The National tribune., 1903-11-26

AGON AND HAUL HIM AWAY"
exact position of his regiment at the be-
ginning of the Federal retreat, and after
walking back and forth through this now
abandoned field several times, he stopped
near that pine tree which has been left,
over there, and said, This is the spot
over which We charged when we turned
the tide of battle. drove the Federais>back,
and thus started the panic which con
tinued until they reached Washington.
And this is how l remember it.: when we
came up this slope l was leading my men,
and noticed little Yankee soldier lying
by this tree, who seemed to be dead. We
passed on, following the Yankees to Cen
terville or beyond, and next day came back
to this region. I was put in charge of
the burial parties on this part of the line,
and we spent Monday and Tuesday bury
ing the dead and removing the wounded
to Manassas.
HOW HE WAS SAVED.
Tuesday afternoon / passed back and
forth over the whole area for which I was
responsible, to see that no one had been
neglected, and again came across the lit
tie Yankee lying under this tree. / called
the men and said, "Why don't you. bury
this MANI" One of them came up and
said, HE is not dead yet; he opened. his
eyes only little while ago." ..Then," /
said, why don't you haul him OFF, and
they said, He would not live to get to
Manassas, and we thought he would die
every minute and then we would bury
him." told them that was cold-blooded
idea. and they must put him in the wagon
and haul him away. They said he was
wounded in three or four places, and they
did not dare even to lift him up. l saw
that il they had a blanket they could
carry him safely, so / went to my horse
standing near, took a blanket from under
the saddle, spread it on the ground, and
they carefully lifted him with it. carried
him to the wagon, put him in and hauled
him off. l have often wondered what be-
came of that little Yankee"
During this intensely dramatic recital,
confirming as it did even to minute par
ticulars Maj. Mines previously told story
the nerves Of the auditors were naturally
strained to the highest pitch, and Milne
himself was agitated to the point of
deeply flushed face and eyes streaming
with tears. When the statement was fin
ished he cried out, Il am that little
Yankee! told these men precisely the
same story on the way here, and for the
first time in 80 years / know whom have
to thank for saving my life" Mr.. Henry
stated that Col. Smith had now been dead
l0 or 10 years, having been quite an elder
ly man at the outbreak Of the civil war.
Maj. Milne climbed the fence with some
of his associates, went TO the tree, sur
veyed its surroundings, and fully agreed
with Judge Henry that this was the ex-
act spot where he fell and lay and was
so miraculOGsly rescued. He collected
some souvenirs of the spot. and carried
them home with him. Another hour was
spent in discussing the battlefield and in
specting some of its salient Typographical
features. Then the party drove back to
Manassas, taking the next train for Wash
ington, and felt that they had indeed
spent an eventful day.
We often hear the suspicion expressed
that the "Old soldiers" have told their bat
tie tales so often with slight exaggerations
each time that they now bear slight re-
sembance to the original occurrences, yet
are religiously believed by their conscien-
tious narratOrs. This is, probably, the
case with some persons and as to some
narratives, but here was certainly case
where there had been in all these years
and in all the repetitions which the hero
of the event had, doubtless, induged in.