 be found on his person by which to identify him except the corps
mark on his cap.
About two feet from him lay a
private, hatless, and stripped of shoes and stockings also. His pockets had not
been removed. I examined them, and found in his pantaloons a golden locket, with
the picture of a fair young woman therein, and in his breast coat-pocket a
daguerreotype of the same person, with a card on which was a lady's address. I
have since ascertained it was that of his wife.
The third body was that of a
first lieutenant of artillery; and how he came there in the woods was a mystery
we could not solve. No battery was placed within five hundred yards of that
position, either right or left. But be that as it may, there the body was,
stripped of every thing in the shape of insignia except one shoulder-strap,
which hung by one end only. His little finger had evidently been cut off, as the
print of a large seal-ring could yet be seen upon it; and it is certain the
wound was not caused either by a Minie ball or a fragment of shell.
At length the grave was ready,
the three were buried, and again we passed on. As best we could we were making
our way in the dim light of the lantern, when suddenly I tripped, and extending
my arms in self-protection, my left hand came in contact with the cold forehead
of a corpse. My feet rested on another body, and my lantern was out. I felt for
a match. I had none. But presently some of the men came up; the lantern was
relighted, and the glare revealed a sight which I pray God my eyes may never
look upon again. The body upon which my hand had fallen was that of a corporal;
both legs were blown completely off. That over which I had stumbled was the body
of a private with one arm severed, not entirely off, at the shoulder. Two trees
of perhaps four inches diameter had been splintered, one about eight feet the
other five feet from the ground, and had fallen right where the bodies lay.
Within a circle of twenty feet from these trees I counted seventeen bodies, all,
alas! with blue jackets on. I had hoped among so many to find some of the
How we buried these seventeen
bodies you would
not care to know. The lantern
gone out, the candle which the men had procured lasted but a little time; but
the moon had risen and the pale rays it cast through the trees aided us in our
task, though they added much to the ghostliness of the terrible scene over which
We found one body, that of a
young, light-haired boy, not over nineteen at the furthest, whose forehead was
pierced by a ball; in his left hand he firmly grasped his rammer; his right hand
or its forefinger was in the watch-pocket of his pantaloons. We examined this
pocket and found in it a small silver shield with his name, company, and
regiment engraved upon it. We took possession of this memento, and fortunately
finding a fragment of a cracker-box, marked upon it in pencil, by moonlight, the
inscription found on the shield. We buried him with two of his comrades, one of
whom belonged to the Fifth Corps, and placed the rude board at the head of his
grave in the hope that it would some day enable some pilgrim-friend to find the
body. Since that day the shield has been sent to the soldier's father; its
inscription was, "S. L. Caldwell, Company D, 118th Pennsylvania Volunteers."
It was half an hour after
midnight when we came into camp, and half an hour after that, lying with our
faces to the stars, dreams enfolded us, and we were as though no battle horrors
had ever pained and no battle dangers had ever menaced us.
IN sight of the starry sky,
In sound of the rushing sea,
With a beating heart and a tender
Did my own true love kiss me.
Under the solemn sky,
Close to the throbbing sea,
With words of love, and vows of
Did my own true love kiss me.
I gaze on the same bright sky,
I hear the same rippling sea,
But never again on earth, or in
Will my own true love kiss me.
True are the holy stars,
True is the restless sea,
True are the thoughts of my heart
But my love is false to me!
Hear it, O changeful sky!
Hear it, O moving sea!
Ye are true to your own eternal
But my 