The Civil War in song and story, 1860-1865

BT JAS. R. RAXDALL,

" The guardian angels (if there be such person-
ages) or my destiny saved me. The end of my
days was reserved for another and I hope more
fortunate occasion. For if I am to die on the
battle-field, I pray that it may be with the cheers
of victory in my ears. "When it' became dark
some of ray men found me and I was carried to
the hospital."

And the prayer of the brave New Hampshire
Colonel was answered, for he did " die with the
cheers of victory in his ears," on the ever memo-
rable field of Gettysburg.

ADVENTURES IN EAST TENNESSEE. — A

ANECDOTES, POETRY, AND INCIDENTS.

" Gentlemen, Fellow-citizens: T pre-
sume you all know who I am. 1 am bumble
Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by
many friends to become a candidate for the legis-
lature. My politics are short and sweet, like an
old woman's dance. I am in favor of a National
Bank. I am in favor of the internal improve-
ment system, and a high protective tariff. These
are my sentiments and political principles. If
elected, I shall be thankful ; if not, it will be all
the same."

The Battle-Field of Gettysburg. — I
have just returned from a visit to Gettysburg
and if you choose to accompany me in a long
ramble over the field and bear what a partic-
ipant in the battle has to say, well and good.
In the main, '.' I tell the story as 'twas told to
me ; " but it is bard to say anything new upon a
theme already hackneyed. You newspaper peo-
ple have, I know, what most people have, a hor-
ror of — long articles ; therefore, " for fear your
readers should grow skittish," you have my full
permission to abbreviate, expunge, or omit, at
your pleasure. Assuming this article, then, to
have escaped the fate of your waste-paper basket,
"tart with me on this fine November morning, out
on the Emmettsbnrgroad. For our companion and
guide we have Captain. A. F. Cavada, a gallant

and accomplished young officer, who served all
through, from Yorktown to Petersburg, and for
nearly two years on the staff of Major General
Humphreys.

ANECDOTES, POETRY, AND INCIDENTS.

al Green. Five months after, at the desperate
midnight battle of Wahatchie, in Lookout Val-
ley, this indomitable fighting officer only ad-
ded to the laurels already gained at Antietam,
and Gettysburg. An inscription on a tree close
by tells the story of a large mound in the ravine
below : " To the right lie buried forty-five rebels! "
From here we struck across to the scene of the
first day's fight. In the following communication
to Governor Curtin, General Cutler tells us how
the battle opened : " I owe a duty to one of your
regiments, the Fifty-sixth, and it3 brave command-
er, Colonel J. W. Hofmann. It was my fortune
to be in the advance on the morning of July 1st.
The atmosphere being a little thick, I took out
my glass to examine the enemy, being a few pac-
es in front of Colonel H., he turned to me and
inquired, ' Is that the enemy ? ' My reply was
' Yes.' Turning to his men, he commanded,
' Ready — right oblique — aim — fire ! ' and the
battle of Gettysburg was opened. The fire was
followed by other regiments instantly, still, that
battle on the soil of Pennsylvania was opened by
her own sons, and it is just that it should become
a matter of history." Here is the ground fought
over by our brave cavalrymen, under Pleasanton,
Buford, Kilpatrick, Farnsworth, Merrit, Custer
and Gregg. Never, in any preceding campaign,
had the cavalry of this army rendered such dis-
tinguished and invaluable service. To meet the
enemy was to overthrow them, until, at last, it
was only with the greatest difficulty that Stuart
could get his men to stand at all. The next
point reached was the scene of the bloody, though
unavailing struggle of the First and Eleventh
Corps. The marks of battle still abound, but the
interest centres in the spot where Reynolds wa3
killed. The General was nearly up with the
skirmish line — no place, say military men, for a
corps commander; " but that was just like John
Reynolds ; " and he had just despatched several
of his aids, Capts. Baird, Rosengarten and Bid-
die, on some special duties, and was himself
watching the deployment of a brigade of Wiscon-
sin troops, when the fatal bullet, fired by a sharp-
shooter, struck him in the neck and he fell off his
horse dead. Poor Reynolds !

" There have been tears and breaking hearts for
thee."

ANECDOTES, POETRY, AND INCIDENTS.

Steadily they have met the shock of bat-
tle, and 0, how many hearts at home have been
saddened by the results ! The bright star of
their destiny has gradually faded ; and at the
late fierce battle of Gettysburg, the orb, dimmed
in lustre, sank behind the red storm-cloud of
battle, on the field of disaster and blood.

BATTLE ANTHEM.

A thunder-blast,
So, reapers ! tear your way
Through yonder camp, until you hear,
" It is enough ! Put up thy sword I
O angel of the Lord !
My wrath is past ! "

An Incident of the Wilderness. — The
following account of the exploits and sufferings
of Maj. William B. Darlington, of the Eighteenth
Pennsylvania cavalry, gives some idea of the
hazards, as well as the glories, of war :

On the 5th of May, 1864, the day preced-
ing the great engagements of the 6th and 7th,

ANECDOTES, POETRY, AND INCIDENTS.

Sergeant John Murkland. — When the
gallant Capt. Simonds, of the Fifteenth Massa-
chusetts regiment, fell at the battle of Antie-
tam, Lieut.-Col. Kimball took the dying man's
sword off, and, handing to Serg. Murkland, said :
" I want you to take this sword, and lead this
company; will ycu do it ? " He answered gal-
lantly, " I will do so — anywhere you may order."
This noble answer, made in the face of death and
danger, won for him a Captain's commission.'

G'Ieral Hayes' Latest Thoughts. — It
may t? mteissting to know the state of Gen.
Hayes' thoughts and feelings just before entering
upon that desperate conflict in the Wilderness,
where he lost his life. In a letter written upon
the morning on which the march commenced, he
says :

" This morning was beautiful, for

ANECDOTES, POETRY. AND INCIDENTS.

"Not to-day, you bloody Yank. Now crawl
down in a hurry and we wont fire," was the re-
sponse ; and the daring corporal descended and
rejoined his command, which had distinctly heard
ail that passed.

Aw Anecdote of the Wilderness. — In
the battles of the Wilderness, the Twentieth
Massachusetts regiment was in the thick of the
fight, and one color- bearer after another was shot
down almost as fast as the men could be replaced.
But such was the eagerness to keep the flag aloft

ANECDOTES, POETRY, AND INCIDENTS.

'• The photographs of your children I was so
happy to see. Ycu would have smiled to have
heard my daughters divining the present fashion
from the style of dress in the likenesses. You
must know that, amid all the woes of the South-
ern Confederacy, her wemen still feel their utter
ignorance cf the fashions, whenever they have a
new dress to make up or an eld one to renovate.
I imagine that when our intercourse with the rest
of mankind is revived we shall present a singu-
lar aspect ; but what we shall have lost in externa.
appearance I trust we shall have gained in suhli-
mer virtues and more important qualities."

The Last Words of Colonel Stone- —
Much has been said — but not too much — in
praise of Col. Newton Stone, late commander of
the Vermont Second, who fell in the second day's
fight in the Wilderness. He was first wounded
in the leg, and conveyed to the rea^ ; and, after
having his wound dressed, requested to be placed
upon his horse, which was done ; when he imme-
diately rode to the front and took his position at
the head of his regiment, amid the cheers of his
men, whom he addressed briefly as follows, —

" Well, boys, this is rough work ; but I have
done as I told you 1 wished you to do, not to
leave for a slight wotind, but remain just as long
as you could do any good ; I am here to do as
long as I can," He then rode along the line,
speaking a word of good cheer to every company,
and, as he halted to address Company B, a rifle-
ball pierced his head, and he fell from his horse
a corpse. At that moment, the regiment waa
forced back and the body of their Colonel waa
captured, but was immediately re -taken.