The National tribune., 1904-06-23
SHARPSHOOTING.
A Very Important Pit in Front Of Petersburg.


SHARPSHOOTING
A Very Important Pit in Front Of Petersburg.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: My regi-
ment brought up in front of Petersburg
June 16. 1864. The next day We charged
the rebel lines and carried strong line
of earthworks; but, from lack of ammu-
milton we were compelled to abandon the
works. and fall back. Undoubtedly we
would have held the works had not our Cap.
tain jumped upon the works and yelled ::
1--WE are out of ammunition" The rebels
heard this and charged us, driving US from
the works; and. had not supply of am
munition arrived just as it did, we would
have suffered a general defeat. June IS
and 10 were spent in picketing the field.
June 20, with good supply of ammuni-
ton, we again advanced our lines. and not
| only took possession of their works, but
| advanced through the outer edge at a strip
of woods, where We built a strong line Of
earthworks.
The major part of our regiment occupied
these works while the remainder advanced
and established our picket line along the
railroad. Our pits were made in the en-
DdHkIleHlS. L uistuc iISt PIT OH the icIt
| of an iron bridge There my experience
| as a sharpshooter because the rebels had
| good many of them at this point who
| kept picking off our men day by day, while
we had none. The first man who occu-
pied that pit with me was Timothy Shaugh-
| messy. He was seriously wounded, while
| in the pit with me. After Tim got wound
| ed he called for water. and there was none
| in either his or my canteen. 1t meant al
| most certain death TO go for water there
in the daytime. | called for help. but could
not get a man who would come and stay
| with Tim. or go for water. either. So
was compelled to leave Tim alone while
l went for water. l went for the water
| expecting never to reach my pit again. as
| was wholly exposed TO the deadly fire Of
sharpshooters. But. thanks be TO God. |
did my duty to Tim. | met Tim a Tenley
| town after the war, and he passed his only
| like a child. He said that the water that
| | risked my life to get for him was what
saved his life. He was then stopping at
the Soldiers Home in Washington. lie
invited me down to the Home: and | stayed
one night with him. lie told the officers
at the Home what had done for him at
| the time he was wounded. and | was treat
| ed very kindly both by officers and sol
diers While | write this | don't want it
| understood that | was the only pebble on
the beach, for we had heroes there. Mar
shall was One-lioughtOn. Randall. Clpary.
Coglan. Foote-oh. well. your space would
not hold all of their names. These will
suffice for the present.
On reading my sketch which you printed
| discovered that had made some errors.
My first experience as sharpshooter was
from the picket line. At the time | built
the sand pit. which l gave you in my
sketch. my regiment occupied a position in.
and on right and left of Fort Stedman.
The day before | built my pit | examined
| the ground thoroughly and picked my loca
ton. / discovered little knoll about 10
feet long at the base. | knew that | could
build on the knoll with half the labor that
would be required had there been no knoll
l entered the pit about 1 o'clock in the
morning and held it until it was utterly
destroyed by the terrific fire of infantry
sharpshooters and artillery-the artillery
finished the job at , o'clock in the after
noon. AS | was between the lines at that
| time, and had a whole division to face.
You can imagine somewhat in regard to my
experience. 1t was about o'clock when
the rebels began to man their guns for
their usual DAYS entertainment. firing on
the regiment. | opened fire on the fort with
such success that for two hours the rebels
were unable to man their guns The artl-
lery seemed paraly yZed. In the meantime
my position became desperate. From front.
right and left the rebel infantry and
were lefb upon INV
sand pit. which melted it away like drift
of snow under the heat of MONDAY sun.
| was compelled to turn nv attention from
the battery to the SharpShoOterS. L soon be-
came convinced that my doom was sealed
for1 could not hold out against sharp
shooters. and artillery-still. held my
position until 3 o'clock in afternoon. when
the rebels opened fire upon nv pit with
three pieces of artillery and utterly wiped
my sand pit out. leaving nothing but "A
trench made to get the dirt for my pit.
l was stunned By the concussion which
took place in my pit. and | was covered
with sand and dust that nearly blinded
me, and thousands of stars came before
my vision. l rubbed the dirt and sand
from my eyes as best could and got up
in dazed condition. then heard
rebel to his comrades: "See that little
.nootins just himself!" Another rebel
called out .'Say. you Yank. what kind O.
gun you got? You load hit SUNDAY and
shoot We 'uns all week with hit.' | told
him to come over and see.
l heard the rebels laugh; one of them
proposed three cheers for the little Yank
l swung my cap and gave three cheers
the whole rebel line Joined me. Under
ordinary circumstances soldiers were COM
PEELED to keep under cover to protect their
topknots from rebel bullets: but on this
occasion both armies had become so inter
works facing each other. picked up the
box which had previously contained 1000
rounds of ammunition, and with my gun
and the box. with what cartridges | had
left. started back to our line. The men Of
both lines were yet standing on their re-
spectiye earthworks. When had got part
way back to our lines our whole line gave
me three cheers. with tiger. have al
wavs admired the rebels as soldiers for
their heroic and non-treacher0us disposi-