On they went, with fixed bayonets, shout-
ing « Zou ! Zou ! Zou ! " into the battery,
cheered more loudly than ever. The reb-
els taking fright as the Zouaves started,
went out when they went in, leaving pretty
much everything behind them, and not
even stopping to spike their guns, and
take away their dead and wounded thai
had not been removed.
Blanks Soomiiiff to Betreat.
The retreat from Bull Run on the
twenty-first of July, 1861, will ever be
memorable for its illustrations of the for-
tunes of war. Stretching far across the
road, long before the hoped-for refuge of
Centreville was reached, w)is a firm nn«
swerving line of men, to whom the sight
of the thousands who dashed by them was
only a wonder or a scorn. This was the
German rifie regiment; and to see the
manly bearing of their Greneral, and fee!
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the inspiration which his presence gave at
that moment, was like relief to those ready
to perish in a desert Steady and watch-
ful, Blenker held his line throughout the
evening, advancing his skirmiishers at
every token of attack, and spreading a sure
protection over the multitudes who fled
disordered through his cdumns. With
three regiments he stood to fight against
an outnumbering enemy already flushed
with victory, and eager to complete its
triumph. As the darkness increased, his
post became more perilous and more hon-
orable. At eleven o'clock the attack came
upon the advance company of Colonel
StaheFs rifles, not in force, but from a body
of cavalry whose successful passage would
have been followed by a full force, and the
consequent destruction of the broken Fed-
eral host The rebel cavalry was driven
back, and never returned ; and at two in
the morning, the great body of Federal
troops having passed and found their road
to safety, the command was given to re-
treat in order, and the brigade fell slowly
and regularly back, with the same precis-
ion as if on parade, and as thoroughly at
the will of their leader as if no danger
had ever come near them. Over and over
again Blenker begged permission to main-
tain his post, or even to advance. " Re-
treat!" said he, scornfully, to the mes-
senger; " bring me the word to GO on,
sir I " But the command was peremptory,
and he was lefl no alternative.
Hooker's Battle Above the Okmds.
Quartermaster-General Meigs, in his
lively account of the three days' conflict
before Chattanooga, mentions the notable
&ct that in Greneral Hooker's fight up the
slopes of Lookout Mountain, ^ mudi of
the battle was fought above the clouds,
which concealed him from our view, but
from which his musketry was heaid."
There is on record at least one case parallel
to^this, in the campaign of Napoleon in the
Camic Alps, in 1797. The battle of the
Col de Tarvis, March 22, 1797, was fought
above the clouds — ^the artillery thundering
in the very laboratory of storms and
arsenals of the electric batteries — ^while
the cavalry charged and performed their
evolutions on the ice, and the infantry
floundered to tlie attack through snow
three feet deep.
Sleeper's Sauoy Battery.
Towards the end of Friday's battle in
the Wilderness, about nightfall, a desperate
charge was made by the rebels upon the
extreme left of the Federals, where a
number of batteries of the Second Corps
were in position, being a part of Hancock's
line. In front of these guns, and below
their level, was an open field. Rather
more than half way across this space ran
the Union line of breastworks — ^at this
point not more than one hundred yards
from those held by the enemy. Every-
thing was perfectly quiet, — mutual respect
for each other's fire preventing unnecessa-
ry exposure. Suddenly, however, a per-
fectly devilish volley of musketry was de-
livered from their works, accompanied by
the dismal howlmg which, in Dixie, had
quite superseded honest cheering, and out
they came, piling over the breastworks,
and for a short time having things just as
they wanted them. Their success was
very short lived, for in a moment Sleeper's
Tenth Massachusetts battery, Adams's
Rhode Island battery, the Sixth Maine
battery, and others, were pouring canister
into them in so effective a manner that
they were forced to protect themselves in
front of the Federal breastworks, from
which, later in the evening, they were ex-
pelled, losmg terribly in their * forlorn
hope 'of a charge. The TenUi Massa*
chusetts battery, commanded by Captain
J. Henry Sleeper, proved itself one of the
best in the service. It was engaged sev-
enteen times since the army crossed the
Bapidan, and was one of the very few
batteries which managed to get into the
memorable Wilderness fight of Thursday
and Friday. It had come to be called the
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^ saacy battery " in Hancock's corps, of
which it was part
TWuui Flaff Captured by the fiUzteenth
Tndiana.
