The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1904-02-11

Il
were. About 1000 rebe,s lay ON
the brow of theshill aIaiting the attack.
While this was gcilg on the fire at
Fort Haskell slnekelied and l could see
the men nuke beetle for Fort Sted.
man. We followed Them. Hartranft
brought up, his trosps lp good style. but
being sI new va, they tg fire. instead ms. adj, Of
They , setrsased : fe 20 reformed ned made
a second attempt and made this time a bet
ter show. Now began n fire from Fort
Stedmsn into the rear OF. tho rebels who
again repulscd thosf <shec regiments. Just
as / got on top fknolE close to the
Pennsylvania reginllnt guidon they made
tine tine ,esa Mha up Se hpts
and shouted. They wed prisoners, and as
they came mp they shn4 I shook our arms
off in shaking hands. Whey formed in
line. The Sd Nd, one sof our own bri-
gade, was detailed to take the long line
Of prisoners to the rear.
Going into the fort saw a blue coat
fQat on the stagnant water near gun
platform. pulled, and poor John Lapeer.
a leg off and an arm off-on same side
and he had to drown! BY noon al was
over. We had possession OF all we had
yesterday. We lost LOO men--mosty
prisoners-and the rebs lost many more.
One of our heavy shells exploded on a
level between the two forts, while an Of
ficer Of the rebel army on white horse
gave orders. When the smoke cleared
saw nothing Of him, but he surely must
have suffered.
Among the wounded was Morris Fitch,
a veteran of the 18th or Goth n y. with
three bullets through him. Among the
prisoners lost on that morning was Ser
geant n. L. Trussell. Co. A. | looked
over our traps that the rebs left. but
oil
which kept for him. and which received
from him rs n present after his return. 1t
was in my possession for imany years.
They took a fine pair of pants / had just
bought of Lieut.. Shubert, Co.. Il, and
cleaned up my tent to perfection.
TRADING NEWSPAPERS.
From this time we had no more roll
call, no drill, slept in daytime. and were
kept on the line at night. This 25th Of
March, in the afternoon. n paper was held
up by rebel and 10, 20, 80 hands went
up on both sides: n rush over the lines; n
grasping and letting go of paper by each
and the exchange was over Col
Randall made strenuous efforts and gave
orders to arrest all offenders-and the Of
ficers made strenuous @pretenses. looking
over the heads of 4 number of the guilty
ones, but caught no one. Ten minutes
later some 10 men and four or FIVE officers
sat in Battery No. 10 hearing the rebel
news read from Il sheet of wall paper. We
sent over a number Of wounded; the rebs
were to send n like number of our men
back. but only one arrived the rest were.
it was stated. already on the march to
Richmond. On April ], Saturday evening,
we began the grand b0mba rdment of Pc
tersburg and Richmond On Sunday two
or three select men were ordered from each
company for heavy skirmish line to feel
the enemy. The fort Oh our left-FoYt
Mahone--was captured and the Michigan
Indian SharpshOoters held it against eight
persistent attacks. Ats3 o'clock D. m. all
was over. Green ekeibegan to rise from
Petersburg, and noise~of many vehicles
could be heard. Our excitement began to
increase. The end Of the long and bloody
war we felt was near. When night came
the fires OF Petersburg Mt up the sky.
About midnight we sent skirmish lines out,
one after another. who found no resistance
chevaux-de-frise into IEea3s. But We were ere
not allowed to go Beyond their breast
works.
TOO QUIET TO SLEEP. =
In the morning they ewere gone. At
daylight We followed and saved a rail
road bridge which hadt7just been fired,
ard then we occupied ,thestOwn. We could
not sleep the first night. although we had
leaves and very quiet time. 1t was too
quiet. in fact. We missed the constant
picket fire to which We had become accus-
toned in the five months.
Our boys did not behave as they ought
to. and we were ordered. west. % miles,
where we lay near Sam Northingt0n's to-
bacco plantation. and while there we re-
ceived tidings of Lees surrender, and the
sad news Of Lincoln's death. Gen. Custer
with his cavalry also stopped on this plan
tation on his way east. It was the only
time had chance to see him. His wife
was along riding in hack. We slept on
beds Of tobacco, smoked cigars of our own
make, real Havanas-sometimes eight to
IL inches Iong--until we got sick Of it.
Here, or few miles east, our boys got
into a row one night and felt the heavy
hand of Lieut.. Col. George NJ. Randall.
In time we returned to Washington, d.
c., where we lay at Forts Reno and
Kearny until discharged.
From this place l went for many days