Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-02-21
SOLDIERS AT HON E.
THEY TELL SOME INTERESTING
ANECDOTES OF THE WAR.
How the Boys of Both Armies WhiIed
Away Life in Camp-Foraging Ex-
periences, Tiresome Marches
Thrilling Scenes on Battlefield.

ION the 22d Of May, 1863" said Cap
tain Ludwig, "at Vicksburg, the Tween
t1eth Illinois, after the mines had been
exploded, made a dash on Fort HILL
! held by the Confederates. We did not
capture the fort and in time we were
| compelled to retire. But I remember
that our company ran up so close to
the earthworks that the Confederates
could not depress their guns enough to
reach u.s.
There was 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 Entertainments The captain
ordered me back for picks and shovels.
l went back very quietly without draw
ing the fire of the enemy and the col
onel turned over to me six negroes
each carrying a number Of picks and
| Shovels
Il attempted to get back to the com
pauy, which was still hugging close to
| the Rebel earthwOrkS without drawing
| the fire Of the Rebel sharpshooters but
| one of the negroes stumbled the shov-
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 l felt
| that it was less dangerous to go for
| ward and the negroes followed me at
a full run. The boys greeted us with a
shout of laughter, but the surviving
| negroes were 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
shovels and work, the Rebs will shoot
us; if we don't take the shOvels and
work you will shoot u.s.. 1t is better
| not to work and be shot than it is to
work and be shot We could do moth
| ing with them, and when we retired
from Fort Hill to our old position in
| line they started on a run and were
first in camp"
81 SMILE" said the major, when
| think of the ups and downs of our
| brigade on Cotton Hill, 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 we'll up the hill or mountain
ridge, but in good time the Confeder-
ates occupied Cotton Hill, 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 a 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 Greek valley just as the fog
rose. AS the fog left the lower valley
we saw a great camp of Confederates,
| the men unconcernedly 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 us
."The COnfederateS marched on east
ward and left us in possession of the
ridge until it suited their purposes to
| occupy it again. There were a good
many ugly skirmishes on Cotton Hill
during that campaign but no battle for
its possession. On one occasion | re-
member a lieutenant who had seen ser
vice in Austria called for volunteers
for q 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 it was, fired on
the Rebel line Some Of the men were
killed, others were wounded, and the
survivors were pursued almost to our
nickel lines. Among those killed was
an old English soldier who. refusing to
shelter himself in any way, was shot
through the head"
AT Kenesaw Mountain, said the
colonel "our regiment charged for
ward, June 81, over 600 yards of rough
ground to the earthworks of the enc
nv We couldn't get in and we couldn't
% back. Picks and shovels were sent
forward, and intrenchments We're
thrown up within few yards of the
enemy. The brigades that made that
charge lost $500 men, and yet they
did not break the enemy's line.
ut is no, generally known that Gen
e,.al sherman said to Grant that he