The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-08-02

were yet many mangled lying in the
ram upon the grass, sometimes part
~ IN the water puddles. One corpse
nearly stripped lay stark, ghast, and
starln" with leaden eyes up at me-
eyes into which was beating the cold
ram. eyes that never winked or way
cred III their stony stare right at ne
III their agony of physical pain, eyes
from which the life had fled in such
haste that they could not close, from
'H'ch thc soul hat, l!n'l nnr.! ;;lc ~:r.
gcon'S knife. His leg had been shot
through the kness.,.I"lfxau ET 'eNN
through the knee, and an amputation
above, midway the thigh, had killed
him. They had left him lying thcr.
upon the plank just as he had died,
and had dropped the limb at his re-
manning Foot. The whole expression
was one or agony and despair: the
wrench back Of the shoulders. the
cienc'ed flngcrs-all. | was held in
amazement by hits Gorgon horrors
II stared at me so-and was instinc-
lively bearing away from it when I
trod upon the extremity Of the limb,
which was lower than | calculated.
Remember, | could not look at the
limb or at my feet, for my gaze was
absolutely chained by such a stare.
/ was Looking at those dead. implor-
! M" eyes int" which the pitiess rain
WAS beating lnccSsantly, and they
dld not wink. but stared -absolutelv
"larcd--at me. The limb felt TO nv
Foot touch like touch of picklrl
pork hard and yet rlc<hy In my
. lntrnScSt moments Of feeling | never
make ANY sound neither yruan ora
cry. Here | only lcapri with my full
muscular might away. and lighted oy-
er i'll the weeds upon Il hrap-yes, a
pile foot hieh--of arms, legs.
Thand<, feet, and Fragments of these:
all these piled up with Il corpse or
two, these white and slippery and
cold III the grass and puddlcs of wat
er-some of the water was red. Now
L was fully restored from the influ-
ence Of those eyes, and scrambled
from the piled mass Of fragments,
but moi without difficulty. for dead
flesh in water is very slippery. And
vet did moi quite fall over all of
them.
On Tuesday evening. I'd July. we
had one Of the most magnificent
Spcctacles | ever Saw--a great battle
at night. We were within range of
shot and shell, and the danger tone
shell ovcror among us every hulf min
ute maybc) WAS just enough 10 keep
ones blood up. We did not fire
gun, but were held as reserves that
evening, and had full leisure for see
ing. AS the battle ragged, yet fear
ful and unbroken night stole darklv
upon the scene and wrapped Malvern
Hill III shroud. Every flash of
every gun flared up against the sky
IN secondal succession-nay, ten per
second might often be counted! And
the shells could be traced by faint
streak over bead; and when they
burst. the pyroteehnic splcndor was
grander than any view of ''the
lightning's red glare painting hell in
the sky.' These when near us were
uncomfortable, but grand. And with
all tins the roar, the din, the thunder
OF seventy cannon played with clec-
tric speed. and a mellower peal of
muSketry rolling sometimes through
minutes so incessant as to seem one
unbrokcn roar. And with all this
the moral significance of such work.
the lifc-and-death struggle known
and fclt to be there. the majesty of
will. the contempt Of death. the rov-
atty of hate. the infinity Of distance
between the partieS-all these things
heightened the special touches of the
scene as material picture. Majestic
murder! The shroud on Malvern Hill
covered three thousand corpscs.
| close this brief note to YOU. nv
young frincd. in our bivouac, on the
main road between Gordonsvillc and
Orange c. II. The battle of Cedar
Run last Saturday. 9th August, was
within five miles Of Culpcpper C. II.
(falrfax). beyond the Rapdan chad
to strip and wade the rivcr). and was
hearty Stoncwall blow dealt upon
Pope by Jackson. who then fell back
ready for anything else. The enemy
lost at least two thousand; we lost
less than one thousand. T conversed
with many prisoners. saw three hum