s as I neared the house
where the wounded had been gathered. There the torn and mangled lay,
shot in every conceivable part of the body or limbs--some with wounds
in the head, arms torn off at the shoulder or elbow, legs broken,
fingers, toes, or foot shot away; some hobbling along on inverted
muskets or crutches, but the great mass were stretched at full length
upon the ground, uttering low, deep, and piteous moans, that told of
the great sufferings, or a life passing away. The main hall of the
deserted farm house, as well as the rooms, were filled to overflowing
with those most seriously wounded. The stifling stench of blood was
sickening in the extreme. The front and back yards, the fence corners,
and even the out-buildings were filled with the dead and dying.
Surgeons and their assistants were hurrying to and fro, relieving the
distress as far as their limited means would allow, making such hasty
examinations as time permitted. Here they would stop to probe a wound,
there to set a broken limb, bind a wound, stop the flow of blood, or
tie an artery.

But among all this deluge of blood, mangled bodies, and the groans of
the wounded and dying, our ears were continually greeted by the awful,
everlasting rattle of the musketry, the roar of the field batteries,
and the booming, shaking, and trembling of the siege guns from friend
and foe.

The peculiar odor of human blood, mingling with the settling smoke of
the near by battlefield, became so oppressive I could not remain in
the house. My brother helped me into the yard, but in passing out I
fell, fainting for the third time; my loss of blood had been so great
I could stand only with difficulty. I thought the end was near now for
a certainty, and was frightened accordingly. But still I nerved myself
with all the will power I possessed, and was placed on an oil cloth
under the spreading branches of an elm. From the front a continual
stream of wounded kept coming in till late at night. Some were carried
on shoulders of friends, others leaning their weight upon them and
dragging their bodies along, while the slightly wounded were left to
care for themselves. Oh, the horrors of the battlefield! So cruel,
so sickening, so heart-rending to those even of the stoutest
nerves!--once seen, is indelibly impressed upon your mind forever.

The firing ceased about 9 o'clock, and all became still as death, save
the groaning of the wounded soldiers in the hospital, or the calls and
c