Ann S. Stephens

“ War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war on our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices to-day than any of you to secure peace. But you cannot have peace and a division of our country. If the United States submits to a division now, it will not stop, but go on till we reap the fate of Mexico, which is eternal war. ”

“ My retreating column suffered serious loss in the streets of Winchester: males and females vied with each other in increasing the number of their victims by firing from the houses, throwing hand-grenades, hot water, and missiles of every description. The hellish spirit of murder was carried on by the enemy’s cavalry, who followed to butcher, and who struck down with sabre and pistol the helpless soldier sinking from fatigue, unheeding his cries for mercy, indifferent to his claims as a prisoner of war. ”

“ There were a few obstructions—fallen timber—which disordered their lines a little. But every break was instantly welded. Our whole line opened fire, but the enemy, seemingly insensible to fear, or infuriated by passion, bent their necks downward and marched steadily to death, with their faces averted like men striving to protect themselves against a driving storm of hail. The Yates and Burgess sharpshooters, lying snugly behind their rude breastworks, poured in a destructive fire, but it seemed no more effectual than if they had been firing potato-balls, excepting that somebody was killed. ”

“ The Pennsylvania troops marched briskly onward, little imagining that they were throwing themselves on the bayonets of an army of 16,000 men; till, to their horror and consternation, as they emerged from the forest, they found themselves face to face with an overwhelming force. A volley of bullets swept, with devastating effect, upon their ranks dealing death on every side, and scattering one-fifth of their number dead or wounded upon the field. ”

“ I know him to be a powerful man.’ Within that time General Hayes was killed, and his body brought to the rear. The work was at close range. No room in that jungle for manœuvering; no possibility of a bayonet charge; no help from artillery; no help from cavalry; nothing but close, square, severe, face-to-face volleys of fatal musketry. The wounded stagger out, and fresh troops pour in. Stretchers pass out with ghastly burdens, and go back reeking with blood for more. Word is brought that the ammunition is failing. Sixty rounds fired in one steady stand-up fight, and that fight not fought out. ”

“ The fierce, mad excitement and indignation which had fired the bosoms of all Americans at the news of their beloved President having been struck down by the hand of an assassin, was instantly followed by passionate grief and lamentation at the speedy news of his death. A deep gloom hung over the whole North—a gloom which might be compared to the dark clouds from whose bosoms flash forth vivid streams of destroying fire. In every heart arose a stern demand for retribution against the man who had bereaved a great nation in destroying its leader. ”

“ Up to this time, from five o’clock in the morning, the deafening roar of musketry, and the booming of a hundred cannon had known hardly any cessation from any point of the bloody field.
And yet the brave patriots held their position. Could human endurance do more? They too, were suffering; not slain so lavishly as the enemy, because sheltered; but their ranks were sensibly thinning. Half past nine o’clock—the column was growing weak; ten o’clock—the work of death still went on. Ten thousand brave men had closed their eyes in death within the past five hours. ”

“ The position would be of incalculable value to the rebels, who, by placing their batteries on the hill, could hurl shell upon the whole Union line. To save Round Top Hill was of the greatest moment to the National forces, who put forth almost superhuman efforts to beat back the approach of the enemy. Bravely, with unflinching front, the rebels marched up to the very mouths of the guns, to be blown into atoms, and hurled in horrible burnt, blackened, bleeding fragments through the air, their places instantly filled up by scores of others equally daring and reckless of life. ”

“ In Memphis, Vicksburg, and Mississippi, we fed thousands upon thousands of the families of rebel soldiers left on our hands, and whom we could not see starve. Now that war comes home to you, you feel very different; you deprecate its horrors, but did not feel them when you sent car-loads of soldiers and ammunition, and molded shell and shot, to carry war into Kentucky and Tennessee, and desolate the homes of hundreds and thousands of good people, who only asked to live in peace at their old homes, and under the Government of their inheritance. ”

“ On came the rebels with their dreadful battle yell, as deafening as the roar of their artillery, and with fixed bayonets charged forward, a sea of gleaming, death-dealing, blood-stained steel, upon the noble, patriotic band, who met their attacks with unfaltering courage, and hand to hand fought them to the death, while the artillery rained a perfect torrent of shot and shell along the whole line. ”

“ Johnson’s and Baird’s division, which were preparing to retire, saluted them with several volleys as they advanced, but nothing could stay the tide and the exhausted veterans began to waver in the face of the charging, shouting, thundering host which confronted them; the next moment, wave after wave of the rebel sea came surging upon the breastworks, dashing madly against and over the barrier, and greedily swallowing up many of its defenders, with their ammunition and material. Never was resistance more stubborn and determined, and never was attack prosecuted with more devilish pertinacity. ”

“ Soon a fearful enfilading fire of artillery swept in upon them, mowing down their ranks like grass; but still they pressed forward till they found themselves in front of the enemy’s redoubts, which proved to be of a much more formidable character than had been supposed. A perfect abattis held them completely at bay, while the enemy’s infantry leveled their ranks with the ground to the right and to the left. The few who succeeded in gaining the rebel lines found them to be utterly unassailable. ”

“ The earth, torn up in clouds, blinded the eyes of hurrying men; and through the branches of the trees and among the gravestones of the cemetery a shower of destruction crashed ceaselessly. As, with hundreds of others, I groped through this tempest of death for the shelter of the bluff, an old man, a private in a company belonging to the Twenty-fourth Michigan, was struck, scarcely ten feet away, by a cannon ball, which tore through him, extorting such a low, intense cry of mortal pain as I pray God I may never again hear. ”

