one hundred yards in our rear, up the ravine, was a good
spring of water. The men could reach this in safety by going down the
breastworks in a stooping posture, then up the ravine to the spring.
A recruit in the Second Regiment had gone to this spring and was
returning. When about twenty paces from the works he undertook,
through a spirit of adventure; or to save a few steps, to run
diagonally across the field to his regiment. It was his last. When
about midway he was caught by a bullet from the enemy's picket, and
only lived long enough to call out, "Oh, mother!" Many lost their
lives here by recklessness or want of caution.
After remaining in the trenches about two weeks, Kershaw's Brigade was
relieved by a part of Hoke's Division and retired to some vacant lots
in the city in good supporting distance of the front line. We were
not out of reach of the shells by any means; they kept up a continual
screaming overhead, bursting in the city. The soldiers got passes
to visit the town on little shopping excursions, notwithstanding
the continual bursting of the shells in the city. The citizens of
Petersburg, white and black, women and children, like the citizens of
Charleston, soon became accustomed to the shelling, and as long as one
did not drop in their immediate vicinity, little attention was paid to
it. One night after a furious bombardment the cry was heard, "The city
is on fire; the city is on fire." A lurid glare shot up out of the
very heart of the city, casting a dim light over the buildings and the
camps near about. Fire bells began ringing, and the old men rushing
like mad to fight the fire. As soon as the enemy discovered that the
city was on fire, they concentrated all their efforts to the burning
buildings. Shells came shrieking from every elevated position on the
enemy's lines, and fell like "showers of meteors on a frolic." Higher
and higher the flames rose until great molten-like tongues seemed to
lick the very clouds. The old men mounted the ladder like boys, and
soon the tops of the surrounding buildings were lined with determined
spirits, and the battle against the flames began in earnest. We could
see their forms against the dark back-ground, running hither and
thither, fighting with all the power and energy of the brave and
fearless men they were. They paid no heed to the screaming, shrieking,
bursting shells all around, but battled bravely to save the city.
After the burning of several contiguous bu
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