d and cared for, their wounds
dressed, the shattered limbs removed, and all their wants attended to.
The medical officers of the Eighteenth corps expressed their warmest
gratitude for this act of kindness on the part of the Sixth corps
surgeons, this being the second time that we had found an opportunity of
assisting them in an emergency.

Our lines were daily drawn more closely around Petersburgh, but no other
general action was brought on for some time. There was constant firing
of artillery from both sides, and now and then the rattle of musketry
would pass along the lines.

On the 22d, Colonel Bidwell's brigade occupied the front line of rifle
pits. The sun was shining brightly, and our men, unprotected by shelter,
were striving to pass the time with as little discomfort as possible. A
group of men of the Seventy-seventh were behind the breastwork,
stretched out upon the sand, resting upon their elbows and amusing each
other with jokes, when a shell came shrieking into their midst. Its
explosion threw them in every direction. One went high in the air and
fell twenty feet from the spot where he was lying when the shell
exploded. Strange to tell, not a man was killed, yet three had each a
leg crushed to jelly, and two others were seriously wounded. The three
whose legs were crushed were Sergeant James Barnes, James Lawrence, and
James Allen, all of company A. The poor fellows were taken to the field
hospital completely prostrated from the shock, cold sweat stood upon
their pallid brows, and life seemed but to flicker before going out. The
surgeons were making haste to load the wounded and sick into ambulances
to send to City Point, for we were ordered to march at a moment's
notice. "You can do nothing for those men," said the wide awake,
enterprising Doctor Hall, who was superintending the loading of the
ambulances, as he saw the surgeon who had charge of the operations
prepare to remove the mangled members. "Better put them into ambulances
and let them have a chance for their lives! There is no time now to wait
for operations." "How long will it take you to load your ambulances,
doctor?" "Twenty minutes, at least." "Then I will have the men ready for
you." The surgeon gave to each of the unfortunate ones a glass of
brandy, then administered his chloroform, and in less than thirty
minutes had amputated the limbs, dressed the stumps, and placed the men
in ambulances. They were taken at once to City Point, where they w