Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1908-02-14
SOLDIERS AT HOME.
THEY TELL SOME INTERESTING
ANECDOTES OF THE WAR.
How the Boys of Both Armies Whi1ed
Away kffe tn Cagp-Foragtng Ex-
periences, Tiresone Marches
Thrilling scenes On Battlefield.

held by the Confederates We did not
| capture the fort and in time we were
| compelled to retire But | remember
that our company ran up so close to
1 the earthworks that the ConfederateS
could not depress their guns enough to
reach us.
There was a terrific uproar; there
/ was a good deal of confusion, but there
was one controlling thought with the
men They did not want to go back.
| Cooler heads might have seen that
there was no advantage in staying
where they were, but we thought there
was. We could see that the Confeder-
ates in the fort were planning TO ex-
| tend their line so as to enfilade our
position, and it was necessary for us TO
| throw up intrenchments. The captain
ordered me back for picks and shovels.
| | went back very quietly without draw
Ing the fire of the enemy and the col
| onel turned over to me six negroes,
each carrying number of picks and
I shovels.
! Il attempted to get back to the com
| pany, which was still hugglng close to
| the Rebel earthworks, without drawing
! the fire of the Rebel sharpshooters; but
| one of the negroes stumbled the shoy-
els he was carrying making a great
| racket and the Rebs opened on us,
| killing two of the shovel bearers, The
inclination was to go back, but | felt
| that 1t was less dangerous to 90 for
| ward and the negroes followed me at
/ a full run. The boys greeted us with
shout Of laughter, but the surviving
/ negroes We're so frightened that the
laugh seemed CHASTITY. After a rest the
/ captain directed the negroes to help
! the men in shoveling. They peremptor-
| lily declined. Thereupon the captain
| told them that If they disobeyed orders
they would be shot. One of the darkies
said All right, boss If we take the
shoyels and work, the Rebs VIII shoot
us; Ii we don't take the shovels and
work, you viii shoot us. 1t Is better
not to work and be shot than 1t Is to
/ work and be shot We could do moth
ing with them, and when we retired
i from Fort Hill to our old position In
line they started on a run and were
first In camp"
VI SMILE" said the major, when
1 fAlhk ol the ups and downs Of our
brigade on Cotton Hin, In West Vir-
| ginia When we first occupied Camp
Gauley we held stoutly to the opinion
that If the Confederates occupied Cot
ton Hill east of the river our position
would be untenable Our picket posts
were well up the hill or mountain
/ ridge, but in good time the Confeder-
ates occupied Cotton Hin. occupied the
ridge nearer the river, and drove our
pickets close to the east bank of the
/ river itself. Yet we held on to our
camps, and In few weeks made long
march and drove the enemy from Cot
| ton Hill.
"A week later our regiment was
| marching over Cotton Hill In a fog
| and moved recklessly down into the
Laurel Creek valley just as the fog
rose. As the fog left the lower valley
we saw great camp OF Confederates,
] the men uneoncernedly getting ready
| for breakfast We were only a few
hundred yards from them, and they
outnumbered us five TO one. We about
| faced, marched quickly up the noun
tain, and waited for an attack The
Confederates had other plans, and no
attack was made upon IA.
THE Confedcrates marched on east
ward and left us In possession OF the
| ridge until it suited their purposes to
occupy Il again. There were good
| many ugly skirmIshes on Cotton I'm
I during that campaign. but no battle for
! its possession. On one occasion re-
member lieutenant who had seen ser
/ vice In Austria called Tor volunteers
for a scouting expedition to the rear
| Of the Rebel camp near the White
| House. The scouting party reached
| the rear Of the Rebel camp, was dis
| covered and small as 1t was. fred on
the Rebel line. Some of the men were
| killed, others were wounded, and the
/ survivors were pursued almost to our
/ picket lines Among those Killed was
| an old English soldier who. refusing to
shelter himself in any way, was shot
/ through the head"
| "At Keneaw Mountain" said the
| colonel, "our regiment charged for
| ward, June q. over 600 yards Of rough
| ground to the earthworks Of the enc
! my. We couldn't get IN aud we couldn't
| 70 back. Picks aud shoyels were sent
| forward, and intrenchments were
thrown up within a few yards Of the
enemy The brigades that made that
charge lost $500 men, and yet they
did not break the enemy's line
TT Ii No, generally known that Gen
eral Sherman said to Grant that he
| ordered the assault Of June q because
/ the Rebels, az well as his own army
had settled down into the belief that
| thanking alone was the old mans
1 asa ys4a ssuH ta vt-.1saA hatks r,4sg