The National tribune., 1904-07-28
wool hat. II s'pose that thar makes - .

Yankee, same's the rest o. you?"
You are now a loyal citizen OF the
United States, the same as the rest of US,
to remain SO as long as you obey the Con-
stitution and laws said the Major.
"Jes' the same's the rest o yo'uns?" re-
peated the man.
Precisely the same. The law now
knows no difference" reitera ted the Major.
Well. then. said the rebel. with spite
full CLEAN in his eye. didn't Ole Bob Lee
just give us Yankees the very devil all
round this country. heah?"
He whirled like flash, and jumped
down the bank into a thicket of sassafras
and yellow lOcusts.
The boys yelled with laughter
Come back. Johnny Reb," they shouted.
Come back, and go along with US"
No; I'm afeared that Ole Bob Lees
somewhat round thar ter give us Yanks
the very devil" he shouted back.
The fun of the thing sent them forward
WIN a better heart for the next struggle
with a river bottom.
They needed all the fun they could get,
for the next day came the awful depressing
march over the battlefields of Spotsylvania
and the Wllderness-scenes of the deadly
grapples of two mighty armies for IA
mortal days.
spectacle of death and ruin.
The red earth was scanned everywhere
with great, angry welts of works, thrown
up in frantic haste by men digging for
their lives before the scorching fire of
myriads of enemies.
Shallow graves, wherever the eve turned.
where brave men, but a few moments be-
fore burning with the rage of battle, were
hastily put out of sight to mingle with the
clay into which they had been stricken as
by lightning flash.
Trees torn and mangled by cannon shot,
or the very life shot out of them by a
storm of angry bullets searching for hui
man life.
Burned wagons. burned forests, rotting
fragments of clothing and tents.
Old hats and caps, with significant bull
let holes through their crowns.
Broken, rusted muskets. bent swords,
artillery wheels through which solid shot
had crashed
Piles of bleaching bones of arms and
legs. showing where the Surgeons had been
at work.
Skeletons of horses md mules, left lying
where they fell, and picked clean by the
crows, whitened into CHASTITY markers of
| the dreadful fields and woods, under the
bleaching sun and rain.
1t seemed as if the earth had not ceased
| weeping and shuddering over the awfulness
| of the scenes enacted there months ago.
The regiment hurried through with all
| the speed the men could make. The history
was less TO them than the overpowering
horror of everything upon which their eyes
rested.
| Before night they had reached the out
skirts of Fredericksburg. and the next
| morning went into camp for a brief rest
| on Maryes flights, overlooking the famous
old town.
1t was very bright day. and the scene
spread out before them was of surprising
| beauty. The ravages of war were only
| occasional intrusions upon the fairness OF
| Nature.
| The Rappahannock curves and turns
| through the fertile valley like a silver rib
bon flung upon web of bright green vel.
vet. Quaint old Fredericksburg, with its
moss-green roofs and weatherbeaten walls
seems a part of Natures plan, and not an
impudent, marring intrusion upon il, as
newer towns are likely to seem. The water
might have always run along that old race
with its willow-covered banks, to turn the
great overshot wheels in those venerable
stone mills. They look as If they might
have been built in the time of the Pyra.
mids, and have been grinding grain and
saving lumber and spinning cotton when
the Children of Israel crossed the Red Sea
In spite of the terrific bombardment oil
Burnside's guns. one had to search fol
signs of wars destruction. Here and there
a chimney was knocked off, or a gaping
hole in an old wall. some few houses hat
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bridge had been repeatedly wrecked, ant
on the Falmouth Nights. beyond the rive
were the ruins Of the Phillips House, Burn
sides Headquarters, which had been de
stroyed by an accidental fire.
The great undulating plain of Falmouth
where the Army of the Potomac had
camped during the Winter and Spring Of
1923, and from which it went forth Il
the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellors
vile and Gettysburg. was now obliteratins
with a vivid green the old parade grounds
company streets, and tent-sites. Natur,
was doing her utmost to heal the scars o
hate and conflict. The loneliness, the tran
guilty. the vernal glory of the Landscape
more to get out of this Valley of tn,
Shade of Death, this country where tn
graves are many and the houses scarce
boys" said the Adjutant. "Only 60 mile.
suMol 9ql puB MoIS s5IIslsmso sql 5IeqA
"Only 60 miles more to Washington
seemed to deny the possibility of sucf
gigantic tragedies as those of Dec. ID, 1862
and May 3-5. 1863.
decay: where the main industry has beer
manslaughter, and the chief activity il
powder and lead; where newcomers only
moved in to slay, and the old settlers re
manned to kill; where the only burrows
turned were for rife pits. and the only
planting dead mems bones. Great Cesars
Ghost, but I'm sick of it ALL We can't
march away from it all any too fast fol
me- Hello. there comes ST and Shorty.
| hal believed that their wives would lei
any idea of what we've been through
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