THE brigade was halted in the
fringe of a grove. The men crouched
among the trees and pointed their
restless guns out at the fields.
They tried to look beyond the
smoke.
Out of this haze they could
see running men. Some shouted
information and gestured as they
hurried.
The men of the new regiment
watched and listened eagerly,
while their tongues ran on in
gossip of the battle. They mouthed
rumors that had flown like birds
out of the unknown.
"They say Perry
has been driven in with big
loss."
"Yes, Carrott
went t' th' hospital. He said
he was sick. That smart
lieutenant is commanding 'G'
Company. Th' boys say they won't
be under Carrott no more if they
all have t' desert. They allus
knew he was a--"
"Hannises'
batt'ry is took."
"It ain't either.
I saw Hannises' batt'ry off
on th' left not more'n
fifteen minutes ago."
47
"Well--"
"Th' general,
he ses he is goin' t' take
th' hull cammand
of th' 304th when we go inteh
action, an' then he ses we'll
do sech fightin' as never another
one reg'ment done."
"They say we're
catchin' it over on th' left.
They say th'
enemy driv' our line inteh a
devil of a swamp an' took Hannises'
batt'ry."
"No sech thing.
Hannises' batt'ry was 'long
here 'bout a minute
ago."
"That young
Hasbrouck, he makes a good
off'cer. He ain't afraid
'a nothin'."
"I met one
of th' 148th Maine boys an'
he ses his brigade fit
th' hull rebel army fer four
hours over on th' turnpike road
an' killed about five thousand
of 'em. He ses one more sech
fight as that an' th' war 'll
be over."
"Bill wasn't
scared either. No, sir! It
wasn't that. Bill
ain't a-gittin' scared easy.
He was jest mad, that's what
he was. When that feller trod
on his hand, he up an' sed that
he was willin' t' give his hand
t' his country, but he be dumbed
if he was goin' t' have every
dumb bushwhacker in th' kentry
walkin' 'round on it. Se he went
t' th' hospital disregardless
of th' fight. Three fingers was
crunched. Th' dern doctor wanted
t' amputate 'm, an' Bill, he
raised a heluva row, I hear.
He's a funny feller."
The din in front swelled to
a tremendous chorus. The youth
and his fellows were frozen to
silence. They could see a flag
that tossed in the smoke angrily.
Near it were the blurred and
agitated forms of troops. There
came a turbulent stream of men
across the fields. A battery
chang- ing position at a frantic
gallop scattered the stragglers
right and left.
A shell screaming like a storm
banshee went over the huddled
heads of the reserves. It landed
in the grove, and exploding redly
flung the brown earth. There
was a little shower of pine needles.
Bullets began to whistle among
the branches and nip at the trees.
Twigs and leaves came sailing
down. It was as if a thousand
axes, wee and invisible, were
being wielded. Many of the men
were constantly dodging and ducking
their heads.
The lieutenant of the youth's
company was shot in the hand.
He began to swear so won- drously
that a nervous laugh went along
the regi- mental line. The officer's
profanity sounded conventional.
It relieved the tightened senses
of the new men. It was as if
he had hit his fingers with a
tack hammer at home.
He held the wounded member
carefully away from his side
so that the blood would not drip
upon his trousers.
The captain of the company,
tucking his sword under his arm,
produced a handkerchief and began
to bind with it the lieutenant's
wound. And they disputed as to
how the binding should be done.
The battle flag in the distance
jerked about madly. It seemed
to be struggling to free itself
from an agony. The billowing
smoke was filled with horizontal
flashes.
Men running swiftly emerged
from it. They grew in numbers
until it was seen that the whole
command was fleeing. The flag
suddenly sank down as if dying.
Its motion as it fell was a gesture
of despair.
Wild yells came from behind
the walls of smoke. A sketch
in gray and red dissolved into
a moblike body of men who galloped
like wild horses.
The veteran regiments on the
right and left of the 304th immediately
began to jeer. With the passionate
song of the bullets and the banshee
shrieks of shells were mingled
loud catcalls and bits of facetious
advice concerning places of safety.
But the new
regiment was breathless with
hor- ror. "Gawd! Saunders's
got crushed!" whis- pered the
man at the youth's elbow. They
shrank back and crouched as if
compelled to await a flood.
The youth shot a swift glance
along the blue ranks of the regiment.
The profiles were motion- less,
carven; and afterward he remembered
that the color sergeant was standing
with his legs apart, as if he
expected to be pushed to the
ground.
The following throng went whirling
around the flank. Here and there
were officers carried along on
the stream like exasperated chips.
They were striking about them
with their swords and with their
left fists, punching every head
they could reach. They cursed
like highway- men.
A mounted officer displayed
the furious anger of a spoiled
child. He raged with his head,
his arms, and his legs.
Another, the commander of the
brigade, was galloping about
bawling. His hat was gone and
his clothes were awry. He resembled
a man who has come from bed to
go to a fire. The hoofs of his
horse often threatened the heads
of the running men, but they
scampered with sin- gular fortune.
In this rush they were apparently
all deaf and blind. They heeded
not the largest and longest of
the oaths that were thrown at
them from all directions.
Frequently over this tumult
could be heard the grim jokes
of the critical veterans; but
the retreating men apparently
were not even con- scious of
the presence of an audience.
The battle reflection that
shone for an instant in the faces
on the mad current made the youth
feel that forceful hands from
heaven would not have been able
to have held him in place if
he could have got intelligent
control of his legs.
There was an appalling imprint
upon these faces. The struggle
in the smoke had pictured an
exaggeration of itself on the
bleached cheeks and in the eyes
wild with one desire.
The sight of this stampede
exerted a floodlike force that
seemed able to drag sticks and
stones and men from the ground.
They of the reserves had to hold
on. They grew pale and firm,
and red and quaking.
The youth achieved one little
thought in the midst of this
chaos. The composite monster
which had caused the other troops
to flee had not then appeared.
He resolved to get a view of
it, and then, he thought he might
very likely run better than the
best of them.
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