A GLIMPSE OF WAR.
"Captain Blauvelt," said Marian, when they were seated in the
library, "I have two favors to ask of you. First, that you will
discontinue your story as soon as you feel the least weakness, and,
second, that you will not gloss anything over. I wish a life-picture
of a soldier's experience. You and Mr. Strahan have been inclined
to give me the brighter side of campaigning. Now, tell us just what
you and Mr. Strahan did. I've no right to be the friend of soldiers
if I cannot listen to the tragic details of a battle, while sitting
here in this quiet room, and I wish to realize, as I never have
done, what you and others have passed through. Do not be so modest
that you cannot tell us exactly what you did. In brief, a plain,
unvarnished tale unfold, and I shall be content."
"Now," she thought, "Mr. Merwyn shall know to whom I can give my
friendship. I do not ask him, or any one, to face these scenes,
but my heart is for a man who can face them."
Blauvelt felt that he was fortunate indeed. He knew that he had
fair powers as a raconteur, and he was conscious of having taken no
unworthy part in the events he was about to describe, while she,
who required the story, was the woman whom he most admired, and
whose good opinion was dear to him.
Therefore, after a moment's thought, he began: "In order to give
you a quiet, and therefore a more artistic prelude to the tragedy
of the battle, I shall touch lightly on some of the incidents of
our march to the field. I will take up the thread of our experiences
on the 15th of June, for I think you were quite well informed of
what occurred before that date. The 15th was one of the hottest
days that I remember. I refer to this fact because of a pleasant
incident which introduces a little light among the shadows, and
suggests that soldiers are not such bad fellows after all, although
inclined to be a little rough and profane. Our men suffered terribly
from the heat, and some received sunstrokes. Many were obliged to
fall out of the ranks, but managed to keep up with the column. At
noon we were halted near a Vermont regiment that had just drawn a
ration of soft bread and were boiling their coffee. As our exhausted
men came straggling and staggering in, these hospitable Vermonters
gave them their entire ration of bread and the hot coffee prepared
for their own meal; and when the ambulances brought in the men who
had been sun-struck, these generous fellows turned their camp into
a temporary hospital and themselves into nurses.
"I will now give you a glimpse of a different experience. Towards
evening on the 19th a rain-storm began, and continued all night.
No orders to halt came till after midnight. On we splashed, waded,
and floundered along roads cut up by troops in advance until the
mud in many places reached the depth of ten inches. It was intensely
dark, and we could not see to pick our way. Splashed from head to
foot, and wet through for hours, we had then one of the most dismal
experiences I remember. I had not been well since the terrible
heat of the 15th, and Strahan, putting on the air of a martinet,
sternly ordered me to mount his horse while he took charge of my
company."
Marian here clapped her hands in applause.
"At last we were ordered to file to the right into a field and bivouac
for the night. The field proved to be a marshy meadow, worse than
the road. But there was no help for it, and we were too tired to
hunt around in the darkness for a better place. Strahan mounted
again to assist in giving orders for the night's arrangement, and
to find drier ground if possible. In the darkness he and his horse
tumbled into a ditch so full of mire and water that he escaped all
injury. We sank half-way to our knees in the swampy ground, and the
horses floundered so that one or two of the officers were thrown,
and all were obliged to dismount. At last, by hallooing, the regiment
formed into line, and then came the unique order from the colonel,
'Squat, my bull-frogs.' There was nothing for us to do but to
lie down on the swampy, oozing ground, with our shelter tents and
blankets wrapped around and under us. You remember what an exquisite
Strahan used to be. I wish you could have seen him when the morning
revealed us to one another. He was of the color of the sacred soil
from crown to toe. When we met we stood and laughed at each other,
and I wanted him to let me make a sketch for your benefit, but we
hadn't time.
"I will now relate a little incident which shows how promptly
pluck and character tell. During the 25th we were pushed forward
not far from thirty miles. On the morning of this severe march
a young civilian officer, who had been appointed to the regiment
by the Governor, joined us, and was given command of Company I.
