Suddenly they heard the report of a signal gun
And to their respective posts did quickly run.
After the signal gun fired in a very short time
There was brisk firing all along the picket line.
At these two posts firing was rapid and sharp,
But the aim was above or below the mark,
Finally the pickets were ordered to fall back,
The two waved hands saying, “Good-bye Johnnie, Good-bye Pat.”
Fearful Experience.—During the time of the engagements in the wilderness a soldier on the picket line one night had a fearful experience. The lines were very close and the sentinels on post had strict orders to walk their beats, keep a sharp lookout and let no one approach or cross the line without giving the countersign. It was very dark and the thick underbrush made the darkness more dense. The officers making their rounds were embarrassed not knowing how soon they might march into the enemy’s lines. The sentinel quietly walking his beat heard a soldier approaching and soon as he came near enough in as low a tone as possible challenged him and asked for the countersign. The soldier approaching apparently like the soldier on post was uncertain whether he was in the presence of a friend or an enemy. In an evasive way they made inquiries with a view of ascertaining each others identity. Each one was afraid to fire on the other fearing he would be firing on a friend instead of an enemy, knowing too that the least disturbance would precipitate a movement of both armies and perhaps cause a battle which in the darkness would have been horrible to contemplate. Without understanding their true relationship to each other, they simultaneously turned and walked in opposite directions and to this day the soldier does not know whether he challenged a friend or a foe.
Burned Bodies of the Dead.—To augment the horrors of the Wilderness battles a fire broke out immediately following the retreat of the enemy in an engagement and swept over the battlefield before the dead could be moved. The picket line reconnoitering moving forward to discover the position taken by the retreating army was obliged to run over the crisp burned bodies of Yankee soldiers lying dead on the field. It was an awful sight illustrating the horrors of war. The soldiers on the picket line in consequence of the heat, smoke and stench were very nearly overcome and were driven to the extreme necessity of drinking the turbid waters of a ditch where dead bodies of Yankee soldiers were lying very close.