The National tribune., 1906-09-13
"REMINISCENCES OF THE CIVIL
WAR.

Stray BuIIets-RebeI Prisoners-Pnno
ramfc View of Early's Army-"Olt
BIue"-Cavalry Charge at Winchest er
Cold Hnrbor-Col. Sam Spear-LonE
street Mt Sufolk-Repulse of Early,
Army ut Cedar Creek.
Very seldom during the civil war die
the men of the opposing forces see
much of each other at close range. The
instinct of self-preservation naturally
kept them as far apart as possible. and
even in time of battle the combatant:
were almost entirely hidden from eacf
other by the enveloping clouds of smoke
occasioned by the rapid fire of mus,
kerry and artillery. At such times de-
liberate aim was out of the question
and so the men fired at random and
recklessly, often wasting their ammuni-
ton. Yet those random shots did 4
great deal of harm. 1 have known q
Surgeon attending to the wounded, !
mile or more in the rear of the firing
line, to be struck and killed by a stray
bullet.
Rebel prisoners were always objects
of curiosity. / remember seeing several
thousand of them in a bunch at Failing
Waters. Nd, just after the battle OF
Gettysburg.
On a bright day In October, 1864,
after Winchester and Cedar Creek, the
writer feasted his eyes upon a grand
and exhilarating spectacle, no less than
an unobstructed view of Early's whole
army, as in a moving panorama, for an
entire day. 1t happened in this way:
The day before Sheridan's cavalry had
had a running fight with Early'S men.
and had whipped and driven them up
the Shenandoah Valley as far as Mount
Jackson, where both commands halted
for the night. Before going into camp
Gen. Early sent his compliments to
Sheridan in the shape of a few solid
shot and shell. One cannon ball which
came ricocheting along the plain
snapped off a leg of a cavalryman's
horse as If 1t had been pipe stem.
Another shell exploded directly under
"Old Blue" a famous roam ridden by
Col. Alfred Gibbs. The old war horse
had presence of mind enough to rear
up on his hind legs long enough to al
low the shell to explode without doing
any harm.
Early in the following morning Col.
Thorp, of the 1st N. Y. Dragons, was
ordered to deploy his regiment (mount-
ed) across the Valley, for the purpose
IF renewing the engagement. The evo-
luton was executed in fine style and to
the evident satisfaction of Gen. Merritt,
who was watching the movement. As
the Dragons with their deadly Spenc-
ers moved briskly forward there was
every indication of real battle, when,
loi all at once the hosts of Early, drawn
up in plain sight in lines of battle, dis
solved, melted away, and began their
retreat, after throwing out a strong
rear guard to delay the pursuit as much
as possible. Every now and then the
men of the rear guard would turn
about and fire at their nearest pursuer.
The man directly in front of me was a
poor marksman, but after a while his
aim grew better, so, whenever he got
ready to fire, I took the precaution to
dismount and use my horse for a breast
work. When found he could not even
hit my horse, broadside on, considered
myself immune, and did not pay much
attention to him for the rest Of the day.
Notwithstanding the rear guard kept
pecking away at US all day, the casual
ties were slight. We parted company
with the Johnnies at Harrisonburg.
In passing We may mention that
Sheridan gathered up the remnant OF
Early's proud army at Waynesboro,
Va, early in the following Spring, the
rebel General himself escaping capture
only by solitary and precipitate flight.
During our cavalry campaign in the
Shenandoah Valley we had many thrill
ing experiences. One day while my
regiment 1st NY. Dragoons) was NOV
ing leisurely along the pike through n
forest near Berryville suddenly AMI
without warning we encountered bri-
gade of Confederates. The surprise was
mutual. We would lave been gobblei
up entire except for tffe fact that we
were armed with the Spencer carbine,
which made regiment equal to bril-
gade equipped with single-barreled ri
hes or carbines. Both sides instantly
deployed as skirmishers, each man TAX
ing refuge behind any available tree.
Ny individual tree was quite too small.
less than a foot in diameter. Presently
I saw a tall North Carolinian drawing g
a bead on me from behind a tree Iot
more than eight rods away. 5 first
shot scorched the left leg of my trousers.
He planted the next shot on my right.
] turned edgeways towards the tree ard
shrank up as much as possible, when
he planted another bullet in the center
of my tree Just opposite my breast. The
rebels getting reinforcements, we were
forced out of the woods and compelled
to take refuge behind a rail fence. Here
q strange and almost incredible Incl
dent befell me. Comrades will hardly
believe me when state that ] actually
happened in this way: While peering
between two oak rails, to see how things
were going on in front along came q
rebel bullet and struck the rail directly
In front of my mouth. The bullet in
passing through the hard oak rail got
tired out by the time It reached my
mouth. 1t burnt rny lips, but did not
loosen my teeth. / kept the battered
bullet ever afterwards as a grim relic
of the civil war.
The rebels in the forest kept yelling
Ike demons over their success, until
Capt. Pennington's battery came up on
q run and sent some shells over among
them The shells lad a disagreeable
way of saying. ",Vhere are you?'
"Where are you?" which the rebels did
not fancy, and soon the Johnnies be-
came as still as mice.
My next startling experience happen
ed near the same locality. While was
passing, on foot, along field bordering
on the public highway. two squadrons
of Federal and ,nfederate cavalry
suddenly came into collision with each
other in the narrow highway, both sides
charging simultaneously. The effect
was like two locomotives with trains OF
cars butting into each other at full
speed. Lieut.. Patrick w. Horrigan. oi
the I'd u. S. Cav, an accomplished
swordsman, leading the charge, ran hi,
saber completely through the body o.
his opponent. The dying man, falling
to the ground, dragged the saber alons
with him. The other Confederate lead
er was knocked off his horse and cap
tured The slashing of sabers and fir
ing of revolvers lasted only a few sec
onds. when the Confederates turne,