The National tribune., 1908-01-09

before the surrender ais Appomattox.
From Mechanicsvflle. where, on juno
advancing enemy, f0 thei final surren- |
Ter, it was almost tbnstSntly on duty. |
Mai. s. B. M. YSung,kfi,o suppressed |
ed Gen. Miles as Acknowledgement OF
the Army. commenced his military ca
reer as Lieutenant In 60 B. 4th Pa.
ing the war, being mustered out as a
Colonel in 1865. Among the many bat
ties and skirmishess Participated in. the
battle of Antietam is the one most
Ieeply impressed 'oh MY memory
events. sights and incidents witnessed,
comrades shot down, crushed and dying
instantly. others With limbs broken,
ners, shapes and character. For an all
day, square, open-fieId fight 1t was per-
haps one Of the hardest-fought battles
for one day during the war. Early in
the morning Of Sept. IT, 1862, we were
encamped near the road leading to
Sharpsburg, awaiting orders to go to
the front. The order came, and we
went, passing Gen. Porter's Corps on
our right, held in reserve. but not called
into action that day. We passed Gen.
McClelian's headquarters, on the blum,
east of Antietam Creek. We also passed
many wounded comrades on each side
of the road, their hands. arms and
| heads tied up, but able to walk, going
| to the rear, the battle having COM
menced be-yre daylight. AS we ap-
preached that noted stone bridge the
rebels were concentrating their fire to
prevent the advance of artillery and to
| keep our cavalry support from crossing.
To put it mildly, we made haste to get
over and away from under that rain
1 lop hot ~I,A all uivrr rxy.,
filed to left of the road to get into po-
sition to support the batteries planted
on the crest Of the hill in our front
To the right OF the road, as we cfrc1ed
| to the left from the end Of the bridge, 1
saw dozens Of men and horses scat
tered over the ground, killed while We
were passing over. Our position on the
field brought us Immediately in front of
Gen. McClellan's headquarters, upon the
bluff in our rear, and upon which our
siege guns were, In his front, firing
over our heads. The rebels heavy ar
tillery was trying to reach him from a
position near Sharpsburg, which made
our situation extremely hot At times
it seemed as tho the very air was filed
with flying iron. I was Acting Orderly
for Lieut.-Col. James K. Kerr, and duty
called me to various parts of the field,
/ which compelled me to witness many
horrible sights. One in particular
makes my heart sick to remember. I
saw our noble and beloved Col. Childs
struck down. mortally wounded. by a
piece Of shell. He died in less than an
hour. An order came from the Cap
tain of the battery stating that the reb-
els were preparing to charge, the order
being to prepare to meet 1t. Maj. Matt
land, who had charge of the carbineers,
ldismounted them, as only half of the
regiment were supplied. and went on
the double-quick to support the bat
terry. One big, healthy fellow dropped
down when about half way. Capt. s.
3. M. Young drew his sword. rode up
to him and asked what was the matter.
He replied that he was sick. The Cap
tain raised his sword, and uttered a few
words that made the atmosphere blue
around his head, and said, Soldiers
never get sick on the battlefield" and
told the man to rise up ard go forward,
and he did, on the double-quick. the
Captain after him, till he was in his
place in the ranks. The carbineers I'M
wound their guns nfew times. while
the battery sent in punches of grape
and canister. This warm combination
so discouraged the arebels that they
went back faster than they came. We
were held in this horrible place for 10
or IL hours until darkness closed that
awful day of bloodshed aid death. The
next day, after the truce ended, the
whole cavalry force went out to- look
for the rebels, and had "a rskirmish with
the rear guard Of Lees. army. while
they were crossing the Potomac. Col
Kerr sent me to a well near farm
house to fill some eanteens. When I
got there a rebel Lieutenant and two
doctors came out of the house. which
! was used as hospital for some of
their wounded who could not be moved
! The Lieutenant asked me Yhat that
heavy body of cavalry was doing all
day yesterday. OF course. I could not
answer. He said that force of cavalry
could have captured or driven Lees
army into the Potomac River. He said
he never saw such confusion in Lees
army as on the day after the battle, in
an effort to cross the river, which was
very high. Truth or no truth in what
he said, yet it seemed like pointer
that reinforced the general opinion of
our officers and soldiers at the time,
that Gen. Mcclellan made the mistake
of his life in not continuing the fight
on the 18th, instead of granting a truce
to bury their dead; and it was well
known the dead were not buried, or
many of them were not.-A. c. wilkins,
Meadville, Pa.