| Show A SOLDIERS nini pu STORY A mull I 1 the fall of ct fort donelson Doa elson related belaud by the talc late J H beadle Impresa lotis ani and experiences of the first great union victory of the war the journey to join grants granta army A ghastly sight bight three cheers for grant and the union the tall sergeant swung his cap and the cheers rang fir far over the ohio as the boats bade back fro from ra the wharf A strong tenor voice voice I 1 in the porty forty fourth indiana struck up tip a familiar ramp borg the ebirt thirty v first at once caught it and then the and as the boats rounded the bend bead we sang goodby to EvaBS fille in the roaring notes of weiling well hung jeff davis to a sour apple tree as we go marching on wo we had a miserable winter along green river where abre 6 per cent of our regiment had died of camp fever and twice as many more were invalided invalid ed bat now noir we were off to join grant tome alera in Tenne tennessee ksee daylight of feb 11 found us at paducah a queer old town overcrowded and literally ii blue aith ith soldiers all day clay we ran up tip the tennesee tennes ee river and at sundown reached part fort henry where we were freow to a 1 allun nation ot abo freet of fires w re faintly gead r h acme the bonus of c exultant grilii for allrud the th kaptur beof that fort had given to many new versions of the old songs it was soon decided that it was cheaper for us to gu go round by water and so morning found fouad us again at paducah where we lay lay all day it was the way things were done that winter all move ments were slow glow and nothing wa liia done till the fifty ninth minute of the eleventh hour late at night we steamed away and daylight found us ascending the cum cumberland erland ali day men and officers were at the hei height ht of mirth and jollity for it was 0 the first nice traveling our brigade had had bad the weather was delight delightful fal and soldiers soon form th the habit habit of enjoying the present good without ahou bought ht of the doubt doubtful rui morrow we were paraded on the lh upper deck and arms and ammunition thoroughly inspected oar magnificent ent band played inspiring tunes and all the soldiers danced and san sang 0 and shouted till they wera hoarse I 1 came down into the cabin and ami there the sur ur geona geons had their instruments laid out for inspection on the long table knives saws tourniquets everything indicating 0 dreadful work tt at band hand A sudden revulsion of feeling in overcame mo me I 1 turned cold around the heart at thought of a dreadful wound and possible am amputation pu with the night came an awful I 1 hange change in two hours houra the mercury must have fallen 20 degrees 0 I 1 had to stand guard on the lower leek deck and there ther e was wag a cold and driving darivin rain which chan changed ed to As the boat turned this way and that with the gindin windings s of the tha stream the sleet drove across the open space in almost horizontal lines and soon my overcoat was waa solid with ice daylight showed three or four inches of snow all forenoon we toiled getting the material off the boats and at noon en on the march with wilh the oali cers cera us to speed for the bound of cannonading canno at donelson showed bowed but too clearly that actual business had bad begun over abrupt hills and through heavily timbered hollows hollow nearly dearly boot boat log leg deep in places with mud and water we toiled on till reaching a hollow which led directly to the lort fort we heard beard the cannonading canno as loud and clear as if it were but a mile away turning to the right wo we rose to a narrow level and a mile or so farther began to pass behind our first line of 0 battle across the hollow to our left solid shot from rebel batteries were striking Etri king high in the trees making a great crashing amon the bimbi but hurting nobody for there was nobody there to hurt A few forced a laugh at the sound round of the ilia cannon and said it was music but i could not see it il in that aig light I 1 have enjoyed the hand band organ for hours and endured boarding school practice but I 1 never heard music that felt in the knees like that the half jocular bravado of some of the men man to my mind showed fear is as plainly as the silence of others I 1 kept my feelings fee linga to myself determined that no matter how flow badly I 1 at got seared scared nobody should know it we camped for the ni night in in an old field with orders to rest on arms and in place without sleeping oh the miseries of that tearful fearful ni night ht crouched down in the snow with my gun between my knees within two hours houra every in inch ch of my body was jerkier with cold like the flesh of of a freshly skit shinned ned beef for the first time in my life I 1 felt cold through my y interior about 2 in the the morning we wets permitted to lie down and did so BO by bv threes two gum blank ets and one woolen below us two woolens and one gum above A sleet gleet storm came on and I 1 awoke from sound sleep with my hair matted in frozen froen lamps it was scarcely light before cannonading canno was resumed the reveille and shouting of officers rose from every camp and the smell of powder came faintly on the mornin morning abir raw pork and cold crac crackers lers were soon dispatched and we were in elsif Sl Sif f for or 0 bordwi r derik and aad now thel the virissa vid isSa 8 in I 1 n front and the road to conr right wera were lively with mounted orderlies small email detachments of soldiers and batteries hurrying to their places in the line it was plain that a general battle had begun ambulances passed back filled with wounded and now and then an artillery horse limped by shot in the hip or shoulder but sometimes with a ghastly searn seam along the side then came the order to the right and take position with porters battery we started on the run and kept it up for about two miles but as general shackleford afterward told me his guide directed him too far to the left oo be we missed porters battery entirely and batted baited on a ridge toward which the