Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-05-30

Yes. it was hot work. but we all got
used to that, eh, boys?"
The others nodded the truth of the
statement and he proceeded.
But about my getting scared. When
were in retreat ard were going through
an orchard. We'd halt, fire and then
start on the retreat, loading as we
went. This we kept doing all the way
through the orchard All at once got
it in the left arm. 1 can feel that now.
The member dropped, limp, by my side
and 1 began figuring to find the best
place to fall. l could feel the blood
running down my arm and was grow
ing weak. Just then the apple, which
had fallen from a tree and struck my
shoulder, rolled down i'm front of me
and 1 knew what it was that had
struck me.
But that apple gave me the worst
fright Of my life"
Strange how those things worked"
said another. II remember one day we
were lying fiat on the ground, waiting
orders, while the Johnnies were send
ing shells into our lines. 1t was nerve
nothing and have shells bursting all
around you and your comrades being
carried off the fields, either dead or
wounded. Still there was no help for
it, the powers weren't ready to make
a move and we had to wait, that was
all.
AFTER a time a shell came sailing
along and struck close to me and
h,,t- hn mt nf
shell struck me in the small of the
back and passed through me. / could
feel the pain and everything. ] WAS
deathly faint in an instant and could
feel myself sinking away into uncon-
seriousness and then l stopped. The
minutes went by and failed to die. 1
was stil1 faint and weak, but Il desire
to see what kind of a wound the shell
had made took possession of me. With
mighty effort, each movement sending
the most excruciating pains through
my body, I opened my jacket and
trousers and looked. But there was no
blood, nor was there any signs Of a
wound. That struck me as being
strange and so l reached around on
my back to feel of the wound there.
My hand came in contact with a
pull. 1t moved and 1 pulled harder.
In a second my shell laid in front of
me. 1t was a piece of earth which had
been thrown upon me by the bursting
she'll"
AS remarked by the teller, the next
incident showed one of the phases Of
the horrors of war which are never
told in official reports. 1t went about
as follows:
"As you know, boys, was In the
artillery and our bunch saw a good lot
of hard service. A certain cavalry
regiment was usually I'm our neighbor-
hood, and the colonel Of it was always
saying sarcastic things about our abil-
ity to shoot straight. He was especial
ly fond of saying these things to our
colonel One day we were stationed on
a bit of hill guarding a road. Our
position was a bit masked and we had
orders to stop anything which came
down the turnpike.
How long we had been there don't
know, but l do distinctly remember
that after a while we saw a troop OF
cavalry coming down the road. We
couldn't make them out, SO our officers
obeyed orders.
1--WE trained our guns and opened
fire. Before they got word to US that 1t
was our friends and we had ceased fir
ing eight of the troopers had been
killed. After that that colonel of cavalry
said no more about our poor markham
ship But that incident was never re-
ported officially"
"You bet it wasn't" chimed the
others.