Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1909-03-10
THE UNSEEN DEATH IN THE
JUNGLE.
BY j. Russell Wright.
Part Two.

.
was ushered in with thunder. Lee
and Grant began the attack at the
same hour. At o'clock In the
morning the blue and the gray ranks
rushed together and opened fire on
each other--or rather, they fired
when they heard each others steps
and shouts. One saw little in that
jungle.
Longstreet, Gen. Lees war-horse,
was coming in from the west, where
he had been since September, to re-
inforce Bragg. On the night of the
5th Of May he was sixteen miles off.
At l o'clock on the morning Of the
9th the long-roll beat and. Long
streets corps hit the pike and march
ed in double-quick time the most of
the way, arriving on the field Gun
gle) at sunrise. We did not have
time to pull off gloves and spit on
our hands even. 1t was war to the
knife, and fight to the finish. Oh,
what sombre country-a land of
underground, thicket, ooze! Where
sight failed, and attacks had to be
made by the needle, the assaults
here were worse than night-fighting;
the combat strange beyond example.
Regiments, brigades and divisions
stumbled on each other before they
knew 1t, and each opened fire, guild
ed alone by the cracking of steps in
the bushes. There was something
weird and lugubrious in such strug-
gle. 1t was not a conflict Of men
matched against each other in civil
lied warfare. Two wild animals
were prowling and hunting each
other in the jungle. When they
heard each others steps they sprang
and grappled; one fell, the other fell
upon him; then the conqueror rose
up and went in pursuit Of other
game, and the dead was lost from
all eyes. III.
In this Ilcurnful and desolate
country of the Wilderness, the
bloody campaign Of 1864 began.
Here, as in blind wrestle, as at mid
night, did 100000 men in blue and
gray clutch each other in the blood
lest and weirdest Of encounters. War
had heretofore been nothing like it.
Lee and Grant had grappled, and
the battle became general along the
entire line of the two armies. Lee
and Grant had grappled, and the
battle became general along the en-
tire line of the two armies. Lee
was aiming to get around the ene-
my's left and huddle him up in the
thlcket, but failed. Just as Long
street, who had arrived and taken
part in the action, was advancing to
turn the Federal flank on the Brock
road, he was wounded by one of our
own men, and the movement was
arrested in mid career But Gen.
Lee adhered to his plan. He deter
mined to lead his column in person,
and would have done so but for the
remonstrance of his men. ITO the
rear!" "To the rear!" shouted the
troops, and he was obliged to obey.
The gray lines surged forward; the
thicket was full Of smoke and quick
flashes of flame. Then the woods
took fire from the guns and the
clouds Of smoke rose, binding and
choking the combatants; the flames
cracked, scared aloft and were
blown in the mems faces; and still,
in the midst of this frightfui array
of horrors, the carnival of destruc-
ton went on without ceasing. At
nightfall Gen. Lee had driven the
enemy from their front line Of
works, but nothing was gained. Both
armies were weary, bleeding and ex-
hausted, Ten thousand dead and
wounded men added gloom and hor-
ror to that naturally gloomy Will
derness, while other phases of the
dread debris of war on every hand
shocked the eye and sickened the
heart. Artillery was of little use;
cavalry could scarcely be employed
at all The conflict was with the
musket and the bayonet, stern and
terrible beneath the shades Of that
mysterious Wilderness.
For two days this struggle con-
timed. 1t was a terrible scene, un-
like any other battle known to his
tory. There was no opportunity for
strategy on account Of the dense
thicket. Gen. Grant saw his danger,
and there was but one thing for him
to do, and that was to get out of