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The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, August 02, 1907, Image 3

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HORRORS OF WAR.
aphic Description of War Times
Written From the Bat
tlefield.
ederate Veteran.
J. T. Dargan, of the Atlanta
i sends a remarkable paper
follovin- introductory note:
h enclose you a copy of
tten from Phillips. Va.,
of August 6. 1S62, by
vidson and addressed to
s. Maclean, who was at
Clara Dargan of Co
Mr. Davidson was well
ny years as one of the
rv characters in the
4es and a man of pro
ip. Poor fellow! he
in Florida. I simply
ter as a thrilling bit
*e from the battle
. It was written in
while he was in camp.
was"at that time attached to a
th Carolina regiment. As a cur
sity I send you the original, show
ing that every word was written with
punctilious care and without a
scratch anywhere. This is certainly
remarkable, consideringthe surround
ings he must have been facinz at that
time.''
The following is an exact copy of
the letter except the omission of
italics:
Vivid Description Written at the
Time.
Phillips. Va., 6 August. 1S62.
And you would have ''the grand
eur and glory of the real battle"
"impressions. incidents, and acci
dents?"
The mag-nificence of blood is a
theme worthy of a great poem,
and all that I have seen written up
on it is as nothing to the truth that
lies hid-hid to all save the eye that
has seen it all-behind those common
words. I would not if I could, my
young friend. nor could I if I would,
produce in your mind the feeling
awakened in mire by the tragedies I
witness: and to approach as near this
as possible .iS the end of the literary
aftist. Look for no such effort now.
A touch here and touch there. and
memory would hurry from those
scenes to seek relief in atmosphere of
some treasured past while hope
citehes a breath of a peaceful future.
I have a 'brother in the 4th Texas
regiment, -under Jackson,.-and I have
-not seen that brother in fifteen years.
He is an old man-past fifty-and
very gray. --
Friday's tornado of battle at Cold
Harbor,.on Gaines's Farm, had swept
over gur.,heads.haIj&4unk downi-when
the signal for rest was given in the
line of battle as we were, too weary
to unbuckle any of . my trappings.
With gun in hand .I. slept a. broken
sleep of the ibattlefl1d, drencehed as
-I was in perspiration, fasting -for ov
er a day, and almost covered with
mud and dust. Momently came from
the plain around us, imperfectly aud
ible in that troubled' slumber, the
edeep groan of piereing pain-wrung of
some friend or foe or-brother.' Igi
various directions over the field
passed, passing and recrossing each
other, many delights of the infirm-.
mary corps and the ambulance corps
seeking the wounded. The cautious
hail and the low reply barely broke
the horrid silence.
Morning came at length with its
pe'uliar train of things to shudder
at: but let us pass that, and with
broad daylight look over the field of
yesterday's agony.
Impelled by a feeling I could not
control, though exhausted by such la
bor as I had undergone and almost
prostrated by a chill during the
night I strolled over the field of gore
after I had eaten a cracker and a bit
of bacon. The area of the field is at
least five square miles, partly plain
-and partly woods. No burial had yet
been made. (Here an order to strike
tent and march arrested my.pen and
closed my kn,apsack upon your letter
till this the 14th of August, at which
time I resume.) In the shrubbery
we nd a few of our own men ly
eand there stark and still;
gan to ascend the rising plain,
our poor men thick and fear
ngled with cannon shot and
g at long range. Next up
w lay the blue-vested reg
he s~core in lines, as fire
from our side had been
d nto them during their ad
ce. To the left, over five or six
es. lay the Zouaves-the dead and
e mangled-all over the plain.