When flags are captured in the height
of battle, it shows close and severe fight-
ing. A New Orleans paper states that in
the bloody engagement which took place
near Mansfield, the battle-worn and
weather-beaten banner of a Texas regi-
ment of rebels was captured by Captain
Doxie, of the Sixteenth Indiana mounted
regiment, attached to the first brigade of
Lee's cavalry, after one of the most des-
perate hand-to-hand encounters of the
war. When the stalwart Indianians met
the rough riders of Texas, there could of
course be no child's play, and consequently
the ground was piled with slain in the
struggle for the possession of that fiag,
which bore the mscription — ^"Texans never
can be slaves." Cf^tain Doxie, the hero
of the fight, came forth from the battle
covered with wounds, infiicted by sabre-
stroke and pistol-shot. The fiag was
brought down to New Orleans by Colonel
Brisbane, of General Lee's staff*, and was
presented to Miss Mary Binny Banks, the
** daughter of the brigade," in presence of
her mother, at the residence of the Gen-
eral. The young lady showed a great
deal of emotion as she took the battle-
stained trophy — ^which had so long waved
triumphantly in the centre of a hecatomb
of heroes slain — ^in her hands. Mrs.
Banks made a few feeling and commenda-
tory remarks, complimenting the gallantry
of Cf^tain Doxie and his brave men, and
promising to interest herself in securing
the promotion of those who had so nobly
contended for the prize and torn it finxn
the possession of a desperate foe. It
was a white and red banner, with blue
union, but so old, filled, and battle-worn,
that the colors could scarcely be distin-
guished. Perhaps it had waved on every
field from Wilson's Creek to Pleasant BBL
Ooiirt-Tf«iTti>11ng a wlidla Biviaion.
It was near sandown when Greneral T.
J. Wood, whose conduct all through the
three days' battle of Lookout Mountain,
marked him as one of the ablest leaders
of the National armies, rode along the
lines of his superb division. Loud shouts
of enthusiasm everywhere greeted his ap-
pearance, until at last his feelings, no lon-
ger controllable, broke out in a speech : —
"Brave men," said he "yon were or-
dered to go forward and take the rebel
rifie pits at the foot of these hills ; you did
so; and then, by the Eternal I without
arderSy you pushed forward and took all
the enemy's works on top! Here is a
fine chance for having you all court-mar-,
tialed! and I myself will appear as the
principal witness against you, unless you
promise me one thing."
"What is H? whfll is it?" laughingly
inquired the men.
" It is," resumed the General, " that as
you are now in possession of these works,
you will continue, against all opposition of
Bragg, Johnston, Jeff. Davis and the devil,
steadfastly to hold them !"
At the conclusion of this speech, the
enthusiasm of the soldiers knew no bounds.
They left the ranks and crowded around
their General. "We promise ! we prom-
ise !" they cried, and amid such exclama-
tions as, "Of course we'll hold them!"
" Let any one try to take them from us !"
" Bully for you !" " Three cheers for old
Wood!" the gallant officer rode off the
field.
BriUIant Stratasy of 0«n«nd Smi^ at Bad
Bivar.
The brilliant and successful strategy of
General Smith at the close of the second
day's fighting at Red River, is well kno\i^.
The whole two days had been full of dis-
aster, when suddenly, in the midst of re-
treat, a favorable point and a happy
thought struck the mhid of General Smith,
an educated soldier, and he at once avaOed
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himself of it He placed a division in
fix>nt in line of battle, and arranging his
ariillerj and the residue of his forces
along the ridges in the valley between
which the road ran, he awaited the ap-
proach of the confederates.
On they came, yelling and foaming with
the flush of success, and with nibounding
speed they rushed upon the troops they
saw before them. Then, apparently
alarmed at their overwhelmmg force, re-
treated, first in order, and then at a trot,
and the enemy followed. When the gorge
was completely filled, grape, canister, and
musket shot opened upon them, and the
destruction was appalling; those who
oould^ fell back to their main body, the few
who passed through were taken prisonei-s,
and the Federal troops re-formed, the
forces under Smith continuing to cover
their retreat until all safely reached Grand
Eoore. As soon as the army had thus
been extricated from its crushing danger,
General Banks rode up to General Smith
and said —
" God bless you. General ! You have
saved the army finom destruction."
" I hope he will bless all of us," was
the brave soldier's terse and significant
reply.
Falstaff in the Oavalxy Service.