When he took his place in the march there was a feeling of intense
hostility toward him, as there ever is among veterans against
civilians who are appointed over them. If he had fallen out of the
ranks and died by the roadside I scarcely believe that a man would
have volunteered to bury him. But, while evidently unaccustomed to
marching, he kept at the head of his company throughout the entire
day, when every step must have been torture. He uttered not a word
of complaint, and at night was seen, by the light of a flaring
candle, pricking the blisters on his swollen feet; then he put on
his shoes, and walked away as erect as if on parade. In those few
hours he had won the respect of the entire regiment, and had become
one of us. Poor fellow! I may as well mention now that he was
killed, a few days later, with many of the company that he was
bravely leading. His military career lasted but little over a week,
yet he proved himself a hero.
"Now I will put in a few high lights again. On the 28th we entered
Frederick City. Here we had a most delightful experience. The day
was warm and all were thirsty. Instead of the cold, lowering glances
to which we had been accustomed in Virginia, smiling mothers, often
accompanied by pretty daughters, stood in the gateways with pails
and goblets of cool, sparkling water. I doubt whether the same
number of men ever drank so much water before, for who could pass
by a white hand and arm, and a pretty, sympathetic face, beaming
with good-will? Here is a rough sketch I made of a Quaker matron,
with two charming daughters, and an old colored man, 'totin'' water
at a rate that must have drained their well."
Marian praised the sketch so heartily that Merwyn knew she was
taking this indirect way to eulogize the soldier as as well as the
artist, and he groaned inwardly as he thought how he must suffer
by contrast.
"I will pass over what occurred till the 1st of July. Our march
lay through a country that, after desolated Virginia, seemed like
paradise, and the kind faces that greeted us were benedictions.
July 1st was clear, and the sun's rays dazzling and intense in their
heat. Early in the afternoon we were lying around in the shade,
about two miles from the State line of Pennsylvania. Two corps
had preceded us. Some of our men, with their ears on the ground,
declared that they could hear the distant mutter of artillery. The
country around was full of troops, resting like ourselves.
"Suddenly shrill bugle-blasts in every direction called us into
line. We were moved through Emmetsburg, filed to the left into
a field until other troops passed, and then took our place in the
column and began a forced march to Gettysburg. Again we suffered
terribly from the heat and the choking clouds of dust raised by
commands in advance of us. The sun shone in the west like a great,
angry furnace. Our best men began to stagger from the ranks and fall
by the wayside, while every piece of woods we passed was filled
with prostrate men, gasping, and some evidently dying. But on,
along that white, dusty road, the living torrent poured. Only one
command was heard. 'Forward! Forward!'
"First, like a low jar of thunder, but with increasing volume and
threatening significance, the distant roar of artillery quickened
the steps of those who held out. Major Strahan was again on his
feet, with other officers, their horses loaded down with the rifles
of the men. Even food and blankets, indeed almost everything except
ammunition, was thrown away by the men, for, in the effort to reach
the field in time, an extra pound became an intolerable burden.
"At midnight we were halted on what was then the extreme left of
Meade's position. When we formed our regimental line, as usual,
at the close of the day, not over one hundred men and but five or
six officers were present. Over one hundred and fifty had given
out from the heat and fatigue. The moment ranks were broken the men
threw themselves down in their tracks and slept with their loaded
guns by their sides. Strahan and I felt so gone that we determined
to have a little refreshment if possible. Lights were gleaming from
a house not far away, and we went thither in the hope of purchasing
something that would revive us. We found the building, and even
the yard around it, full of groaning and desperately wounded men,
with whom the surgeons were busy. This foretaste of the morrow took
away our appetites, and we returned to our command, where Strahan
was soon sleeping, motionless, as so many of our poor fellows would
be on the ensuing night.
"Excessive fatigue often takes from me the power to sleep, and I lay
awake, listening to the strange, ominous sounds off to our right.
There were the heavy rumble of artillery wheels, the tramp of men,
and the hoarse voices of officers giving orders. In the still night
these confused sounds were wonderfully distinct near at hand, but
they shaded off in the northeast to mere murmurs. I knew that it
was the army of the Potomac arriving and taking its positions. The
next day I learned that General Meade had reached the field about
one A.M., and that he had spent the remaining hours of the night
in examining the ground and in making preparations for the coming
struggle. The clear, white moonlight, which aided him in his task,
lighted up a scene strange and beautiful beyond words. It glinted
on our weapons, gave to the features of the sleepers the hue
of death, and imparted to Strahan's face, who lay near me, almost
the delicacy and beauty of a girl. I declare to you, that when I
remembered the luxurious ease from which he had come, the hero he
was now, and all his many acts of kindness to me and others,--when
I thought of what might be on the morrow, I'm not ashamed to say
that tears came into my eyes."