main force of the rebels was advancing and I 1 think our brigade wast wag the heend end of the union fineto line to the east the seventeenth and twenty firth fifth ken kentucky tuc ky moved at onceco once to the summit of the ridge and opened fire vigorously while our half of the bri brigade ade the thirty first and forty fourth indiana andiana lay flat in the snow behind them and a little down the slope dope we had bad passed behind the thirty first lali illinois nois and I 1 saw three men lying inwright right by our road my first look at men killed in battle they lay on their backs each with a bullet hole in his forehead I 1 was struck with the singularly peaceful expression on each face 1170 wounded ded kentuckians Kentuck ians soon passed our line in considerable numbers some not making a sound others groaning ft and one shrieking dreadfully and I 1 took notice that the one making the most noise was a mere boy with a shattered arm our captain waterman had just J 4 passed behind us saying that tha t in in a minute or two we should move to the right of the kentuckians Kentuck ians and I 1 vas ivas still looking in the direction jointed pointed by his sword when suddenly there was a grand crash and roar through the deep wooda as if beaten and earth were coming together A big body of rebels had come close into our right and par bially in our rear I 1 baw the kentuckian on the extreme right th throw row his gun high in the air and fall back dead the next man pave gave one glance lance and turned to lee flee the line bruke broke and both regiments came caino rushing bushing 0 back right over us in less time than it takes to tell it we ine were ivere up tip and alter them all rank aud order lost loat officers and men Kentuck kentuckians ians and Indi anians ill all in a mass ind arid thui we rm ran to the bottom of the slope the line officers rushed with drawn swords among themen the men who aiho soon fell into ranks from mere habit an anil with it spontaneous feeling of shame bhame began to check their retreat colonel bristow came down on us shouting phrases which he assur assuredly edly never learned in sunday pibool aid de camp terry galloped in with a message from je oeral ol of thirty birtt and shouted come on oil indiana pin only a boy but ill go at the he head we raised the yell reformed and fell back slowly and were soon all in line at the top of the next ridge all well not quite our lieutenant liette aalt colonel and about others had turned back by the road we came in and we saw them no more that day while about 50 from various commands with one lieutenant at their head bead never stopped till they reached the landing 0 we had left the day before it was long told about the campfire that this car officer icer found a boat just starting down the river got aboard and actually reached his home in sout southern bern indiana before he heard that donelson had bad surrendered we had bad got well in line and were listening to some rather emphatic remarks from colonel bristow when the shout was raised here they comel come on the ridges there was tall timber limber without uri der brush bat down the slope the latter grew thickly so I 1 could see noi nothing hing A few scattering shot were fired as the volleys of the advancing rebels agan ll 11 to strike the trees but stern or orders ers were given to wait for the word it came soon ready I 1 gazed down into the tha thicket and saw no man but the bushes moving and an occasional cas ional puff of smoke emoke aim I 1 drew down my gun about alvel th thought ou ht t lie ua a n wao be in those bushes piro fire there was a terrific crash as 2000 rifles went oft and after it a wild yell of exultation from our line our blood was up shame and anger had cast out fear for a or two ther was tiring at will and then our little battle was wai over the smoke rose slowly and there was an almost oppressive silence for a few minutes minute then came cam once more the dull rumble of the cannon as the fleet and wa er battery followed by musketry firing far to our left I 1 then saw a few men lying on the ground in the retreat and tight fight our regiment lud had lost 12 killed and CO wounded A cry was raised tho the ca cainoy airy is coming we loved forward and stood at a charon bayonet for a few minutes and looking down an old road I 1 saw the rebel flag for the first and last time tw not next instant the cavalry was out of sight and where we were for the rest of that day I 1 have never been able to figure out we moved this way and that hearing firing to oa our right and to our left and near sundown sundo do wn wre were in the hollow nearest to the rebel on the udder dover road arid and to us there came 1 pheral General low lew wallace with the eighth missouri and eleventh indiana they did the right half wheel in a manner which drew drell a cheer from us and then charged up the bill a little to our right they fired but one volley and had gone far to the right bythe by the time we reached the top of the hill we halted bang went a six six and down shouted the officers officer cut but it wits was needless every man was prone before the whiz of the ball had died away I 1 hugged the ground BO be close that I 1 almost made a hole in it as shot anil and shell came alternate alter alternating nati ag getting lower till they skimmed the slow snow I 1 lay i in ii a small finall furrow ind and was looking at comrade taylor of company i v about two rods forward and to the left of me when one of the last lait fjells struck him just as it exploded it took off the top of his lead head i and cleaned out the brains as neat ly as it it we were redone done with a 1 surgeons knife then the cold sweat came out on my forehead and for perhaps a minute I 1 felt a kind of agony of fear the next instant my face seemed blistering it was so hot the firms firing 1 ceased at dark and we moved to the right and into a hollow and sat dow down disconsolately to another dreary night and talk of a bloody morrow great been done seven miles to our left and the of D donelson aneli was ended but we did I 1 no not know it |