In one of the Union cavalry regiments
there was a Major whose character more
resembled that of Falstaff in some re-
spects than that of any other officer. The
Major blustered when there was no dan-
ger, and when in a tight place he either
showed the white feather or attempted to
conceal it by some act that seemed like
Umd desperation. Bemg an arrant cow^
aid, he feared the reputation of a coward
a^ much as he did death itself, and there-
fore would make a terrific charge — ^but
without judgment, — ^if he snppoased that
p3ople whose opinion he feared were look-
ing on. One of his exploits may here be
cited.
20
Some fortune, kind to him but cruel to
his regiment, which was composed of
tough, brave veterans, frequently placed
him in command — seniority of rank doing
the business. On the occasion referred to
he was leading his regiment, under orders,
on an expedition in Western Virgin'a,
when he came near the town of .
He had felt his way cautiously toward the
town, with skirmishers thrown forward,
and employing all the precautions neces-
sary when a strong foix* of an enemy is
in the neighborhood. Thus the valiant
Major proceeded until he met some of the
residents of the town, who assured him
that no rebels were there — ^that the citi-
zens of the place were prepared to receive
the Union troops with a welcome.
Upon receiving this information, the
Major was almost instantly transformed
from an anxious, cautious skirmisher, into
a terrible son of Mars. His eyes pro-
truded, his pursy form swelled, he flour-
ished his saber high in the air, and in a
stentorian voice ordered his command to
close up, to trot, and to gallop.^ Away
went the Major, followed by his regiment,
charging directly through the town pell-
mell, with great rattling of hoofe and
clang'ng of sabers ; nor did he draw rein
and order a halt until he was a clear mile
beyond the limits of the village. Once
safe beyond the possibility of an ambush,
beyond a town where he had supposed se-
cesh were lurking, the indomitable Major
kept on his way rejoicing.
But, oh 1 the wonderment and terror of
the women and children of the town, and
the rage of the Major's veteran troopers |
The ladies had prepared a collation for the
yankee soldiers— either from a friendly
feeling or a desire to propitiate them, tables
were spread in front of their house.:, and
women and children were in the streets to
welcome the hungry warriors and their
'gallant .chieftain' to their repast, — and
what was their dismay, when the whole
body galloped furiously through the streets,
actually endangering the lives of the inno-
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cent would-be entertainers, and overturn-
ing the well-loaded tables !
Hurrah for the Ounspiker.
G)lonel Roberts, of the Forty-second
Illinois, rendered himself conspicuous for
his bravery at Island No. 10, (where he
80 gloriously spiked the battery,) and at
Farmington; services so distinguished,
that, in the subsequent battle in which he
engaged, he acted as Brigadier-General.
His regiment was also noted for its cool-
ness and bravery. When ordered to fall
back, they d'd so under a terrible cross-
fire of grape and shell, with all the regu-
larity of a parade. Halting occasionally
and facing about, they would check the
onward rush of the enemy, and then qui-
etly resume their retreat. Their coolness
was so conspicuous, that General Palmer,
struck with admiration, galloped along
their Imes, hat in hand, shouting : " Brave
Forty-second, I wish I could be the father
of every one of you ! " Colonel Roberts
exposed himself constantly with perfect
sangfroid to the hottest fire of the enemy,
and when the last regiment, the Forty-
second, passed through the gap, he in per-
son commanded the rear guard. Several
times during the fight, as the Colonel rode
along the Imes, the boys ceased from their
labors to ** hurrah for the gunspiker ! **
"Tell it all now," said the Major.
"Well, I will. I have got twenty-one
kegs of powder and one gun. I furnished
four horses to Price, and went dowq to
Owninff Up.
M^jor McKee, at the head of a Union
force, hunted up a great many secession-
ists of the rampant sort, in Southern Mis-
souri, — so actively, indeed, as to nearly
fill the various county jails. When he
caught one of this type, he said :
" Well, how much of a rebel have you
been ? You know more about what you
have done than I do. I know some, and
you know it all."
One old man said, as he trembled, " Ma-
jor, I have not done any thing."
" Stop," said the Major, " you know
you have got some powder hid."
" Oh, yes, there is some."
Owning up
Smith's Chapel to fight the Feds, and I
have fed any amount of rebels. I won't
lie any more ! You have got it all. I
have done all I could to aid the South."
