“‘Del’—er Mr. Miller—was with us from start to finish. Wasn’t much of him but his drum and grit. Legs so short the boys had to carry him across all the creeks. He stuck though and tapped ‘lights out’ down side of Lee’s ‘last ditch’ at Appomattox.”
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That evening the two veterans of the old second corps partook of the best that the Woodruff house could give and smoked several of Nill & Jess’ Pinks at the expense of one who was glad to do it, “Just for old acquaintance sake.”
WAR IS HELL.
To fully appreciate Gen. Sherman’s definition of war, one needs to be at a field hospital on the outskirts of some great battlefield where the ghastly surroundings of death and suffering are more terrible than on the battlefield itself.
The day after our retreat from Bull Run our regiment was ordered to proceed by train to Fairfax station, where all the wounded were sent for transportation to Washington. We rode on the top of freight cars, every man with a loaded musket ready to shoot any of Mosby’s men who might try to wreck the train. The cars were filled with cots, stretchers, blankets and other supplies for the wounded.
The night was a dark and rainy one, and as we jumped off the cars at the station, which was located in some dense woods, we saw the horrors of war spread out on every side. Acres of ground were covered with bleeding, mangled soldiers, who but a short time before had stood amid the storm of shot and shell, now just as bravely enduring suffering.
The surgeons and their assistants at the amputating tables with coats off and shirt sleeves rolled up, their hands red with blood, worked swiftly to save life, for it is the “first aid” to the wounded that counts.
The spectacular effect was heightened by piles of blazing pitch pine knots, torches and lanterns suspended from the limbs of trees, which imparted a strange wierdness to the scene.
All night long the interminable trains of ambulances and wagons from the battlefield came bringing their loads of sufferers with the smoke of battle upon them. Many were so exhausted that it was necessary to give them stimulants before they could be lifted from the wagons.