something like order had been restored. In the mean time it certainly
seemed as if everything was going to pieces. I got a little idea of what
a panic-stricken army means. The fearful thing about it was, we knew it
was terribly contagious, and that with all the uncertainties in that
black wilderness from which this mob came and the pandemonium in
progress all about us, it might seize our own troops and we be swept
away to certain destruction in spite of all our efforts. It is said
death rides on horseback with a fleeing army. Nothing can be more
horrible. Hence a panic must be stopped, cost what it may. Night
undoubtedly came to our rescue with this one.

One of the most heroic deeds I saw done to help stem the fleeing tide of
men and restore courage was not the work of a battery, nor a charge of
cavalry, but the charge of a band of music! The band of the Fourteenth
Connecticut went right out into that open space between our new line
and the rebels, with shot and shell crashing all about them, and played
"The Star-Spangled Banner," the "Red, White, and Blue," and "Yankee
Doodle," and repeated them for fully twenty minutes. They never played
better. Did that require nerve? It was undoubtedly the first and only
band concert ever given under such conditions. Never was American grit
more finely illustrated. Its effect upon the men was magical. Imagine
the strains of our grand national hymn, "The Star-Spangled Banner,"
suddenly bursting upon your ears out of that horrible pandemonium of
panic-born yells, mingled with the roaring of musketry and the crashing
of artillery. To what may it be likened? The carol of birds in the midst
of the blackest thunder-storm? No simile can be adequate. Its strains
were clear and thrilling for a moment, then smothered by that fearful
din, an instant later sounding bold and clear again, as if it would
fearlessly emphasize the refrain, "Our flag is still there."

CHAPTER XVI

THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE--CONTINUED

Recurring again to the incident of the band playing out there between
the two hostile lines in the midst of that panic of the Eleventh Corps,
it was a remarkable circumstance that none of them were killed. I think
one or two were slightly wounded by pieces of exploding shells, and one
or two of their instruments carried away scars from that scene. The
rebels did not follow up their advantage, as we expected, probably owing
to the effective work of our batteries, other