Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1919-08-06

parade when IL arrived at Alexandria, Va,
and was assigned to the End brigade, End
division, ninth army corps, side by side
with troops from New Hampshire and YER
mont, and other states who had taken
part with that corps in some of the sever
est conflicts which had already crowned
their commander with glory. But there
these raw recruits found themselves with
a sprinkling in the ranks ana along the
line OF men who knew what was before
them, at least in SOME general sense of the
word because they had before been we'll
up the firing line
After a short time at Alexandria, during
which there was one dress parade at " hich
orders were read changing the personnel
OF the lists OF non commissioned officers in
more than one OF the companies, the regi-
ment marched To Brlstow station. This
seemed to the writer as he looks back
through the mist of intervening years
as The hardest march of the regiment
with perhaps one exception, to be mem
toned later. This was doubles because
OF the we'll filled knapsacks and the many
articles which the vendors OF nlcknlcks
had persuaded the soldier were necessary
to his health and comfort while doing his
patriotic duty. The specious arguments
OF such hawkers and peddlers were quickly
vitiated by the facts Of actual experience,
for al each halt along the lire of march,
the kna psack was depleted OF useless arti-
Giles donated the soldier by towing friends
at home or thrust upon HIM for price by
the disinterested hawker of soldiers per-
quisites. The bureaus on a soldiers
back" became reduced in size and weight
until the knapsack itself was discarded
and the private carried nothing but roll
slung over his shoulder.
IN THE WILDERNESS.
The stay at Bristow station was a short
one, for on the morning of May the
regiment broke camp and two days later
took honors BILE part IN the battle of the
Wilderness, in less than twenty days after
leaving camp at Augusta, Maine. The loss
in officers and men i'll this engagement
was heavy.
The regiment threw up a double line of
breast works in the night of May :, and
detail was sent to bury its dead.
What was the writer's surprise to find
there himself, dead and stretched upon
his own rubber blanket ready for in
terment with the others who had the
same fate and been cared for by those
whose duty it was to go over the field for
that purt os=.
He recovered somew hat from his sur
prise when ne found that the deceased
soldier was more than six feet IN height
and wore a heavy beard and the badge
OF New York regiment, although the
body WAS lying upon the blanket which
bore the name and company OF the writer.
Ii had been thrown away in the earlier
part OF the engagement and appropriated
by the dead soldier. The writer was
beardless boy OF five feet, four inches in
height. 1t was the first and only time
that he was ever detailed to bury him
self, and he does not crave similar ex-
perience again. The same old scare comes
| back to him as he writes this.
On the Sth OF May we marched to Chan
/ cellorsville and on the 10th had skirmsh-
! ing with the enemy at Ny Run. The
battle of Spottsylvania occurred on May
/ u and here this regiment lost II killed,
/ 70 sounded ana los missing. From the
/ 18th to the 18th it was almost continu-
ously under fire, losing men nearly every
| hour. We marched to New Falls church,
! but there held no divine service, then to
the North Anna river which we crossed
on a high military bridge under severe