. Stories of the civil war . was produced by the singing of slow, roundballs and buckshot fired from a smooth-bore, which donot cut or tear the air as the creased ball does. Each bullet, according to its kind, size, rate of speed,and nearness to the ear, made a different sound. Theyseemed to be going past in sheets, all around andabove us. When the war broke out, many officers on both sides,even of high rank, were unskilled in military the art of war was rapidly learned, but at theexpense of stupid blunders and of many valuable Confederate colonel gives the following inte
. Stories of the civil war . was produced by the singing of slow, roundballs and buckshot fired from a smooth-bore, which donot cut or tear the air as the creased ball does. Each bullet, according to its kind, size, rate of speed,and nearness to the ear, made a different sound. Theyseemed to be going past in sheets, all around andabove us. When the war broke out, many officers on both sides,even of high rank, were unskilled in military the art of war was rapidly learned, but at theexpense of stupid blunders and of many valuable Confederate colonel gives the following interestingsketch of his first battle. On entering a strip of wood,it occurred to him that his men, being raw recruits,would not fight well on horseback, and hence he orderedthem to dismount. This, of course, stopped the wholebody of the army behind the regiment. While themen were leisurely tying their horses, an aide came upat a furious gait and asked peremptorily : What haveyou stopped here for, and blocked up the whole road ?. UNDER FIRE FOR THE FIRST TIME 31 **You mind your business, said the adjutant; ourcolonel knows what hes about. * I saw the point in a moment, and had them move outin the woods. In the meantime my scabbard got itselfhitched in a tangled bush. So I told the battalion toform at the edge of the timber and wait for me. ThenI cut the straps and left my broken scabbard in thebush, while, with naked blade flashing in my hand, Irushed to the front. Not a man could I find. Theywere anxious to see the fun, and had run over the browof the hill, and scattered along the whole length of theline. With infinite difficulty I got them together, leavingwide gaps in the battle array. Barely in position, Iheard a distant cannon, and at the same instant saw theball high in the air. As near as I could calculate, itwas going to strike about where I stood, and I dis-mounted with remarkable agility, only to see the missileof war pass sixty feet overhead. * I felt rather foolish as I
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Keywords: ., bookauthorblaisdel, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookyear1890
