Andersonville, vol 3 | Page 5

"Old Hancock caught
the Johnnies that morning the neatest you ever saw anything in your
life. After the two armies had murdered each other for four or five days
in the Wilderness, by fighting so close together that much of the time
you could almost shake hands with the Graybacks, both hauled off a
little, and lay and glowered at each other. Each side had lost about
twenty thousand men in learning that if it attacked the other it would
get mashed fine. So each built a line of works and lay behind them, and
tried to nag the other into coming out and attacking. At Spottsylvania
our lines and those of the Johnnies weren't twelve hundred yards apart.
The ground was clear and clean between them, and any force that

attempted to cross it to attack would be cut to pieces, as sure as
anything. We laid there three or four days watching each other--just
like boys at school, who shake fists and dare each other. At one place
the Rebel line ran out towards us like the top of a great letter 'A.' The
night of the 11th of May it rained very hard, and then came a fog so
thick that you couldn't see the length of a company. Hancock thought
he'd take advantage of this. We were all turned out very quietly about
four o'clock in the morning. Not a bit of noise was allowed. We even
had to take off our canteens and tin cups, that they might not rattle
against our bayonets. The ground was so wet that our footsteps couldn't
be heard. It was one of those deathly, still movements, when you think
your heart is making as much noise as a bass drum.
"The Johnnies didn't seem to have the faintest suspicion of what was
coming, though they ought, because we would have expected such an
attack from them if we hadn't made it ourselves. Their pickets were out
just a little ways from their works, and we were almost on to them
before they discovered us. They fired and ran back. At this we raised a
yell and dashed forward at a charge. As we poured over the works, the
Rebels came double-quicking up to defend them. We flanked Johnson's
Division quicker'n you could say 'Jack Robinson,' and had four
thousand of 'em in our grip just as nice as you please. We sent them to
the rear under guard, and started for the next line of Rebel works about
a half a mile away. But we had now waked up the whole of Lee's army,
and they all came straight for us, like packs of mad wolves. Ewell
struck us in the center; Longstreet let drive at our left flank, and Hill
tackled our right. We fell back to the works we had taken, Warren and
Wright came up to help us, and we had it hot and heavy for the rest of
the day and part of the night. The Johnnies seemed so mad over what
we'd done that they were half crazy. They charged us five times,
coming up every time just as if they were going to lift us right out of
the works with the bayonet. About midnight, after they'd lost over ten
thousand men, they seemed to understand that we had pre-empted that
piece of real estate, and didn't propose to allow anybody to jump our
claim, so they fell back sullen like to their main works. When they
came on the last charge, our Brigadier walked behind each of our
regiments and said:
"Boys, we'll send 'em back this time for keeps. Give it to 'em by the

acre, and when they begin to waver, we'll all jump over the works and
go for them with the bayonet.'
"We did it just that way. We poured such a fire on them that the bullets
knocked up the ground in front just like you have seen the deep dust in
a road in the middle of Summer fly up when the first great big drops of
a rain storm strike it. But they came on, yelling and swearing, officers
in front waving swords, and shouting--all that business, you know.
When they got to about one hundred yards from us, they did not seem
to be coming so fast, and there was a good deal of confusion among
them. The brigade bugle sounded
"Stop firing."
"We all ceased instantly. The rebels looked up in astonishment. Our
General sang out:
"Fix bayonets!' but we knew what was coming, and were already
executing the order. You can imagine the crash that ran down the line,
as every fellow snatched his bayonet out and slapped it on the muzzle
of his gun. Then the General's voice rang out like a bugle: