Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 36.djvu/184

168 that made quite an impression on me. Among the wounded was the Yankee general, Bartlett. He was lying down and could not rise. Assistance was offered him, but he informed those who were assisting him that his leg was broken; and so it was, but it proved to be an artificial leg made of cork. One of our officers ordered a couple of negroes to move him, but he protested, and I believe he was given white assistance. The general, afterwards, so I have been informed, became an honored citizen of Virginia, though at that time, I must say, I never would have believed such a thing possible. One of our soldiers seeing the cork leg and springs knocked to pieces, waggishly said: "General, you are a fraud. I thought that was a good leg when I shot it." As the dust and smoke cleared away the firing seemed to lull, but there was no entire cessation of firing that evening. Indeed, by the sharpshooters it was continued for months.

After dark tools were brought in with which we reconstructed the wrecked fort. In doing this we buried the dead down in the fort by covering them with earth, as the fire of the enemy was entirely too severe to carry them out. We were therefore forced to stand on them and defend our position while we remained in the fort, which was until the following Monday night. As we went over the embankment into the fort one of my sergeants, Andrew McWilliams, a brave fellow, was shot in the mouth, and the ball did not cut his lips. It came out of the top of his head. He was evidently yelling with his mouth wide open. He fell on top of the embankment with his head hanging in the fort. We pulled him down in the fort, and that night carried him out and buried him. During the night, in strengthening the wrecked fort, we unearthed numbers of Confederate soldiers who were killed and buried by the explosion. I remember in one place there were eight poor fellows lying side by side with their coats under their heads. They seemed never to have moved after the explosion. We buried them in the fort, in the excavation, "Crater,"