attend tc
the Colonel first.
Don't mind me, don't mind me. At
tend to the Colonel said he; Il can man
age to stand it a little longer, while you re-
lieve his sufferings.'
Surgeon Bartholomew hurried over te
the Colonel, and examined his arm, witt
his face growing graver as he did so.
The inflammation and swelling are SC
| great, Colonel, that We can not judge sure
ly, but l fear you will have TO lose youl
ARM, he said. 1T seems only too prob
able that the bullet has shattered botl
| the radius and ulna, rendering amputa
ton almost inevitable to save your life
If you amputate it mt once, will j be
able TO go into battle tomorrow eager
ly asked the Colonel.
My orders to YOU said the Surgeon
emphatically, 'are to keep absolutely quiet
for a long time, if you would save youi
arm and probably your life"
| Il want to 90 into that fight so badly
| that l will take my chances on both arm
and life said the Colonel earnestly. 1T
going to be the wind-up for Johnston, and
/ want awfully to lead what is left of the
old 200th Ind. in ut the DEATH
You will do nothing of the kind, said
the Surgeon, IF my orders have any force
You have heretofore held that mine, in
some cases, Outranked yours. Now don't
spoil your record as the finest discipline
rian in the army by gross INSTRUMENTATION
at this late day Give an example TO the
rest of the obedience and discipline which
you have enforced upon them
Go ahead, Doctor, and do the best you
can for my arm now.'' said the Colonel
with a wan smile, land we will reserve
| the discussion of the other question until
! tomorrow"
The Surgeon dressed his wound, greatly
relieving the pain, bound it mp as best he
could in splints, arranged FOR the Colonel
Il place where he could sit in halt-re-
Ginning position by the fire, and from which
he could see the field and give orders to
| the men coming up from the regiment, but
renewed his cetIIisels as to the greatest
quiet, and then turned his attention TO
Alf.
There were some pOntoniers and hospi-
| tai attendants around. and the Colonel at
| tempted to distract his attention from his
pain by directing them TO make the place
more comfortable, erecting shelters OF
boughs, draining off the water and accu-
mulating wOod-fef fires.
These poor men will have to stay here
some days at ldast," he said. las there are
nowheres enough ambulaBces to convey
them to GoldShorO, while some of them
can't be novel at all. We had better
make this as comfortable a hospital as
possible, for their sakes."
Now my boy,"t said the Surgeon kind
| ly t. Ale, what is the matter with you
| and where are you hurt.' ta
"Oh, Dector"' groaned Alf, Il got a
shot in the hips which at first did not seem
very serious, but nOwaI feel that 1t has
shattered the head of my femur, and
possibly the socket in which itartculates:
/ fear that the hip joint amputation will
be necessary, if even we can save my
| life"
You know a good deal about anatomy
| for n boy in the ranks said the Doctor
| with surprise, ''but l hardly think it can
| be as bad as you imagine. or you would
not be able to walk at all.
"Oh, yes, Doctor, it is just as l say
groaned Aft; Its even worse. / can feel
the jagged ends of the shattered bones
grinding in my flesh. i made it worse by
running around trying to help the others.
| know that at least one of my legs viii
have to come off. and possibly both"
my, my, that's serious" said the Sur
gcon sympat Iietically, looking at the hole
| through Alf's pantalOons, and noting the
quantity of dried blood which had stream
ed from it. Take off your clothes, and
| let me sec.'
Alf modestly exposed the wounded
parts, and the Surgeons eyes lighted up 4
| little .nirthfully as he saw the track OF
| the bullet just under the skin, which had
| left high blue-red vale across the flesh
lest portion Of ATS form.
Il guess we can bring you around all
right, without the amputation of either of
your legs" he continued, bringing out his
lancet to pierce the angrily swollen bis
ter "Fact is, my boy, they came mighty
near missing YOU
s.. Shorty, and the rest of the boys,
who, attracted by Alf's groans, had gath
cred anxiously around, gave yell OF de-
| lighted laughter at this verdict of the Sur
geon, at which Alf buttoned up his sus-
penders and savagely snOrted:
| You fellows are awful smart. You
think nobody never gets hurt but you. Bet
| I'll get the laugh on you some day"
As the day wore on the inflammation
| and pain of their wounds more and more
conquered the hope and courage with
which they had risen in the morning. They
could no longer pretend that they cared
| nothing for their hurts. The rising fever
made them unbearably irritable and i'm
patient. Those who were able to walk
paced around, sc0wling at one another,
| with hot words at anyone who came with
| i'm n ward, that he should not rub against
their sore arms or bodies. Tom and Gid
were soon delirious from the rising fever,
and the others seemed approaching that
| stage. Shad Graham, still stimulating
himself with great drafts of strong coffee.
sat with his back against stump and his
burning eyes fixed ON the distant woods,
| his ears strained to catch the sounds of
battle. The Adiutant had spells of speech
| less lethargy When he scarcely seemed
alive, alternating with excited moments
when the canfonading grew fierce, and
when his old life in the rolling-mill came
| back TO him, and lie talked volubly of the
work going on and gave orders to the men.
| The growing fever was conquerlng even
| the COlonel's ir0nnwiil. He lay at length
uDon the blankets, which had been brought
ND for him and spread upon a couch of
| nine under a shelter, and eagerly watched
| with his feyeredsgeyes for signs of the
progress of the battle, until pain overmas-
| tered him, when he would close his eyes
and set his teeth to repress the utterance
| Of hic nnpuiSh