The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1907-12-05
THE FIELD OF BATTLE
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES OF
THE WAR.
The Veterans of the Rebellion Tell of
WhistlinG Bullets, Bright BayO-
nets, bursting Bombs, Bloody Bat
sies, Camp Fire, Festive bugs, Etc.

l
ade Of regulars. Those and others Of
that brigade were killed in the battle
Of Dec. 81, 1862, and a good many OF
the volunteers have reason 70 remem-
Der the time. Our regiment was in
Palmer's division and had been thrown
TO the front just before the Confederate
| attack burst like q tornado Oh Palmer s
right. We were caught in sort OF
whirlpool, Confederates dashilg against
Us in front and sweeping past our flank
on the right. We made a good fight
and really believed things were going
our way when a brigade Of Union
troops came from the right at a full
run and swept over us.
I'VE saw these men coming. but sup
posing they were after the Confederates
trying to reach our rear we gave them
little attention. They ran over us as
we had been SO many weeds, breaking
our line and sweeping man. of our
men away with them. Our boys, daZed
and bruised, rallied on the colors and
after a few minutes formed a thin
line 30 resist the heavy Confederate
column advancing In front. We retired
| slowly toward what we thought was
our reserve. Before we reached it
the line melted away We changed
direction, and. still firing at the ad-
vancing Confederates, maneuYered to
attach Ourselyesh to a regiment or
| brigade some distance to our left. Be
| fore we reached that line it was swept
away by Il Confederate charge and we
| were again alone.
| The advancing Confederate line
three or four regiments deep, came
steadily forward, and we fancied we
could see the JohnnieS smile at our
attempts to stop them. Our men were
! like enraged animals, and had almost
given up all hope of help from any
quarter, when we caught sight of a
long, firm line Of men in blue crouch
| ing or kneeling. AS their saber bayo-
nets flashed in the sunlight our boys
said, They are regulars; they will
| stop the rebs.' Then. on q mistaken
impulse the men in our thin. short line
started forward or toward the charg-
Ing Confederates. 4 horseman shot
out from the regulars shouting at us
To come back and get out of the way.
AS our boys sullenly obeyed the
regulars pushed us impatiently through
their ranks and opened fire. Just then
General Rosecrans rode TO us. and az
ter shaking hands with the Colonel and
complimenting us for our stubborn
| fight, assigned us to position on the
left, so near the regulars that we knew
they stopped the advance The second
day after that l walked along the line
held by the regulars and counted the
dead bodies OF men who had not moved
an inch from where they were posted.
The line OF dead men was as straight
as il they had been on dress parade.
This showed that the regular brigade
had not wavered at all. They stopped
the rebs, but lost twenty-four officers
and 513 men, killed and wounded, In
fifteen minutes.
There had been up 10 that time no
love between regulars and voluItee
But as the scene comes up TO me now
| can see the look Of acknowledgment
and interest on the faces OF the kneel-
Ing regulars as the thin line OF stub
born volunteers gave way to them. And
l remember that when we walked two
| days later along the same line two OF
the volunteers took off their hats. At
ter that battle regulars and volunteers
| were better friends"
The volunteers" said the Major.
''were just as good as the regulars,
and under some clrcumstan ,es better.
But ar first they had queer experiences.
At the beginning of the war we went
up the Ohio in steamboats, The sit
uatiOn was new TO most Of the men.
and pretty strict orders We're given to
the guards to prevent quarrels. On
the first day Il number of hale drunken
privates resisted guard, and he
knocked them overheard with his mus
ket. In two minutes the boat was like
theater filed with a panic stricken
crowd. A man had been killed. This
was tremendous fact then. The
guard was seized as though lie were a
desperate criminal His hands and
feet were tied, and, though he said not
a word, a gag was put in his mouth
and he was literally thrown into the
hold
The whole regiment was astoundel
| TO learn that we had a man In the
ranks who could kill another. The
murderer was described as 4 most fe-
rocious brute. Nobody conld place
him; nobody could tell what company
he belonged to. But all agreed that he
must be a desperate fellow, and with
great ofiiciOusness the officer OF the day
doubled the guards about him. Finally
| discovered that the man belonged to
our company, that he was one of the
best soldiers in 1T, and one of the quiet
est Then there were explanations, and
the alleged murderer was released. He
had done only his duty, and he lived to
| take part in many q skirmish He
was shot dead in the fight at White
/ House"
The first death In our company"
said the Sergeant, "was that of Char
ley Wright, who was drowned while
frolicking in the Ohio river. That
death impressed MS more than the loss
of ten men in our first battle. We all
insisted that the body must De sent
home, and in my kindness Of heart
had it shipped to my father, who was
to communicate with the young mans
friends. The body was taken by the
undertaken in the country town to the
| village where my father lived. The
| driver drove up in the dark and awak-
ened the people by his shouts that he
had a corpse for them. Imagine what
panic there was in that house.
| THE first man in our company