ates were
buried or sent to the hospitals. Between the lines lay
hundreds of wounded federals, who vainly called for water.
These men had been without water since early morning. Some
calling louder than others, their voices were recognized,
and as their cries grew fainter, we knew their lives were
ebbing away. Our men, risking their lives, carried water to
some.

"I find in my diary these lines: 'Sunday, July 31, 1864.
Everything comparatively quiet along the lines. Hundreds of
federal soldiers are lying in front of the crater exposed to
a scorching sun; some are crying for water. The enemy's fire
is too heavy for a soldier to expose himself.' Late on
Sunday evening a flag of truce was sent in and forwarded to
General Lee. General Grant had asked permission to bury his
dead and remove his wounded. The truce was granted, to begin
on Monday at 5 A. M. and conclude at 9 A. M. Punctual to the
hour the federal details came on the field and by 9 A. M.
had buried about three hundred. The work was hardly begun
and the truce was extended. Hour after hour was granted
until it was evening before the field was cleared."

With these selections from the mass of confederate testimony before us,
of their "daring, bloody work," given by participants, it is well to
read some of the statements of those who battled for the Union on that
occasion.

Many of the correspondents at the seat of war, ignorant of the real
facts regarding the assault, attributed the failure, not to General
Meade's interference with General Burnside's plan, but to the Phalanx
division, the men who bore the brunt of the battle and gained for
themselves a fame for desperate fighting. But some of those who _were_
acquainted with the facts have left records that tell the true story and
give honor to whom honor is due. Gen. Grant is among the number; he
perfectly understood the whole matter, knew that General Burnside, not
being allowed to carry out his own plans, but at the last moment
compelled to act contrary to his judgment, could not fight with that
enthusiasm and confidence that he would have done had he been allowed to
carry out his own ideas. In his "Memoirs," General Grant gives an
account of the explosion of the mine and the assault after placing the
blame for the "stupendous failure" where it belongs. I quote a few
preliminary words which not only intimate