Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-07-04
SOLDIERS AT HOME.
THEY TELL SOME INTERESTING
ANECDOTES OF THE WAR.
How the Boys of Both Armies whiled
Away Life in Camp-ForaSinE Ex-
periences, Tiresome Marches-Thril-
ling SCenes on she Battlefield.

part in the fight at the bloody angle
at Spot;sylvania on the 18th of May.
1864 After Hancock's corps had cap
tured the first line of Lees works at
the salient, and after the Sixth Corps.
under Wright, had plunged into the
fight, there were several pieces of ar
tiliery left near the angle, which were
put in action again by nfantrymen
from different regiments. Up 10 May
10 we of the Army of the Potomac
had not been able to locate more than
one of these men.
Eight or ten guns We're captured by
HancOck'S men in the first charge
early on the morning of May Il. When
the rebels attempted TO recapture the
works at the angle some of these guns
were drawn out and turned on the
charging enemy. Later two guns of
Battery c. Fifth United States Artil-
lery, were ordered close up to the an
gle by General Wright himself The
guns went as ordered but the staff Of
ficer guiding them was shot before
and in a few minutes all the horses
had been shot, seven of the twenty
three men had been killed and six
teen wounded.
"Then. of course, the guns We're
abandoned. Ten years ago the only
survivors of that squad were Lieuten-
ant Metcalf and Sergeant William E
Lines. To show the character of the
rife fire poured on the men manning
the guns it may be said that in the
time given to firing nine rounds, TWEEN
| ty-seven bullets passed through the lid
of the timber chest and thirty-nine bull
lets through the sponge bucket Of the
| right gun. In spite of the fact that
no men could live in Il such fire. of
| Ulcers of a Vermont regiment and of
| the Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania ran TO
| the assistance of Lieutenant Metcalf
and Sergeant Lines. but these fell be
| fore the guns Were Abandoned.
Later, men of the Fifth Wisconsin
and other regiments manned these
guns and some of those captured that
| morning. Until very recently Judge
j. c. Anderson, of Manitowoc who
served in the Fifth Wisconsin at Spott-
! sylvania, believed he was the sole sur
vivor of this second gun squad In
| relating his experience at the reunion
OF his regiment last year, he told how,
| as the last load was rammed home.
John Lehn, Of Company Il, sank down
wounded. Then as Anderson went to-
| ward the other guns manned by infan.
! trymen, seeking ammunition. some
thing struck him that put him out of
action. But he remembers that two
| of the captured guns were blazing
away at the enemy. He stated that
he had repeatedly made inquiries for
the men serving those guns. but could
learn nothing of them, and bis conclu-
sion was that all were dead.
"All Of the boys who saw service
IN the Army of the Potomac became
! interested in pushing the inquiry. and
l was boasting that it was no common
man who could brave such deadly
fire. when my friend Samuel u. Muir
ray, who lives out on Oakley avenue.
said quietly: 1t wasn't snch a great
thing. ! manned one of those guns
myself, and others Of my regiment the
Third Michigan, were with me At
that time Second Corps men Of a do2-
on regiments and Sixth Corps men Of
several regiments were lighting togeth-
or. Organizations had been broken up.
and men Of different companies left
without officers were doing the best
they could. Some OF us loaded up tie
guns ard hlaZed away ae long as we
Lad ammunition Ny partner toward
the last, was in doubt whether we
lad raInmed bone a load or not. and.
% make tho thing sure. we put in an
other and lei her go.
THE gan. double-shotted. turned a
somersault aud went splashiug into
the mortar-Iike mud between us ana
the enemy. That put US out of action,
but some Of the other guns were fred
after that. | remember well Just how
that gun looked as it went Ike a live
thing into the mud. and / remember II
more clearly because about that time
&a Officer rode to whore the boys were
l1ddled close 10 the brCastworks and
ordered them TO scale them. The men.
inspecting that he was druak. paid 1T
Tie attention to him, but one fellow
asked why he didn't try il himself.
Thereupon the officer spurred his
horse up the steep incline into the very
faces Of the rchs As soon az he
reached an elevation that brought him
Id range OF tie rifemeu crouchlng on
lie other side. his horse was struck
and rolled with bis rider into the mud
o the bottom, Laundering and throw
.H1 mud over the lneu firing AZ the
rebels. one Of tie boys turned MS
rife on the wounded horse and others
pulled the rider out Of the mud a.
miserable LOCKING creature rs ever
saw. lie went 10 the rear crcetfaIlen.
and ] have often wondered WHO Ire
was and what became Of him.
This" continued tho Captain. "bcars