I quickly called Tom's attention to it, and pointed
out the place. We could see his ramrod as he handled it while loading
his gun; saw him raise his gun, as we thought, to put a cap on it.
Tom in the meantime had lain flat on his belly and placed his gun across
the chunk he had been sitting on. I had taken a rest for my gun by the
side of a sapling, and both of us had dead aim at the place where the
Yankee was. Finally we saw him sort o' peep round the tree, and we moved
about a little so that he might see us, and as we did so, the Yankee
stepped out in full view, and bang, bang! Tom and I had both shot.
We saw that Yankee tumble out like a squirrel. It sounded like distant
thunder when that Yankee struck the ground. We heard the Yankees carry
him off. One thing I am certain of, and that is, not another Yankee went
up that tree that day, and Colonel George C. Porter complimented Tom and
I very highly on our success. This is where I first saw a jack o'lantern
(ignis fatui). That night, while Tom and I were on our posts, we saw a
number of very dim lights, which seemed to be in motion. At first we
took them to be Yankees moving about with lights. Whenever we could get
a shot we would blaze away. At last one got up very close, and passed
right between Tom and I.
Pages:
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69