“ It was about ten o’clock in the morning when the enemy made his first appearance, attracting the attention of the Union troops by light skirmishing and occasional artillery as far to the right as General Hooker’s division. It was an hour of deep anxiety to the Union troops, and the heart of every man beat eagerly and anxiously, but fearlessly, when, at two o’clock in the afternoon a large body of rebels was seen approaching directly in front of Heintzelman’s corps, but beyond the reach of our guns. ”

“ For the remainder of the day, the battle changing from one point to another, continued to rage with varied success—now the Unionists were victors, and now the rebels; till night again closed the conflict, and no decisive victory had been gained on either side.
The next day, Friday, began quiet along both lines: the dead lay unburied on the field, already become objects of loathing and horror, nor could their comrades of yesterday spare the time to lay them beneath the moist, and blood-stained earth. ”

“ A firm determination filled every northern bosom. Many a glorious battle field had taught the soldiers on both sides how to fight and how to endure. Unbounded heroism filled the whole nation. Never on this earth had so broad and glorious a country groaned under a harvest of iron. The defeat of Bull Run, instead of disheartening the people, fired them with new courage and that unconquerable resolution, which is the best part of National heroism.
New Orleans had been captured by the invincible Farragut, by a series of brilliant naval victories. ”

“ Elliott’s and Kimball’s divisions were hurled like a thunderbolt against the rebel left. Wood himself, accompanied by all his staff, followed and directed the charge. The rebel force blazed forth anew, and the patriots, without hesitation or panic, carried the entire works with all their guns, and drove the rebels in dismay from the hill. This was the last stand that the rebels made, and their whole army was now fleeing in rout and panic. The results of the battle were five thousand prisoners, thirty guns, and seven thousand small arms. ”

“ They are inevitable, and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home is to stop this war, which can alone be done by admitting that it began in error, and is perpetuated in pride. We don’t want your negroes, or your horses, or your land, or anything you have, but we do want and will have a just obedience to the laws of the United States. That we will have, and if it involves the destruction of your improvements, we cannot help it. ”

“ On the left, Colonel Benedict’s brigade came into action first, and soon after the right and centre were engaged. The battle now raged fiercely, the air was full of lead and iron, and the roar of artillery incessant. The carnage on both sides was fearful, the men fighting almost hand to hand, and with great desperation. Nothing could exceed the determined bravery of the troops.
The contest now became fierce on both sides, when General Emory’s division, pressed by overwhelming numbers, fell back up the hill to the Sixteenth corps, which was just behind the crest. ”

“ In every city throughout the North, in every village,—in every place where men dwelt, strangers grasped each other by the hand, and with tear-wet eyes bewailed their country’s loss; for the universal grief made all men feel their universal fraternity. ”

“ You have accomplished the great work of the campaign; you hold the key of East Tennessee, of Northern Georgia, and of the enemy’s mines of coal and nitre. Let these achievements console you for the regret you experience that arrivals of fresh hostile troops forbade your remaining on the field to renew the battle; for the right of burying your gallant dead, and caring for your brave companions who lay wounded on the field. The losses you have sustained, though heavy, are slight, considering the odds against you, and the stake you have won. ”

“ They stood and fired fast and furious at the enemy, but they could not remain and live. A few gave way and fled in disorder, and the whole line staggered. Had the rebels done nothing more than keep up their deadly fire, the Federals would have been driven back; but the enemy shifted their artillery, which was received as an indication that they were about to abandon their lines and retire. Raising a loud shout, the division, with fixed bayonets, rushed impetuously forward, and swarming over the works captured such rebels as had not fled, and all the guns except two. ”

“ But Hamilton’s division receded under orders—at backward step, slowly, grimly, face to the foe, and firing. But when the Fifty-sixth Illinois charged, this was changed. Davies’ misfortune had been remedied. The whole line advanced. The rebel host was broken. A destroying Nemesis pursued them. Arms were flung away wildly. They ran to the woods. They fled into the forests. Oh! what a shout of triumph and what a gleaming line of steel followed them. It is strange, but true. Our men do not often shout before battle. Heavens! what thunder there is in their throats after victory. ”

“ The storm rolled upon them, and, as the most desperate valor was displayed by both rebels and Unionists, the fortune of the fight wavered, first on one side and then on the other. A tremendous onslaught of the enemy broke Palmer’s lines, and scattered several of his regiments in wild dismay. General Reynolds threw himself among the brave but broken ranks, shouting, “Boys! are you the soldiers of the Sixth Ohio, who fought so gallantly with me at Cheat Mountain in Virginia? You never turned your backs upon traitors—will you do it now?” ”

“ During the entire period of this bold invasion of the North the skirmishes, raids, and minor battles consequent upon the continual meetings of the rebel and Union forces were almost daily, but the great battle was that which will ever be remembered at the sound of the word, Gettysburg, and must always bring a glow of pride to the cheek of every loyal American who hears it named. ”

“ Everything and everybody appeared to dash headlong through the narrow gaps, and men, horses, mules, ambulances, luggage wagons, ammunition wagons, artillery carriages, and caissons were rolled and tumbled together in a confused, inextricable, and finally motionless mass, completely blocking up the mouth of the gaps. Nearly all this booty subsequently fell into the hands of the enemy. The exultant rebels boasted of the capture of forty-nine pieces of cannon, prisoners amounting to over eight thousand, thirty thousand stand of arms, and forty stands of regimental colors. ”

“ With the first light of Sunday morning, the advance of Bragg’s army, under General Chalmers, made a fierce attack on Munfordsville. The rebels had conceived an idea that the Federals had fled, and came rushing on to what they anticipated as certain victory, when the patriots, making no sign till the enemy was close upon them, opened a sudden and furious fire from their well-aimed guns. Utterly confounded, the rebels reeled back before the unlooked-for shower of death, and fled to the woods in great confusion. ”