Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1913-07-25
ST 70 R2!I|E n4
CAMpbAA ~
ANDWAR u
AWAITING A HORRIBLE DEATH
chicagoan Recalls Terrible
edericksburg-Was men oo'
of only Sixteen Years.

The suspense of awaiting death 1of
which preparations were mace aea
and again. deliberately and In Iua
view, is told by H. II. Waiton' ,AAi'
East Seventy-ffth street, Cnlcaso,
who was a boy of sixteen years al
the time of the battle or treoelichs
burg In December, 1862, but VINO "a
ready had more than year Oh MN
tary experience behind him he was
a member of Company *, IHlrlS'
fourth New York infantry, OF Gor'
mans brigade, Sedgwick's DIVISION
The story of his experience before the
stone wall af Fredericksburg Is toio
as follows:
Late in the afternoon or Decem-
Der IS our regiment, with others, was
hurried from within the city or freq
ericksburg to support the tfoops
charging up Marye's hin In a VAIN
endeavor to reach the famous stone
wall. AS / remember 1t, we nao no
more than come TO halt when lne
shells from the Confederate cannon
were bursting all about US.
AT this moment, behold an of11cer-
riding white horse dashed up to
Confederate cannon on the hill at ous
right He pointed peremptorlIy
straight toward us. We could see
every movement of the gunners ana
we could see the cannon and every
one of US knew what was coming
We saw the loading Of the piece IN
every detail saw the gunner thumb
the vent, saw the lanyard placed and
then the gun sighted and every man
and boy of us knew that death IN
an awful, horrible shape was coming
straight from that cannon mouth
US us.
1T did come. The first shot struck
and burst at the right of the regi'
ment, killing and mutifating fuii
score. Again we watched the gunners
and waited for death and again IL
came. This time the she'll burst
farther down the line near the middle
OF the regiment, and another score or
more were either killed or n1utilated.
again we watched. Oh those mo-
ments of agony and suspense! The
gun is swabbed. The charge Is
placed and again we see the gunner
with his thumb over the vent The
shell is rammed home and now the
lanyard is in hand. The man is sight
Ing the gun and death again stares
us in the face. Oh, the mockery and
emptiness OF words to tell of horrors
like this!
I'm one second our company was
rent and torn like piece of cloth IN
a hurricane. The shell had burst ex
actly in our midst. 1t took one man
with it as it entered the ground.
bursting. and tore both his legs away;
1t killed five outright and manned
and crippled I cannot now remember
how many. l believe / never jumped
quicker or so far | landed right be
side the captain, and at the same IN
slant bunch Of brains as large as a
butternut fell on his sword.
"At this moment we witnessed the
most glorious sight of our lives. A
shell from General Hunts federal
guns an Stafford's heights burst beau.
tifully and exactly under the muzzle
of the gun that had wrought US such
destruction. The gun disappeared as
if it had been swallowed up in the
earth.
Andrew Smith, third from me in
the ranks, had one arm and one lea
nearly torn off by the last explosion.
Two of the men were detailed to car.
ry him into town to hospital, and I
was sent with him to help.
We took him TO church already
filled with the wounded. The two
others were sent back to our com
pany, and |, being SO young and look
ing 1t, | suppose. was ordered to stay
and take care OF poor Andrew. There
was no hope for this bright boy. That
is all he was, just a slim. pale faced
boy. stayed with him and did what
l could for him until about midnight,
when he died.
Where could l so then? Every
thing in and about the city was abso.
lutely chaos. One OF the doctors. or
surgeons. told me TO stay there until
morning. The body Of the church was
filled with wounded. They were ~
ing close to each other on the foor
just as they had been brought from
the battlefield. The wide front vesti
bule was the operating room. Two
tables had been improyised. On one
the lacerated and wounded were earea
for. The other was used for ampnta
tions only. | found an empty hox
and sat down on Il IN the corner ana
watched them amuptate.
THAT was n night Go remember
They cut OF lega and arma ma rna,
one could scarcely believe Il waa IN
Code own country and that hs Was