Poague's horse near the middle of the hip, tearing
an ugly hole, from which there spurted a stream of blood the size of a
man's wrist. To dismount before his horse fell required quick work, but
the captain was equal to the occasion. Another shell robbed Henry
Boteler of the seat of his trousers, but caused the shedding of no
blood, and his narrow escape the shedding of no tears, although the loss
was a serious one. Eugene Alexander, of Moorefield, had his thigh-bone
broken and was incapacitated for service. Sergeant Henry Payne, a
splendid man and an accomplished scholar, was struck by a solid shot
just below the knee and his leg left hanging by shreds of flesh. An hour
later, when being lifted into an ambulance, I heard him ask if his leg
could not be saved, but in another hour he was dead.

After an hour of spirited work, our antagonists limbered up and hurried
off, leaving us victors in the contest. Lieutenant Baxter McCorkle
galloped over to the place to see what execution we had done, and found
several dead men, as many or more dead horses, and one of their caissons
as evidences of good aim; and brought back with him a fine army-pistol
left in the caisson. When the affair was over, I found myself exhausted
and faint from over-exertion in the hot sun. Remembering that my
brother David had brought along a canteen of vinegar, gotten in the big
capture of stores a few days before, and, thinking a swallow of it would
revive me, I went to him and asked him to get it for me. Before I was
done speaking, the world seemed to make a sudden revolution and turn
black as I collapsed with it. My brother, thinking I was shot, hurried
for the vinegar, but found the canteen, which hung at the rear of a
caisson, entirely empty; it, too, having been struck by a piece of
shell, and even the contents of the little canteen demanded by this
insatiable plain.

CHAPTER XIV

THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANASSAS--INCIDENTS AND SCENES ON THE BATTLEFIELD

These encounters were the preludes to the great battle for which both
sides were preparing, almost two days having already been spent in
maneuvering and feeling each other's lines. The afternoon, however,
passed quietly with no further collisions worthy of mention. The
following day, Saturday, was full of excitement. It was the third and
last of this protracted battle, and the last for many a brave soldier in
both armies.

The shifting of troops began early, our battery changing position