"Nor am I ashamed," faltered Marian, "that you should see tears in
mine. Oh, God grant that he may return to us again!"
"Well," resumed Blauvelt, after a moment of thoughtful hesitation,
"I suppose I was a little morbid that night. Perhaps one was excusable,
for all knew that we were on the eve of the most desperate battle
of the war. I shall not attempt to describe the beauty of the
landscape, or the fantastic shapes taken by the huge boulders that
were scattered about. My body seemed almost paralyzed with fatigue,
but my mind, for a time, was preternaturally active, and noted every
little detail. Indeed, I felt a strange impulse to dwell upon and
recall everything relating to this life, since the chances were
so great that we might, before the close of another day, enter a
different state of existence. You see I am trying, as you requested,
to give you a realistic picture."
"That is what I wish," said the young girl; but her cheeks were
pale as she spoke.
"In the morning I was awakened by one of my men bringing me a cup
of hot coffee, and when I had taken it, and later a little breakfast
of raw pork and hard-tack, I felt like a new man. Nearly all of our
stragglers had joined us during the night, or in the dawn, and our
regiment now mustered about two hundred and forty rifles in line,
a sad change from the time when we marched a thousand strong. But
the men now were veterans, and this almost made good the difference.
"When the sun was a few hours high we were moved forward with the
rest of our brigade; then, later, off to the left, and placed in
position on the brow of a hill that descended steeply before us,
and was covered with rocks, huge boulders, and undergrowth. The
right of our regiment was in the edge of a wood with a smoother
slope before it. I and my company had no other shelter than the
rocks and boulders, which formed a marked feature of the locality,
and protruded from the soil in every imaginable shape. If we had
only thrown the smaller stones together and covered them with earth
we might have made, during the time we wasted, a line of defence
from which we could not have been driven. The 2d of July taught us
that we had still much to learn. As it was, we lounged about upon
the grass, seeking what shade we could from the glare of another
intensely hot day, and did nothing.
"A strange, ominous silence pervaded the field for hours, broken
only now and then by a shell screaming through the air, and the
sullen roar of the gun from which it was fired. The pickets along
our front would occasionally approach the enemy too closely, and there
would be brief reports of musketry, again followed by oppressive
silence. A field of wheat below us undulated in light billows
as the breeze swept it. War and death would be its reapers. The
birds were singing in the undergrowth; the sun lighted up the rural
landscape brilliantly, and it was almost impossible to believe
that the scenes of the afternoon could, take place. By sweeping
our eyes up and down our line, and by resting them upon a battery
of our guns but a few yards away, we became aware of the significance
of our position. Lee's victorious army was before us. Sinister
rumors of the defeat of Union forces the previous day had reached
us, and we knew that the enemy's inaction did not indicate hesitation
or fear, but rather a careful reconnaissance of our lines, that the
weakest point might be discovered. Every hour of delay, however,
was a boon to us, for the army of the Potomac was concentrating
and strengthening its position.
"We were on the extreme left of the Union army; and, alas for us!
Lee first decided to turn and crush its left. As I have said, we
were posted along the crest of a hill which sloped off a little
to the left, then rose again, and culminated in a wild, rocky
elevation called the Devil's Den,--fit name in view of the scenes
it witnessed. Behind us was a little valley through which flowed a
small stream called Plum Run. Here the artillery horses, caissons,
and wagons were stationed, that they might be in partial shelter.
Across the Run, and still further back, rose the rocky, precipitous
heights of Little Round Top, where, during the same afternoon,
some of the severest fighting of the battle is said to have taken
place. Please give me a sheet of paper, and I can outline the
nature of the ground just around us. Of the general battle of that
day I can give you but a slight idea. One engaged in a fight sees,
as a rule, only a little section of it; but in portraying that he
gives the color and spirit of the whole thing."
