The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-03-19

hour as II had fallen from Il nanuS.
Of the color sergeant who lay dead be
side the huddled folds of color. 1t was
she flag they had carried in a dozen
pitched battles. Now and again a blue
company started out from the corntield
at its back and cheering rushed for
ward; but Lees veterans knew how to
shoot and inevitably the line crumbled
10 pieces and the survivors were whip
ped back into the sheltering corn.
The sacred colors would assuredly
hive Teen disgraced by capture had it
not been for the daring bravery Of a
private soldier Tanner who making a
desperate attempt TO regain them suc-
eeeded in doing what the whole resi-
ment had failed to accomplish.
II happened ST -Antietam in the mid
die of the morning close by h famous
Sunken Road. Bloody Lane as this
rocky cash in TIE surface of the pas
hour the sce-c Of some Of the most
fearful fighting of history. Regiments
lost all their higher officers, companies
fell to the command OF sergeants and
eOrporals, the Union battle line was
broken in a hundred places and all but
shattered by the deadly accurate mus
kerry of the gray soldiers. In the midst
Of the charging and slaughter the
struggle over those fallen colors took
place like an aside IN the greater ira
rcdr ETou- Enn-.- o~,a+l- u-h0f r-a o. no
ing on; ever the name of the nero
would easily have escaped remem-
brance if his colonel had not happened
70 be there to see it all to promote
Tanner On the spot for his ~gallantry
AID TO secure him the Medal OF Honor
(from the meager record of which in
the War Department this story comes
down to u.s..
Early On the morning OF Sept. L.,
1863, Tanners regiment was astir, and
Tanner, who was about twenty years
old, WANDERED a short distance TO the
rear, where lie could see the prepara-
tons for the battle. The CLINT of the
Rate summer sunshine on thousands of
rifle barrels. as immense masses OF
troops moved across the wooded ridges
down into tie valley of the Antietam,
showed that the fighting would be on a
much larger scale than any battle in
which he had taken part
Tanners heart throbbed; the unique
excitement which springs solely from
battle firing began t. be felt by him
and when he heard in a few moments
the shouts OF his officers forming the
men he FASTENED to his company and
awaited with feverish Impotence the
command to march. 1t came at last,
and the regiment found itself moving
In line Of battle, forming the right of
the brigade in the first line Of Sum-
ner's army corps. Fate had assigned
them a position where the battle was
about to rage with inconceivable fury.
They turned into an old dirt road
which led through the woods. at the
edge of which they came out abruptly
or the tall Southern corn. Across this
field they plunged. The drifting smoke
hung over 1t; the steady roar of mus
kerry, the cheering and yells OF the
fighters, sounded about them; bat as
yet no bullets came, save a feeble pat
tering fire from the Few C~onfaderates
they were driving bacS by their Id
III With a shout the foremost files
sprang into the clearing. which was
an open pasture. And then ii burst
upon them,
The Confederate musket balls swish
ed through the battle line in a murder
u hal, dropping the men with such
terrible rapidity that those in front
turned to run back, pressing against
their comrades in the rear, and throw
ing the regiment into confusion.
"Close ~, men, close up" shouted
The officers, rushing hither and thither.
Charge Their determination was
communicated to the men, who. having
Strengthened their front, sprang for
ward, daantlessly facing that insuffer-
able rolling destruction.
Nevertheless, the Delaware regiment
kept on and on. With set jaws and
whitened faces, giving no heed to their
comrades who fell wounded and dying
1t every step. the soldiers fought their
way toward The line of leveled muskets.
The great gaps in their formation OPEN
cd wider and wider. Seventy yards
from the cornfield-within thirty of the
Sunken Road-the survivors halted.
There they hung, wavering; and sud
denly, as If the truth dawned on each
nan that the regiment was being cut to
pieces and they were destined simply
10 be slain, they turned and ran for
their lives.
Half the regiment regained the corn
field; the rest were left on the bloody
Hope between the hostile armies. Out
Of ten company commanders. eight had
been struck DOWN. The coloneI's horse
lad Geen shot under him the lfeuten-
ant colonel was badly wounded. These
aireful tidings sped swiftly from man
30 man of the broken and dismembered
companies. as the men sought their
places.
Just then the discovery was made
that their beloved colors had been left
behind them, almost within reach of
the enemy. The disheartened feelings
Instantly were altered to a wild excite
nent. and the battle fever blazed up in
syery man. They wanted TO charge
again Immediately and when a party
Of C~Onfederates started to run toward
the flag. intending to capture it, the
Union soldiers dashed forward, withoui
waiting for the command, and attacked
them SO ferociously that the Rebels
we're forced back.
Then came a lull in the protective
shelter Of the corn the soldiers stopped
firing and leaned on their guns to rest.
they were painting. and quivered with
settlement; they knew not what to do,
Men missed their comrades. Tanner