Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1914-05-15
BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS

ceuented slaughter, deadly feroclty:
brother pitted sgainst brother in
combat to the death; FIFE and drum
and bugle ringing out the wild,
grand music of war," roar of cam
non and Shrek of shell and droning
hum IF rifle bullets; clash and fash
Of steel on steel: ~agonized
of the wounded, mingled with the
cheers of the soldiers and tie
hoarse shouts of command; prayers
and curses, shrieks of fear and full
throated yells of defiance; a fend-
ish clsnor echning in a sylvan re-
treat where before Nature Lad
brooded in calm, majestic peace;
and on the ground the dead, a
mighty shout: headless corpses
mangled by cannon shells; corpses
disemhoweled by bayonet thrusts;
corpses hacked to pieces by swords:
corpses perforated by bullets. all
trampled over by horses and by
needless men made mad by lust of
blood: and what but a short time
before were living, breathing men
have bee lme dirt beneath the feet,
refuse, the Debris of war; late,
when men nav become sane aG-:u,
they will be gathered up with
reverent care, and laid away in the
silent city of the dead" to sleep
ION Fame's eternal camping
ground"
II was just half u century ago,
May :, 1864 that that sanguinary,
desperate conflict called the battle
OF the Wilderness was commenced
with the fede!als under General
Grant opposed tn the Confederatcs
under Lee. The latter had only Co.,
900 able troops with which to OPP
pose the l00, 900 men under Grant
and Meade. On the fourth Of May
the Union army crossed the Rapid
an. and on the Inllasing day the
issue was joined. For sheer, des-
pCrate and determined ~ferOcity this
battle, which lasted two days, has
seldom been equalled in the history
Of warfare between civilized ma
tions. The terrible slaughter was
indscisiye ard both sides claimed
the victory. Later, however Grant
hogan a hanking march around
Lees right AID the latter gradually
retired toward Spottsylvauia. The
Federal lass during the two days of
conflicts amounted 10 $4,000 men,
or nearly a fifth Of those engaged,
while the ConfeIerates loss Of H.
0G0 was about the same percentage
Of Lees army.
The battlefield in the Wilderness
remains today, half a century after
very much as II was left, by the
c%ontending armies, except for the
tablets and monuments and GENE.
teries to be found scattered here
and there throughout the thicket.
Many grim relics may be found on
the ield-fragmfnts Of SHELLS,
bullets, and now and then a bit OF
bone that an anatomist would rec.
Ognize as having once belonged to
man. The relic vendors are fire.
quently to be met within all the
tcrAs and villages rcar the battle
field, and many carry on'a flourish.
ing trade in these grim and grisly
reminders Of the bloDGy past.
The wilderness is well named, for
in many parts it is still a tangle of
trees and brush and vines and hriers
end shrubbcry. White monuments
CLEAN here and there in the under
brush, marking the last resting
place Of some hero, who, "in the
heat of battle, in the roar Of the
conflict, found the. serenity of
death" Oaks and pines bear the
scars of battle. srd stumps and
! c!isr UGts which were wounded To
their death by the battering Of
the cannon still abound in tho Wild
aTncss.
The human abodes scattered about
the Wilderness Of today arc mostly
tiny cottages or novels, but their
surroundings and associations lend
them a certain grandeur of sim
plicity. In the national cemeteries
there are long and orderly rows Of
tablets ard graves that are covered
with wild flowers. There are clear
ings there where the Wilderness is