. Battles and leaders of the Civil War : being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers, based upon "The Century war series." . ere burstforth from it the most vehement, terrible swear-ing I have ever heard. Certainly the joy of con-flict was not ours that day. The suspense wasonly for a moment, however, for the order to chargecame just after. Whether the regiment was throwninto disorder or not, I never knew. I only remem-ber that as we rose and started all the fire thathad been held back so long was loosed. In asecond the air was full of the hiss of bullets andthe hur


. Battles and leaders of the Civil War : being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers, based upon "The Century war series." . ere burstforth from it the most vehement, terrible swear-ing I have ever heard. Certainly the joy of con-flict was not ours that day. The suspense wasonly for a moment, however, for the order to chargecame just after. Whether the regiment was throwninto disorder or not, I never knew. I only remem-ber that as we rose and started all the fire thathad been held back so long was loosed. In asecond the air was full of the hiss of bullets andthe hurtle of grape-shot. The mental strain was 662 WITH BURNSIDE AT ANT1ETAM. so great that I saw at that moment the singulareffect mentioned, I think, in the life of Goethe ona similar occasion — the whole landscape for aninstant turned slightly red. I see again, as I sawit then in a Hash, a man just in front of me drophis musket and throw up his hands, stung intovigorous swearing by a bullet behind the men fell going up the hill, but it seemed tobe all over in a moment, and I found myself pass-ing a hollow where a dozen wounded men lay —. among them our sergeant-major, who was callingme to come down. He had caught sight of theblanket rolled across my back, and called me tounroll it and help to carry from the field one ofour wounded lieutenants. When I returned from obeying this summons theregiment (?) was uottobe seen. It had gone in on therun, what there was left of it. and had disappearedin the corn-field about the battery. There was noth-ing to do but lie there and await all the men in the hollow were wounded, oneman —a recruit named Devlin, Ithink—frightfullyso, his arm beingcut short oft. He lived a few min-utes only. All were calling for water, of course,but none was to be had. We lay there till dusk,—perhaps an hour, when the fighting ceased. Dur-ing that hour, while the bullets snipped the leavesfrom a young locust-tree growing at the


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectuniteds, bookyear1887