etting in the ditch along
our breastworks.

Q. How near did they come up?

A. They were right at us; right across from the breastworks. I
asked them what they were slipping up there for. They made answer
that they knew their business.

Q. Are you sure this was done while the flag of truce was in?

A. Yes, sir. There was no firing; we could see all around; we
could see them moving up all around in large force.

Q. Was any thing said about it except what you said to the
rebels?

A. I heard all our boys talking about it. I heard some of our
officers remark, as they saw it coming, that the white flag was a
bad thing; that they were slipping on us. I believe it was
Lieutenant Akerstrom that I heard say it was against the rules of
war for them to come up in that way.

Q. To whom did he say that?

A. To those fellows coming up; they had officers with them.

Q. Was Lieutenant Akerstrom shot before or after he had
surrendered?

A. About two minutes after the flag of truce went back, during
the action.

Q. Do you think of any thing else to state? If so, go on and
state it.

A. I saw a rebel lieutenant take a little negro[114] boy up on
the horse behind him; and then I heard General Chalmers--I think
it must have been--tell him to "Take that negro down and shoot
him," or "Take him and shoot him," and he passed him down and
shot him.

Q. How large was the boy?

A. He was not more than eight years old. I heard the lieutenant
tell the other that the negro was not in the service; that he was
nothing but a child; that he was pressed and brought in there.
The other one said; "Damn the difference; take him down and shoot
him, or I will shoot him." I think it must have been General
Chalmers. He was a smallish man; he had on a long gray coat, with
a star on his coat.[115]

The country and the world stood aghast. The first account of this
human butchery was too much for credence: after a while the truth
began to dawn upon the country; and at last the people admitted that
in a Christian land like America a deed so foul--blacker than hell
itself!--had actually been perpetrated. The patience of the North and
the Union army gave way to bitterest imprecations; the exultation and
applause of the South and Confederate army were succeeded by serious