DIY History | Transcribe | Civil War Diaries and Letters | George C. Burmeister diary, 1864

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1864-03-21 Page 6

Six hitched horses broke loose from another caisson and came running along, but our men soon stopped them by killing one of them.  The action was now fully commenced, some of the rebels attempted to escape and our men let them have a volley of leaden hail which checked them by leaving five of their number dead on the field.  Every moment I expected to hear their cannon roar, since I had ascertained, that they had four pieces, and two only were in our possession, but a yell and a double quick, placed them in our power at the critical moment, when the cannoneer stood ready, waiting for the command of his officer, to fire, to send some of our brave men to that better land from “whose bourn no traveler returns”, the pieces were double shotted with canister and grape, and many a one of us, must have soaked the earth with his blood if they had been discharged on us in the lane which was packed full of our men, and then the butchery would have been awful, for the rebels would certainly have been bayonetted by our exasperated men.  But the officer in command of that action knew the consequences of firing those pieces, and he feared that he might kill many of his own men who were prisoners in our hands.  A few of the rebels were killed while resisting the persons demanding their surrender.  One shot at Thomas Purcell corporal of the color guards, but fortunately the ball was not well aimed, it entered his mouth, injured his lip slightly and ruined one of his teeth, the

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Six hitched horses broke loose from another caisson and came running along, but our men soon stopped them by killing one of them. The action was now fully commenced, some of the rebels attempted to escape and our men let them have a volley of leaden hail which checked them by leaving five of their number dead on the field. Every moment I expected to hear their cannon roar, since I had ascertained, that they had four pieces, and two only were in our possession, but a yell and a double quick, placed them in our power at the critical moment, when the cannoneer stood ready, waiting for the command of his officer, to fire, to send some of our brave men to that better land from “whose bourn no traveler returns”, the pieces were double shotted with canister and grape, and many a one of us, must have soaked the earth with his blood if they had been discharged on us in the lane which was packed full of our men, and then the butchery would have been awful, for the rebels would certainly have been bayonetted by our exasperated men. But the officer in command of that action knew the consequences of firing those pieces, and he feared that he might kill many of his own men who were prisoners in our hands. A few of the rebels were killed while resisting the persons demanding their surrender. One shot at Thomas Purcell corporal of the color guards, but fortunately the ball was not well aimed, it entered his mouth, injured his lip slightly and ruined one of his teeth, the