Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 87, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 April 1914 — STORIES CAMP AND WAR [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

STORIES CAMP AND WAR

HOT BATTLE AT GETTYSBURG

Veteran of Old Sixth Corps Relates Terrible Experience on Dreary Hike From Manchester, Pa.

Tired knd dusty, I dragged my weary self into Manchester, Pa., just 35 miles from Gettysburg, on the morning of July 1, 1863. I was a member of the old Sixth corps and we all were expecting orders that would permit us to get our much needed rest writes H. P. Van Velson in the Chicago RecordHerald. But late in the evening orders to "fall in” sounded and we were compelled to hike the. pike for Gettysburg. The weather was hot, the sun of July 2 merciless and the road heavy with dust. Many sparkling streams of cool spring water flowed across the pike which cooled our feet as we hurried along, but the man who fell out to fill his canteen found an officer standing over him with drawn sword, as the emergency was great. I have walked 35 miles on a single hike since the war with ease as compared with that march, and in about one-half of the time., Looking up the pike toward, Gettysburg as the Sixth corps advanced could be seen frequently small puffs of smoke, expanding in volume. Then came the boom, muffled by the distance, of the artillery and the bursting shells. The First division of the Sixth corps arrived on the field about 2 p. m. of July 2 and the First brigade was assigned to a position to the right of and not far from the famous Littje Round Top mountain. There was furious fighting on July 1 and 2, but at thb hour of our there was a lull. The First brigade was advantageously posted behind a line of stone fences, with an open field in front, and beyond the field a body of timber. I wanted to see the Confederates that day. I was not always as anxious to see them ciftne, but we felt on the second and third that we had them where they more than once had had us. Pickett’s great charge and repulse on the third occurred a short distance to our right, and, while much of the havoc was both visible t and audible from some parts of our position, but one man of my regiment was Injured.