he scenic effect of their blue jack
ets and red trousers (a la Turque)
with the fez, a red skullcap. was rath
er ornamental. But a wild, deep,
new feeling of (may'be it was re
venge') anuer maddened my eye and*
stifled my breathing. For hours I
walked often alone among thern
..hrouigh wood and field and looked
unon the faces of many dead ene
!-ies and conversed with many of the
woundd: Uke1 upnon many friendly
faces cold in death there and hideous
dead nien. 1rh1a s ti:rty (, I-hN lk
since brouht in). andi oitside to
were vet many magld l yin in 1t:
rain upon the grass. sometimes par
ly in the water puddles. One corps
nearly stripped lay stark. ghast. an
staring with leaden eyes up at me
eVes into whiih was beating the col
rai. eves that never winked or wax
vred in 1tir. stoly stare right at i
in their agony of physical pain. eye
frorn which the -life had fled in suc
haste that they could 'not close. froi
uieh le soul hwl!a- ( llin thw -'
geon's knife. His leg had been shu
through the kness.,.. glfxaq ET 'eN
through the knee, al an amputatio
above, midway the thigh. had kille
him. They had left him lying thei
upon the plank just as he had die
and had dropped the limb at his rE
maining foot. The whole expressio
was one of agony and despair: th
wrench back of the shoulders. tli
clenched fingers-all. I wa: held i
amazement by hits Gorgon horrors
it stared at me so-and was instin<
tively bearing away from it when
trod upon the extremity of the liml
which was lower than I calculate<
Remember, I could not look at th
limb or at my feet, for my gaze wa
absolutely chained by such a star(
I was looking at those dead. imploi
mnw eves into which the pitiless rai
was beating incessantly, and the
did not wink, but stared-absolutel
glared-at me. The limb felt to m
foot touch like a touch of pickle
pork. hard and yet fleshy. In m
intensest moments of feeling I neve
make any sound neither a groan or
er y. Fere 1 only leaped with my fu
muscular might away. and lighted ov
er in the weeds upon a heap-yes,
pile a foot high-of arms, leg
hands. feet, and fragments of these
all these piled up with a corpse c
two, these white and slippery an
cold in the grass and puddles of wa
er-some of the water was red. Noi
I was fully restored from the infit
ence of those eyes, and scramble
from the piled mass of fragment:
but not without difficulty, for dea
flesh in water is very slippery. An
yet I did not quite fall over all o
them.
On Tuesday evening, 2d July, w
had one .of the most magnificen
spectaeles I ever saw-a great battli
at night. We were within range o
shot and shell, and the danger. (on
shell overor among us every bhaff mir
ute maybe) was just enough to kee
one's blood up. We did not fire
gun, but were held as reserves tha
evening, and had full leisure for set
ing. As the battle raged, yet feai
ful and unbroken night stole darkl
upon the-scene and. wrapped. .Malver
Hill in a shroud. Every flash a
every gun. flared up against the sk
in secondai succession-nay, ten pe
second might often'he counted! An
the shells could be traced by a fain
streak over head; and when the
burst. the pyrotechnic splendor wa
grander than any view of "th
[ightning's red glare painting hell i
the sky.'' These when near us wer
unomfortable, 'but grand. And wit
all this the roar, the din, the thunde
of seventy cannon played with ele(
trie speed, and a mellower peal o
musketry rolling sometimes throug
minutes so incessant as to seem on
unbroken roar. And with all thi
the moral seignificance of such worl
the life-and-death st-ruggle know
and felt to be there. the majesty c
will, the contempt of death, the ro3
alty of hate, the infinity of distant
between the parties-all these thing
heightened the special touches of tb
scene as a material picture. Majeti
murder! The shroud on Malvern Hi'
covered three thousand corpses.
I close this brief note to you, m
young frined, in our bivouac, on th
main road between Gordonsville an
Orange C. H. The battle of Ceda
Run last Saturday. 9th August, we
within five miles of Culpepper C. I
(Fairfax). beyond the Rapidan (ha
to strip and wade the river), and we
a hearty Stonewall blow dealt upo
Pope by Jackson, who then fell bac
ready for anything else. The enem
lost at least two thousand; we lo!
less than one thousand. I converse
with many prisoners, saw three hut
dred and seventy five unwounde
ones, while I was in Orange. 1E
are called Jackson 's foot cavalr:
Our brigade was not in the battle <
Cedar Run. I saw Jackson rarel:
Saw some fine specimens of Virgni
ladies a few days ago. Dress is is
nored among us. We enter fine pa:
lors with the coarsest of clothes, ti
plainest of shoes, and (0, 'Cheste
field and 0, Brummel!) the dirte
of shirts. We sometimes do not s
our baggage for ten days. How else
Such is the camp and such is Jac]
son 's foot cavalry.
J. W.D.
Three days ago I received offich
notice of the death of my brother i
the battle of Friday. the 27th<
June. orn Gaines's Farm. I close ti:
lu Ig'F i pdito. I the.". su -it to
trace the eolre of1 S011mC special
1 r'p Ls-- iie I'usianian; and Texans.
Both fought well, both died
well. You know why I
passed the route of the Tex
an charge-,a charge as fatal as Bal
aklava. I walked slowly and looked
(may God spare all ot,her brothers
from sueh a feeling ) carefully at
every gray corpse. Many were shock
ingly slaughtered. I could see none
like him. Hope again came to me.
and I returned to our bivouac some
how elated. yet crushed in heart.
You have not yet caught the faint
est glimpseof themost disgusting hor
ror of a battlefield-to me. You will
smile (as I would have don.e lang
syne) when I tell you that horror is
the smell-the smell of blood. A man
-led corpse is discoverable in this
way a distance of m.anv yards. The
odor comes gradually yet surely. You
sit down to rest hoping to be out of
it for a respite; but the same dead,
faughty, -penetrating odor steals over
you, and you experience the over
powering sense of blood, look around,
a'nd there it is in the weeds there just
at your feet. One third of his breast
may be shot away; but he stares as
you turn upon him, and .-!
