Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 32.djvu/220

 208 Southern Historical Society Papers.

men called out that they wanted to trade newspapers. I told them no; it meant a flag- of truce. I sent an inquiry up and down the line for a newspaper or a sheet of white paper. None could be found. I heard a laugh in the line, and asking what was the fun, was told that a man said he had a ragged shirt tail, which I could have. I asked the man if he was willing to donate a piece of his shirt tail to the cause for the sake of peace. He said he would be very glad to do so. I told him shirts were very scarce, and he had better take my handkerchief, and handed it to him. He looked at it; saw it was very much soiled, and said he thought his shirt tail would make a much whiter flag of truce. At this there was a gen- eral laugh at my expense. A piece of the shirt tail was torn off, bayonet stuck through it, and it was waved aloft on the muzzle of a gun. The enemy saluted with their newspapers and truce was es- tablished, which was religiously kept in my front the whole of that day. The second man I sent out for ammunition soon returned; said he had seen Sergeant Gibson, and he had seen the captain oi ordnance and they had sent for ammunition.

A GLIMPSE OF GENERAL EWELL.

After waiting what I thought a long time, I sent out another man on the same errand, who returned, and said ammunition had been sent for and would soon arrive. I waited for it so very long that I grew anxious, and determined to hunt it up myself; rode to the rear and found that bullets were whistling over the quadrilateral, right and left. I inquired for General Early' s headquarters, and was told that he seemed to be riding all over the field that day. [Editor's note: General Early commanded Hill's corps that day, and held both the right and left of Lee's line.] I then inquired for General Ewell's headquarters. Its general direction was pointed out to me; found it after considerable trouble, and saw that the enemy had found it before I had. Ewell was standing before a por- table field table with writing material on it, and his staff a short distance in his front, and shells were falling fast and furious all around. General Ewell was wearing an artificial leg in the place of the natural one he lost near Sudley's Mills, and he had lately mar- ried a widow whom he was accustomed to introduce as " my wife, Mrs. Brown." He had become very nervous, and every time a shell exploded near him he would hop his good leg up and curse with *he vehemence of an old trooper and the unction of a new church member. I told him of our great need of ammunition. He