Rapidly sketching for a few minutes, Blauvelt resumed: "Here we
are along the crest of this hill, with a steep, broken declivity
in front of us, extending down a few hundred yards to another small
stream, a branch of Plum Run. Beyond this branch the ground rises
again to some thick woods, which screened the enemy's movements.
"At midday clouds of dust were seen rising in the distance, and we
at last were told that Sedgwick's corps had arrived, and that the
entire army of the Potomac was on the ground. As hours still elapsed
and no attack was made, the feeling of confidence grew stronger.
Possibly Lee had concluded that our position was unassailable, or
something had happened. The soldier's imagination was only second
to his credulity in receiving the rumors which flew as thick as
did the bullets a little later.
"Strahan and I had a quiet talk early in the day, and said what we
wished to each other. After that he became dreamy and absorbed in
his own thoughts as we watched for signs of the enemy through hours
that seemed interminable. Some laughing, jesting, and card-playing
went on among the men, but in the main they were grave, thoughtful,
and alert, spending the time in discussing the probabilities of
this conflict, and in recalling scenes of past battles.
"Suddenly--it could not have been much past three o'clock--a dozen
rebel batteries opened upon us, and in a second we were in a tempest
of flying, bursting shells. Our guns, a few yards away, and other
batteries along our line, replied. The roar of the opening battle
thundered away to the right as far as we could hear. We were formed
into line at once, and lay down upon the ground. A few of our men
were hit, however, and frightful wounds were inflicted. After this
iron storm had raged for a time we witnessed a sight that I shall
never forget. Emerging from the woods on the slope opposite to us,
solid bodies of infantry, marching by columns of battalion, came
steadily toward us, their bayonets scintillating in the sunlight as
if aflame. On they came till they crossed the little stream before
us, and then deployed into four distinct lines of battle as steadily
as if on parade. It was hard to realize that those men were marching
towards us in the bright sunlight with deadly intent. Heretofore,
in Virginia, the enemy had been partially screened in his approaches,
but now all was like a panorama spread before us. We could see our
shells tearing first through their column, then through the lines of
battle, making wide gaps and throwing up clouds of dust. A second
later the ranks were closed again, and, like a dark tide, on flowed
their advance.
"We asked ourselves, 'What chance have our thin ranks against those
four distinct, heavy battle lines advancing to assault us?' We had
but two ranks of men, they eight. But not a man in our regiment
flinched. When the enemy reached the foot of the hill our cannon
could not be so depressed as to harm them. The time had come for
the more deadly small arms. After a momentary halt the Confederates
rushed forward to the assault with loud yells.
"Strahan's face was flushed with excitement and ardor. He hastened
to the colonel on the right of the line and asked him to order a
charge. The colonel coolly and quietly told him to go back to his
place. A crash of musketry and a line of fire more vivid than July
sunshine breaks out to the right and left as far as we can hear.
Our men are beginning to fall. Again the impetuous Strahan hastens
to the colonel and entreats for the order to charge, but our
commander, as quiet and as impassive as the boulder beside which
he stands, again orders him back. A moment later, however, their
horses are brought, and they mount in spite of my remonstrances and
those of other officers. Strahan's only answer was, "The men must
see us to-day;" and he slowly rode to the rear and centre of the
regiment, wheeled his horse, and, with drawn sword, fixed his eyes
on the colonel, awaiting his signal. Supreme as was the moment of
excitement, I looked for a few seconds at my gallant friend, for
I wished to fix his portrait at that moment forever in my mind."
"Merciful Heaven!" said Marian, in a choking voice, "I thought I
appreciated my friends before, but I did not."
Mr. Vosburgh's eyes rested anxiously on his daughter, and he asked,
gravely, "Marian, is it best for you to hear more of this to-night?"
"Yes, papa. I must hear it all, and not a detail must be softened
or omitted. Moreover," she added, proudly, dashing her tears right
and left, "I am not afraid to listen."
Merwyn had shifted his seat, and was in deep shadow. He was pale
and outwardly impassive, but there was torture in his mind. She
thought, pityingly, "In spite of my tears I have a stouter heart
than he."