The Major had come do^vn so hard on
them that they feared to lie to him. An-
other man came in at the same time as
the above, to take the oath.
" Well, Sir, what have you done ? "
" Nothing."
" Well, Sir, I will put you in jail for
not doing something."
After he had been in jail about two
hours, he sent for the Major, and told him
where there were eleven kegs of powder,
and a Government wagon, and owned to
helping cut up a ferry boat on the Mis-
souri river, in the summer.
Seven Bebels Captured by One Fed.
One of the neatest of military exploits
during the war, was that performed by
Captain Drake DeKay of General Mans-
field's staff, while awaiting the General's
arrival at a house called Moore*s Ranche,
a kind of summer hotel kept by a man
named Moore, at Ocean View. All the
white men, and most of the women of the
vicinity had fied — ^it was said by those
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they had left behind — to the woods, to
prevent being forced into the rebel ser-
vice.
Captain DeKay, while supper was be-
ing prepared, mounted his horse and de-
termined to explore the country, followed
only by his negro servant As he was
pas»ng a swamp toward evening, he came
suddenly upon $even of the secession
troops, who were lurking by the roadside,
and were firmed with double-barreled
guns. The C^tain turned instantanecoisly
and shouted to his (imaginary) company
to prepare to charge — and then riduig for-
ward rapidly, revolver in hand, told the
men they were his prisoners, as his cav-
alry would soon be upon them, ordered
them to discharge their pieces and deliver
them to him, which they did without de*
lay. Hcf then informed them that his
only * company' was his negro servant,
and directed them to follow him into
camp.
An hour later, just after General Wool
had returned from Norfolk, the Captain
rode to the beach and informed Colonel
Cram, as Chief of the General's Staff,
that the seven prisoners, whom he had
mardied to the beach, were at his disposal.
Their arms were taken away, and on
promising to take the oath of allegiance,
the men were at once dismissed. One of
them proved to be Moore himself, who
came over to his house, where he found
half a dozen Feds in ftiU possession, and
just preparing to discuss a most comfort-
able supper which his obliging colored
cook had got ready for them. Like nearly
all the rebel soldiers in that section, he
said that he had been /orcc<^ into the ser-
vice, and was only waiting a chance to run
away; but his statements on this point
did not obtain, to say the least, any mare
credit than they deserved.
SiMridan Biding to the Vront.
The victory gained by General Sheri-
dan at Cedar Creek, Va., October 19th,
1864, surpassed in interest the victory
gained precisely one month earlier at
Winchester. It was a victory following
upon the heels of apparent revei-se, and
therefore reflecting peculiar credit on the
brave commander to whose timely arrival
upon the field the final success of the day
must be attributed.
The General was at Winchester in the
early morning when the enemy attacked —
fifteen miles distant from the field of ope-
rations. General Wright was in com-
mand. The enemy had approached under
cover of a heavy fog, and flanking the ex-
treme right of the Federal line, held by
Crook's Corps, and attacking in the centre,
had thrown the entire line into conftision,
and driven it several miles. Tlie strag-
glers to the rear were feai-ftilly numerous,
and the enemy was pushing on, turning
against the Federals a score of guns al-
ready captured frt>m them.
This was the situation a little before
noon when Sheridan came on the field,
riding, said one of his staff, so that the
devil himself could not have kept up. A
staff ofiicer meeting him, pronounced the
situation of the army to be " awful."
** Pshaw," said Sheridan, **it*8 nothing
of the sort. It's all right, or we'll ^^ it
right ! "
Sheridan hastened to his cavalry on the
extreme left. Galloping past the batter-
ies to the extreme left of the line held by
the cavalry, he rode to the front, took off
his hat and waved it,- while a cheer went
up fix>m the ranks not less hearty and en-
thusiastic than that which greeted him
after the battle of Winchester. Generals
rode out to meet him, officers waved their
swords, men threw up their hats in an ex-
tremity of glee. Grcneral Custer, discov-
ering Sheridan at the moment he arrived,
rode up to him, threw his arms around his
neck, and kissed him on the cheek. Wfut-
ing for no other parley than simply to ex-
change greeting, tuid to say ^ This retreat
must be stopped 1 " Sheridan broke loose
and began galloping down the lines, along
the whole front of the army. Every-
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where the enthusiasm caused by his ap-
pearance was the same.
