, and as the
extreme left came into line with the stump, the heavens opened, or at
least we thought they had, and six pieces of artillery sent their
compliments in the shape of so many barrelsful of grape. One grand
_whir-r-r-r_ went over us, around us, and, in imagination, through us;
it took but the sixtieth part of a minute for fifty men to flatten
themselves upon the earth and wish they had never gone to the war. No
time was wasted in examining the topography of the position, or in
looking for safer quarters, our military discipline showing itself in
the unanimity with which we then and there dropped as one man. In the
short interval between the first and second discharges of grape, one of
those incidents occurred which often turns the seriousness of battle
into a seeming frolic. While considering the expediency of advancing,
our attention was drawn to the antics of several cattle, which had been
quietly grazing near by, now so thoroughly astonished at the strange
proceedings that they were literally attempting to carry out the old
Mother Goose rhyme of "jumping over the moon." With tails stiff as
crowbars and hind legs higher than their heads, they were cavorting
around the field, bellowing with fright, and making such an extremely
ludicrous spectacle, that, in our excited condition, it was more than we
could bear, and almost hysterical laughter weakened us so that we were
hardly able to move. But the range of the enemy's guns was too accurate
to admit of a long stay in this locality, so we pushed on, rolling or
crawling, to the thin line of trees by the river, continual discharges
of grape adding increased momentum to our movements, and solid shot from
our own battery crossing us so closely that it made the neighborhood
more dangerous than social. Drawing long breaths of relief at last,
behind the partial shelter of a rail fence, we began to make as close
investigation of our opponents across the stream as the difficulties of
the position would allow. We found the country thickly inhabited, every
stump and tree sheltering its quota of men in gray, and six ugly-looking
cannon at work upon our position with a rapidity and precision that was
certainly commendable to them, if not fully appreciated by us. However,
we soon lost our fears and misgivings in our eagerness to make the
climate as warm for them as they had so far made it for us, and we
settled down to our work with a vim that would have made old veterans
envio