The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-03-26

the enemy. We rub our eyes, yawn,
rise UP and shake the dew and the dirt
froa cur blankets.
Another day of the siege has dawn
ed Above the smell of burnt powder
we detect the heavy sweetness of the
magnolia blossoms in their morning
freshness Down the slope the sergeant
forms the little company for the
reyeille roll call and the names upon
the brief list are called and answered.
Then under the steep side of the rayine
we go TO fill our canteens with brack-
Dish water from the spring which bub-
BILE at the bottom. Next, from the
cook house, hidden away in the rear
in the depths of the forest. come the
~happy force" who bell the beans and
steal the sugar, bringing camp kettles
flled with black coffee and q box OF
~hardtack' for our epicurean break
fast.
Seated upon the trunk of a fallen
tree, behind a bank Of earth, Jack
CadOgalI is reading from a fresh num-
Der (Only six weeks old) of the Cato
vile Chronicle the local news of old
Cayuga. Just as he finishes the inter
esting paragraph which tells Of the
embarrassing of Deacon Underhill's
dooryard fence. Zipi chug. and a mimic
ball, Enfield rifle, caliber IS. chances
from Il tree and cuts n clean. round
hole through the center of the paper.
stretched out in Jacks hands.
-HOoray, boys! my ticket is punch
ed; I'm all right now :" and Jack turn
ed to his tin cup and its contents. 1t
was thirty years ago. but Supervisor
John Cadogan has that paper yet.
The days work Of Death has fairly
begun.
And now the sergeant cries: DE
tail for sh%arpshooters, Abbott, Baker.
Hudson. O'Brien, Spencer, Pangburn.
Corporal Jonesl Fall in, detail" And
we obey.
Along the crest of the hill a trench
has been dug four feet deep and five
feet wide leading down to the left,
where the ridge is lower and where
watch the remnants of the fighting Sew
enty-fiftl and trusty Twelfth. In
front. on the outer edge of the trench.
logs are piled, with the ~excavated earth
thrown over beyond.
A glance through the rife port shows
first a sharp downward slope strewn
with abattis, then a broken plateau full
Of hOllOws. felled trees and stumps. and
beyond a line OF rude earthworks, back
ed by a curtain OF standing trees. The
rising sun shines slanting across the
line of vision. Across the open ground
no living thing can be seen above the
dreary ban of earth; but, defiantly
flying from the top Of an almost
Branches tree, the red and white of
the rebel rag gives u bit OF color to the
view.
snow, men, to you posts." is the
order, and the detail deploys, zach to
his chosen place chino the embra-
gures.
A single report comes from the enc
ny's line dow to the left, and In our
pits, where stand the s~harpshooters of
the S~eventy-ffth, there is a slight com
motion and presently n body in blue
Is being carried on a blanket down the
hill to the rear.
a shot through the port-a pool of
blood and brains In the trench-and
there Is another soldier less!
Now, boys, watch-watch sharp"
Little need OF the counsel, for all eyes
are strained. fingers set on trigger and
syery cot of the opposite bank is close
Iy scanned.
Minutes pass; but there Is no sight,
40 sound, no movement. Voices are
hushed. and the tigerish instinct in
each breast Is awakened. We are hunt
Efg hum..n gore to-day! The sun grows
nercer as 1t rises higher in the heav-
ems. The perspiration begins TO pour
Gown over the bent eyebrows, but there
Is no relaxing Of the gaze TO the front.
Belts, blSlses and boxes are discarded
and laid on the ank behind. Hotter
and hotter grows the air, which seems
b pulsate In calOric waves; and now
hhere mingles with the DIOR of the mag
noiia blossoms and burnt gunpowder
ahe horrible stencil from dead and de-
eaying bodies-once brave men, lying
where they fell four days ago, when
we had made a night reconnaissance
across the debata0le ground I'm front,
where nc man dare set foot by day.
Now and then We hear the crack Of
rifles down the left, but in front all
Is quiet. The hot air shimmers and
quiyers and the sickening stencil grows
stronger and stronger, till temples
sirob and stOmachs almost turn. Sud
denly in front is a flash, a puff of
anoke. and "~ker-chug" a bullet strikes
m the check of an embrasure close to n
rifeman's ear! Instantly the trigger
Is pressed, his trusty Springfield banks
and over the red bank beyond 4 pair
Of hands throw a rifle convulsively
aioft. There is the vision OF a face, a
slouch hat covering a head of unkemp;
lair, a backward fall, and that sharp
shooter shoots no more. Corporal Jones
burns proudly to meet the cOmmenda-
ZION his comrades promptly give.
Hours pass and now the fun is over
head. Shot after shot has been fired
and but few have been wasted.
Ner the swell to the right lies the
Indiana Heavy" the Jackass Battery.
n,e PARROTS which mock the thunder
when they speak TO the rebels. Here
the rife pit widens into a redan, with
gun platforms and embrasures where
tie -four long-nOsed black 'barkers'
ooke their muzzies out into the open,
and where tie Indiana boys, whose
steady infantry line at Baton Rouge
lad checked the charging veterans of
Breckinridge from Shiloh and Corinth,
are waiting for orders from the rear
Or for some movement in front to claim
ahefr attention. Haversacks are opel
a -ir 49, kocfla