The Washington herald., 1914-06-09

! Fifty years ago To-Day tne armies .
Grant and Lee. confronting each othe
in the intrenchments of Cold Harbor
less than ten miles from Richmond. wer
lengased in a gigantic sharpshooting con
ltest.
Along lines six miles long. and in SOM
places not more than fifty yards apart
marksmen watched all day for huma,
targets and hourly gave evidence o
their deadly skill. Such close and fata
| isharpshooting on q grand scale wa
without parallel in the war.
| Nor were the activities Of the tw,
armies confined to the use of the mus
ket and rife, for artillery freQuentl,
roared from different parts of the line.
1 with deadly effect. The Union trenche,
were for the most part on level ground
while the Confederates at many point,
enjoyed the advantage of elevation
from which their cannon commanded
the ground in the rear of the Fedora
lines.
| Often furious artillery fire swept the
lower ground, reaching even the officers
Headquarters. which were supposed tc
be placed out Of range. On the evening
Of June I, when darkness was complete
the Confederate right had blazed with
artillery fire, and sent a shower of shot
Gen. Winfield S. Hancock. commander OF
| the Second Corps, wounding men and
killing a staff officer, Capt. Alexander
N. McCune, of the Seventy-fourth New
York Regiment. as he stood at the door
Of Gen. Hancocks tent
1T was indeed a hideous time wrote
the historian of the corps. No one who
was exposed to the fury of that storm
will forget how the horrors of battle
mo soh h,, he oh .f r.
night"
This attack led to Gen. Hancock's
tents being moved further from the fr-
ing line.
Like siege Operations.
Life in the bulIet-swept trenches of
Cold Harbor presented some of the
most striking scenes of the war. The
armies had now been face to face for
seven days, in each one of which their
works had been strengthened.
The work done by the Federal army
had taken on the character of siege
operations. The advanced positions
gained on June 3 were first connected
with the main line-built the day be-
fore-and' everywhere the first hastily
built intrenchments were greatly
strengthened.
The parapets rose to a height of eight
feet, and the thickness of the work at
the base was in places twelve feet. Near
the top were loopholes for muskets. To
protect the men from crossfire wher-
ever there was an angle, traverses were
built They were of great walls of
earth and logs, and. seen from the rear.
they appeared to the soldiers like "a
long row of gigantic horse stalls"
The army was SO large that there was
no need of continuous service in the
trenches and the men were relieved every
third day, thus serving twenty-four hours
IN the trenches in 'seventy-two. This was
enough to try mems strength and nerves.
for the armies practiced the arts of the
guerrilla and the Indian. For nearly
six miles there was scarcely a space of
twenty feet on either side where a sharp
shooter was not on duty at his loophole.
Any object appearing above the enemy's
parapets was fired at. A cap on a ram
rot would draw a dozen bullets.
The situation was so tense that the
strain on the mems nerves became al
most unendurable. The slightest sound,
such as the rattling of a tin plate would
cause a soldier to jump, even though at
ordinary times he was able to sleep peace
fully beside a battery in action.
Terrible Efficiency.
A soldier of the Nineteenth Infantry,
after having fired through a loophole,
quickly withdrew his rifle and put his
Eye to the hole to see the effect of the
shot. In a moment his companions heard
me crash of a bullet on his head. and
he soldier fell dead. His enemy had
timed a shot TO hit him in the eye.
A soldier of the Eighty-seventh Penn
;ylvania Volunteers. worn out with fight
ng. dropped into a heavy sleep in the
renches. He was subject to sleepwalk-
rg. and a dream depressing him, he
Csc and stood at full height Almost
instantly he exclaimed. Boys, I'm shot
His sleepy comrades told him he was
ireaming. II was dreaming he said |
but I'm hurt. What's this pain in my |
hest" He soon lay down again, and |
'eemed to sleep. With the morning light |
lis comrades saw that he was dead, |
With bullet through his body.
Another member of this regiment got |
behind a tree in order to pick off a |
Johnny sharpshooter." He fired one shot |
md a score of Confederate bullets almost |
IT clipped out bits Of its bark. The Fed |
raj was obliged to stand perfectly erect |
'ehind the tree. He put his cap on
he end Of his ramrod and moved it a |
hort distance. 1t was pierced by half a |
lozen bullets. Profiting by the expert
nent. he remained upright behind the
rec for the rest OF the day, escaping
nly after nightfaIl
Some of the Southern sharpshooters
made hits at great distances for the arms
f those times. An officer one day visited |
battery in the rear of the Federal line
nd chaffed the men about being afraid Il
( sharpshooters 600 yards distant. He |
elieved they could not make a hit at