EVACUATION OF CHAPTER IX. YORKTOWN-OUR ARMY ON THE DOUBLE QUICK-PURSUIT OF THE FUGITIVES-THE ENEMY'S WORKS- MAGRU DER SILENCED-THE VICTORY WON-BURYING THE DEADSTORY OF A RING-WOUNDED REBELS-A BRAVE YOUNG SERGEANT—CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS-A SOLDIER'S DEATH-BED— CLOSING SCENES-LAST WORDS. THE HE next day the continuous roar of cannon all along the lines of the enemy was kept up incessantly. "Nor did it cease at night, for when darkness settled over the encampment, from the ramparts that stretched away from Yorktown there were constant gushes of flame, while the heavy thunder rolled far away in the gloom." A little after midnight the cannonading ceased, and a strange silence rested upon hill and valley. The first dawn of day which broke peacefully over the landscape discovered to the practiced eye of Professor Lowe that the entrenchments of the enemy were deserted; the rebels had abandoned their stronghold during the night and had fled toward Richmond. The news spread throughout the Federal army like lightning; from right to left and from center PURSUIT OF THE FUGITIVES. 123 to circumference the entire encampment was one wild scene of joy. Music and cheering were the first items in the programme, and then came the following order: "Commandants of regiments will prepare to march with two days' rations, with the utmost dispatch. Leave, not to return." At about eight o'clock in the morning our advance guard entered Yorktown. There were nearly one hundred guns of different kinds and calibers and a large quantity of ammunition. The road over which the fugitive army passed during the night was beat up into mortar, knee deep, and was strewn with fragments of army wagons, tents and baggage. The Federal troops were in excellent spirits, and pushed on after the retreating army almost on the double quick. In this manner they kept up the pursuit until toward evening, when the cavalry came up with the rear-guard of the enemy about two miles from Williamsburg, where a sharp skirmish followed. Night came on and firing ceased; the rebels were behind their entrenchments, and our army bivouaced for the night. The cavalry and artillery forces were under com mand of General Stoneman; Generals Heintzelman, Hooker and Smith were in command of the advance column of infantry, while Generals Kearney, Couch and Casey brought up the rear. The enemy's works were four miles in extent, nearly three-fourths of their front being covered by the tributaries of Queen's Creek and College Creek. The main works were a large fortification, called Fort Magruder, and twelve redoubts for field guns. The woods around and inside of those works were felled, and the ground was thickly dotted with rifle pits. The battle commenced the next morning at half-past seven o'clock. General Hooker began the attack. The enemy were heavily reinforced, and made a desperate resistance. Hooker lost a great number of men and five pieces of artillery before Kearney, Couch or Casey came up. The roads were a perfect sea of mud, and now it was raining in torrents. The roar of battle sounded all along the lines; the thunder of cannon and the crash of musketry reverberated through the woods and over the plain, assuring the advancing troops that their companions were engaged in deadly strife. The thick growth of heavy timber was felled in all directions, forming a splendid ambush for the rebel sharpshooters. The Federals moved forward in the direction of the enemy's works, steadily, firmly, through ditch and swamp, mud and mire, loading and firing as they went, and from every tree, bush and covert, which could conceal a man, the rebels poured a deadly fire into the ranks of our advancing troops. I was glad now that I had postponed my second visit to the enemy, for there was plenty of work for me to do here, as the ghastly faces of the wounded and dying testified. A HUMBUG COLONEL. 125 I was subject to all kinds of orders. One moment I was ordered to the front with a musket in my hands; the next to mount a horse and carry an order to some general, and very often to take hold of a stretcher with some strong man and carry the wounded from the field. I remember one little incident in connection with my experience that day which I shall never forget, viz. Colonel — fell, and I ran to help put him on a stretcher and carry him to a place of safety, or where the surgeons were, which was more than I was able to do without overtaxing my strength, for he was a very heavy man. A poor little stripling of a soldier and myself carried him about a quarter of a mile through a terrific storm of bullets, and he groaning in a most piteous manner. We laid him down carefully at the surgeon's feet, and raised him tenderly from the stretcher, spread a blanket and laid him upon it, then lingered just a moment to see whether the wound was mortal. The surgeon commenced to examine the case; there was no blood to indicate where the wound was, and the poor sufferer was in such agony that he could not tell where it was. So the surgeon examined by piecemeal until he had gone through with a thorough examination, and there was not even a scratch to be seen. Doctor E. straightened himself up and said, "Colonel, you are not wounded at all; you had better let these boys carry you back again." The Colonel became 126 CARRYING THE WOUNDED. indignant, and rose to his feet with the air of an insulted hero and said: "Doctor, if I live to get out of this battle I'll call you to account for those words;" to which Doctor E. replied with decision, "Sir, if you are not with your regiment in fifteen minutes I shall report you to General H." I turned and left the spot in disgust, mentally regretting that the lead or steel of the enemy had not entered the breast of one who seemed so ambitious of the honor without the effect. As I returned to my post I made up my mind in future to ascertain whether a man was wounded or not before I did anything for him. The next I came to was Captain Wm. R. M., of the Michigan. His leg was broken and shattered from the ankle to the knee. As we went to lift him on a stretcher he said: "Just carry me out of range of the guns, and then go back and look after the boys. Mc and L. have fallen, and perhaps they are worse off than I am." Oh how glad I was to hear "Oh those words from his lips. It confirmed the opinion I had formed of him long before; he was one of my first acquaintances in the army, and, though he was a strict disciplinarian, I had watched his christian deportment and kind and affectionate manner toward his men with admiration and interest. I believed him noble and brave, and those few words on the battle-field at such a moment spoke volumes for that faithful captain's heroism and love for his men. |