The National tribune., 1906-11-22

must stay with him while the rest of
us must hunt for more. Each of the
three others refused to stay alone with
man who might die any minute in
that "bivouac of the dead" and SO /
stayed with him until the others re-
turned (not having found any more of
our wounded). which seemed to be two
hours, but in fact was not more than
one.
The night was SO dark that one could
see only few feet from him. Refer
ring to my letter again, / find: THE
first man we found of our regiment was
Sers't ]. L. Haskell of Co. A. His left
leg was broken by bullet Another
bullet went thru his right knee and an
other went thru his thigh. Oh, 1t was
awful to sit by the side of Serg't Has
kell and listen to the terrible groans
and shrieks OF the wounded men in
other parts of the field, and know that
| could not help them. After the other
men came back we carried the Ser
geant on blanket to the picket line
and put him in an ambulance. 1t was
then about midnight, and the last am
line. We then returned and found
Barney Clark. of Co. G.. We had to
carry him back to Little Round Top,
where others relieved US. He was
wounded, and severely. near the back
bone" He died at the field hospital
July 9.
Serg't James l.. Haskell had both
legs amputated, I was told by one of
his company. He died the following
Aug. %.
1t was i o'clock in the morning when
we rejoinsd our regiment, and we were
ready to lie down and sleep.
Tie Position the Third Day.
Our position on Little Round Top
was behind low stone wall, in a cart
path which ran across the face OF the
side of the hill about midway between
the crest and the base. We had a good
view of the muZzles of the guns of the
battery at the top of the hill In our
rear when they were run forward to be
fired; also of the Devils Den and the
Valley of Death in our front. On the
ridge beyond was a young growth of
trees, which from our position prevent
ed us seeing the fields beyond, but from
the crest of the hill these fields could
be plainly seen. On the morning of
July all seemed quiet, but between 9
and 10 o'clock the enemy opened on
us with artillery. During the action a
shell came over the wall in front of
where I was sitting and knocked the
hat off Maj. Edmunds's head. He was
sitting on the ground near me. He
remarked that 1t came too close to be
agreeable. The shell struck a haver-
|
foot of n big rock just back of us, and
bounded up the hill a few rods and
lodged among the rocks. The haver-
| sack, which stood in the path of the
shell, was somewhat damaged, the
| kitchen utensils attached to it were put
out of commission, and the hardtack
/ and other luxuries within it were badly
| mixed and pulverized.
Soon after this five or six men were
| standing in circle around small fire
of sticks; each had a stick in his hand
with which he was holding quart
dish of coffee on the fire. a shell COM
| ing from beyond the trees burst over
| their heads, and n large piece of II
came down in their midst, spilling all
their coffee, crushing some of the cups
! and scattering the fire. / was sitting
against the wall (writing letter.
within six feet of them; others were
around them. We gave them the laugh,
but they couldn't see where the laugh
came in. Their faces turned a shade
whittier. as probably would have been
| the case with any one of us had we
! been in their places. 1t was surely a
/ close call.
| Pickett's Charge.
Soon after the firing ceased, and all
was again quiet until about / o'clock,
when the report of a gun over the other
side burst on the air, and a shell camo
| whirring over to our side with John
MES compliments, and this meant busi-
ness, for Immediately their whole line
/ opened with about 140 pieces of artil-
lery. In a few minutes our lines
blazed with the flash of guns. and the
greatest artillery battle the world had
| ever seen wasGon We had not so many
guns in action as the enemy, but in all
there we're nearly $50. The roar OF
artillery and OF bursting shell can never
| be realized by those who did not hear
it, and wished l could be on the crest
of the hill for just few moments to
see the grand display and to be where
the shells were flying but no permis-
sion to leave the line would be given.
A little later my chance came. The
Commissary of our company, Serg't
James A. Black, received notice that
there were rations of fresh beef ready
rear of Little Round Top. Serg't Black
went to the First Sergeant for a detail
of one man to go. but the man detailed
begged to be excused; he had rather
| be on guard "a hours some other time.
People inclined to nervousness are usu-
| ally little disinclined to take a walk
| where iron Is flying so thick as 1t evil
/ IDENTIFY did on that hill. Serg't Black
was very willing to excuse the man.
Il knowing that / wanted just that chance,
| and he got the detail for me. We
climbed the hill between the guns and
stood on the crest. The scene was
II ton. In front and away up the valley
to our right there seemed to be con-
tinuous line of artillery on either side.
and every gun and gunner doing their
level best to destroy everything within
n their scope belonging to the other fell