The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1905-10-06

sorry that | cannot give their naHes')
called out: Hold on, Captain, you
shan't go by YOURSELF" and moved
out with him. They had gone but a
short distance when he concluded nor
to subject his brave little force to the
danger of possible error Of his judg-
ment, but to use their aid without
risk to them. He had observed an
officer trying to arouse the collapsed
spirit of his men in the gully, and,
hating his volunteers on the crest
overlooking the position, ordered
them to open fire on the officer and
put a stop to his harrangue, while he
advanced alone over the open field in
full view of Fields division on our
side, and the whole force Of the enc
my on the other side. He was recog-
nized by his own brigade, but those
of the other brigades, misapprehend-
ing his conduct, fired on him, at long
range so heavily that the dust stirred
bv the bullets falling around him al
most concealed him from view. This
continued until word could be passed
continued until word could be passed
along the line stopping it. This, Of
course, served to attract the atten-
ton of all to him as he approached
the gully in which the enemy were,
and in full view of friend and foe,
accomplished the capture and made
them file out without arms and move
on to our lines. There was great en-
thusiasm and excitement on Our side.
Men all along the line of the division
mounted the works with exclamatlons
of admiration and inquiry: "Who is
he?" etc. The enemy did not seem to
understand it at first, and took no
part until they saw the prisoners fill
ing into Our works, when they opened
battery on the scene, which contrib
uted to the general excitment, but was
especially effective in hu-rying the
movement of the prisoners into our
works. The number of officers and
men captured was about six hundred,
with three stands of colors and
swords by the arnaful. This is the
substance Of report made to me on
my return to the brigade few days
after the incident occurred. And ON
which I based and forwarded rec
ommendation for his promotion. Maj.
General Fields, who witnessed the
close of this stirring scene, not only
endorsed, but warmly urged it on
the ground of 'benefit to the SERVICE"
in his entire division, adding what he
himself saw of the remarkable feat.
But our army was being worn away
and reduced in numbers daily. There
were no vacancies, all of our positions
were held by officers of courage and
experience, and Our condition was not
favorable to giving rank for any feat
of valor, not even for one so consplc-
uous and extraordinary as this. The
recommendation for promotion was
for this reason, perhaps, shelved.
This, though the most wonderful,
was by no means the first Of Captain
Lyles' feats Of danger. They, together
with his personal disregard for dan
ger, had made him in the brigade a
reputation for general recklessness,
but his recklessness was entirely per-
sonal-no officer was more careful
for his men, in looking to their COM
fort OF shielding them from unneces-
sary risk So far as they were con-
cerned he exercised real prudence,
but it was the prudence Of which only
a brave man is capable. He was high
ly endowed with what are called bat
tie Instincts" and relying implicitly on
his intuitions of the conditions of the
enemy, acted on them whenever he
had authority to do so. Hence his
successes in apparently rash and
reckless enterprises.
His intelligent courage and pecu-
liar adaptability to fighting attracted
nv attention and influenced my selec