The line was speedily re-formed ; pro-
Tost-marshals brought in stragglers bj the
scores ; the retreating armj turned its &jce
to the foe. An attack just about to be
made by the latter was repulsed, and the
tide of battle turned. Tlien Sheridan's
time was come. A cavalry charge was
ordered against right and left flank of the
enemy, and then a grand advance of the
three infantry corps irom left to right on the
enem3r's centre. On through Middletown,
and beyond, the Confederates hurried, and
the Army of the Shenandoah pursued.
The roar of musketry now had a gleeful,
dancing sound. The guns fired shotted
salutes of victory. Custer and Merritt,
charging in on right and left, doubled up
the flanks of the foe, taking prisoners,
slashing, killing, driving as they went.
The march of the infantry waa more ma-
jestic and terrible. The lines of the foe
swayed and broke before it everywhere.
Beyond Middletown, on the battle-field
fought over in the morning, their columns
were completely overthrown and disorgan-
ized. They fled along the pike and over
the fields like sheep.
Thus on through Strasburg with two
brigades of cavalry at their heels. Two
thousand prisoners were gathered together,
though there was not a sufficient guard to
send them all to the rear. The guns lost
in the morning were recaptured, and as
many more taken, makmg fifty in all, and
according to Sheridan's report, the enemy
reached Mount Jackson without an organ-
ized regiment. The scene at Sheridan's
head^quarters at night, after the battle,
was wildly exciting. Greneral Custer ar-
rived about nine o'clock. The first thing
he did was to hug General Sheridan with
all his might, liMng him in the air, and
whirling him around and around, with the
shout : "By — , we've cleaned them out
and 9ot the guns!" Catching sight of
General Torbert, Custer went through the
same proceeding with him, until Torbert
was forced to cry out, "There, there, old
fellow ; don't capture me ! "
Sheridan's ride to the front, October
19th, 1864, will go down in history as CMie
of the most important and exciting events
which have ever given interest to a battle
scene ; and to this eventis to be attributed
the victory of the day.
Boy Soldlera at the Old Ones' Trade.
Enoxville, Tennessee, is a town well
known. Across a little creek is a place
called Shieldstown. The spirit of war ex-
hibited itself warmly among the boys six,
eight, and ten years old, and the fight raged
fiercely between the Shieldstowners and
Knoxvillers. They used slings and minie
balls, which they handled with great dex-
terity. They had camp-fires built along in
a line. Every morning each party ap-
peared on its own side of the stream,
drawn up in array, ammunition was dis-
tributed out of a bag, fifteen rounds to the
nwui, and they commenced. Old soldiers
of the Ninth Corps, who had been through
many a storm of shot and shell, kept at a
respectable distance a^ they hurled their
minies with vigor. One day the Shields-
towners made a charge at the single plank
that crossed the stream, the Knoxvillers
ran, all except one little fellow about eight
years old — he stood at the end of the
plank, swearing oaths like Parrott shells,
calling them c6wards, and, by a vigorous
dischai^ of minies, repulsed the assault.
The casualties amounted to bruises and
cuts in all parts of the body, rather serious
to look at, or to think what they might
have been; but eveiy little fellow was
proud of his wound. So it went on for
several days, when one bright morning, as
they were drawn up in AiU-fighting array,
and only awedted the military signal to
commence, suddenly appeared some women
in rear of each — a half doeen were caught
up, severely spanked, and led ofiT. The
rest were disconcerted and dispersed.
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FoolhTrtlTi— and its Twxlhl* PonaltF*
When our forces were at Tybee, a pai^
tj of Germans went one day up to Goat's
Point. One of the privates stood on the
summit of a sandhill, perhaps a hundred
yards less than a mile from Pulaski, (which
was as near as the Federals could get,) and
waved his hat. The others went back out
of sight, but could see the rebels bringing
a gun to bear. They warned their comrade,
but he would not heed. As he stood with
his back to the fort, a barbette gun sent
out a little cloud. Then came the thun-
der, the rushing ball, an// the rash man lay
dtsemboweUd and eui in two on the sand.
It was a splendid shot, such as could not
be equaled in a month's practice.
Cost of a Oanteii of Water.
Mr. Hepworth, Chaplain to one of the
Massachusetts regiments, relates the story
of a curious capture, as follows :
One of our men was captured by a very
neat piece of strategy. About a hundred
and fifty yards from the front of one of
our regiments was a spring of clear cold
water. After having drunk the vile fluid