In the afternoon of the same day
I walked partly over the same field
Our dead had been buried, and only
our foes lay there and fewer of them.
The severest fire we received was
on Monday evening in the fight at
Williz 's Church. Here I advanced
with the regiment as usual in the face
as a brisk fire, one that dropped our
men every few yards. This subsidedi
for a while and darkness thickened
around us. We were ordered to lie
down, and remained thus for several
minutes; meanwhile the bullets reviv
ed. Some Yankees advanced to the
front of our -regiment inquiring for
the colonel and informing Colonel E.,
who was then on our right in confer
ence with General G., that they want
ed him. up there "to see about some
prisoners." Colonel E.asked. "Who
wants me?'"and was disregarding the
summons and going on to carry out
General G's. instructions. His order
was "To your feet, by the right
flank"-. Here, just as the order
to rise was heard over the field and
as the unknown individual had time
to get out of range, there came into
our faces a fire from the front
such a fire as only a full regiment
an pour upon one spot. It came just
s we rose-just after-and some lay
own again to rise no more. The fire
id not have our height perfectly,
lse certainly half our number had
slept forever_there., hey .ealculat.ed
tdr our rising and allowed too much,
a few ines too much, and that few
inches saved a hundred lives. Above
s flashed and popped the explosiveI
balls wherever they hit a tree or skull
or a bone! These infernal balls ex
plode whenever they hit any hard
substance; hence they rarely inflict
slight wound-it is miss or death.
In receiving a fire in that way one
thinks of death remotely in one sense,
because there are enough practical
things to do that absorb the atten
tion; yet one remembers momently
that he may fall next step. This re
membrance has nothing to do with
bravery; for when a, man has made
up his mind to advance to do his duty
even to death, he never for once
dreams of changing his plans-hasn't
time. Under that most blasting
breath of lead our regiment moved as
oolly as the nature of the ground
and the darkness would permit. And
in the most trying charges of Fri
day, when universal Death seemed
sweeping whole armies before him,
our lives were always good. I never
saw at any time three men waver in
the whole regiment in which I was.
They were never confused, and only
puzzled when they could not possibly
hear the words of command on ac
count o.f the incessency of cannon fire
over head, the bursting of shells
amonag them. and the constant zip
zip-zip of the leaden balls at their
feet or the low groan of some com
rade who sinks upon his face to die,
the quick, spasmodic "O'' of the
outh or the heavier "0OGod!'' deep
y gushing from the soul that feels
its lease on life is over that moment.
So miuch of the steadiness o1f men
could hardly b)e saidi of all the regi
ments Th our briagade. vet none did
less than their duty and none more.
O::e view more I must give yo~ u he
fore I ileave these exp)eriecles. It tot)
you would seareely anticipate. It
was a Wednesday morning. 30th
July upon the bhittlefield of Mor
dr. at Willis's Church. or rather
near it. at a~ cottage used for~ the time
as a hospital for the woulnded. Wed
nes. :1v m..rinU in the peltinz rain I
souht the hospital to get some in
formation for some one. The cottage
was jammed with mangled men. arm
less. lezless, and bleeding. The
wounded of Tuesday were also just
comn, in. Around upon the fences.
the alro-und. the g'arden. the ash hop
pe boa-vryrwhere niround lav~
CHEAP RATES
e Via Southern Railway. Jamestown
-Ter-Centennial Exposition, Norfolk,
e Va.
d On account of the above occasion
the following instructions will gov
d ern the sale of round trip tickets to
Norfolk, Va. from Ntwberry, S. C.
e Season ticket-$19.55. This ticket
[ will be sold daily April 19th to and
including November 30th, 1907, final
date to leave Norflok returning De
cember 15th. 1907.
60 day ticket-$16.30. This ticket
will be sold daily April 19th to and
ineluding November 30th, 1907, final
I date to leave Norfolk returning six
ty (60) days from nate of sale and
not lated than december 15th, 1907.
n Fifteen day ticket-$14.30. This
e ticket iwll be sold daily April 19th
e tio and including November 30th,
a!1907. final date to leave Norfolk re
- turnin, fifteen (15) days from date
of sale.
I Coach Excusion ticket-$8.55. This
> ticket is not god in sleeping, Pull
L man, or Parlor cars, and will be sold
e on Tuesday of each week during per
s iod of the exposition, final date to
leave Norfolk returning ten (10)
days from date of sale.
For routes, stop-overs, etc., ,write
ot call on us.
EIDENCE
We1
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If you want to save money for any' purpose
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Call on A. J. Gibson, Asstant Secretary and
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SECURITY LOAN AND INVESTMENT CO,
armv ~Ersn-, B. O.
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put in evidence and on sale
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