My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field - Charles Carleton Coffin

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      Abatis.—Trees cut down, their branches made sharp, and used to block a road, or placed in front of fortifications.

      Advance.—Any portion of an army which is in front of the rest.

      Aides-de-camp.—Officers selected by general officers to assist them in their military duties.

      Ambulances.—Carriages for the sick and wounded.

      Battery.—A battery consists of one or more pieces of artillery. A full battery of field artillery consists of six cannon.

      Battalion.—A battalion consists of two or more companies, but less than a regiment.

      Bombardment.—Throwing shot or shells into a fort or earthwork.

      Canister.—A tin cylinder filled with cast-iron shot. When the gun is fired, the cylinder bursts and scatters the shot over a wide surface of ground.

      Caisson.—An artillery carriage, containing ammunition for immediate use.

      Casemate.—A covered chamber in fortifications, protected by earth from shot and shells.

      Columbiad.—A cannon, invented by Colonel Bomford, of very large calibre, used for throwing shot or shells. A ten-inch columbiad weighs 15,400 pounds, and is ten and a half feet long.

      Column.—A position in which troops may be placed. A column en route is the order in which they march from one part of the country to another. A column of attack is the order in which they go into battle.

      Countersign.—A particular word given out by the highest officer in command, intrusted to guards, pickets, and sentinels, and to those who may have occasion to pass them.

      Embrasure.—An opening cut in embankments for the muzzles of the cannon.

      Enfilade.—To sweep the whole length of the inside of a fortification or a line of troops.

      Field-Works.—An embankment of earth excavated from a ditch surrounding a town or a fort.

      Flank.—The right or left side of a body of men, or place. When it is said that the enemy by a flank march outflanked our right wing, it is understood that he put himself on our right hand. When two armies stand face to face the right flank of one is opposite the left flank of the other.

      File.—Two soldiers—a front rank and a rear rank man.

      Fuse.—A slow-burning composition in shells, set on fire by the flash of the cannon. The length of the fuse is proportioned to the intended range of the shells.

      Grape.—A large number of small balls tied up in a bag.

      Howitzer.—A cannon of large calibre and short range, commonly used for throwing shells, grape, and canister.

      Limber.—The fore part of a field gun-carriage, to which the horses are attached. It has two wheels, and carries ammunition the same as the caisson.

      Pontoon.—A bridge of boats for crossing streams, which may be carried in wagons.

      Parabola.—The curve described by a shell in the air.

      Range.—The distance to which shot, shells, or bullets may be fired.

      Reveille.—The first drum-beat in the morning.

      Rifle-Pits.—Excavations in the earth or other shelter for riflemen.

      Spherical Case.—A thin shell of cast-iron filled with bullets, with a fuse, and a charge of powder sufficient to burst it. It contains about ninety bullets.

      Wings.—The right and left divisions of a body of troops, distinguished from the centre.

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      TO THE YOUTH OF THE UNITED STATES.

      In my boyhood, my young friends, I loved to sit beside my grandfather and listen to his stories of Bunker Hill and Saratoga—how he and his comrades stood upon those fields and fought for their country. I could almost see the fight and hear the cannon’s roar, the rattle of the musketry, and the shouts of victory. They won their independence, and established the best government the world ever saw. But there are men in this country who hate that government, who have plotted against it, and who have brought about the present Great Rebellion to destroy it. I have witnessed some of the battles which have been fought during this war, although I have not been a soldier, as my grandfather was, and I shall try, in this volume, to picture those scenes, and give correct descriptions of the ground, the marching of the troops, the positions they occupied, and other things, that you may understand how your father, or your brothers, or your friends, fought for the dear old flag.

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      Many of you, my young readers, have seen the springs which form the trickling rivulets upon the hillsides. How small they are. You can almost drink them dry. But in the valley the silver threads become a brook, which widens to a river rolling to the far-off ocean. So is it with the ever-flowing stream of time. The things which were of small account a hundred years ago are powerful forces to-day. Great events do not usually result from one cause, but from many causes. To ascertain how the rebellion came about, let us read history.

      Nearly three hundred years ago, when Elizabeth was Queen of England, Sir Walter Raleigh sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to explore the newly discovered Continent of America. Sir Walter was a sailor, a soldier, and one of the gentleman attendants of the Queen. He was so courteous and gallant that he once threw his gold-laced scarlet cloak upon the ground for a mat, that the Queen might not step her royal foot in the mud. At that time America was an unexplored wilderness. The old navigators had sailed along the coasts, but the smooth waters of the great lakes and rivers had never been ruffled by the oars of European boatmen.

      Sir Walter found a beautiful land, shaded by grand old forests; also fertile fields, waving with corn and a broad-leaved plant with purple flowers, which the Indians smoked in pipes of flint and vermilion stone brought from the cliffs of the great Missouri River.

      The sailors learned to smoke, and when Sir Walter returned to England they puffed their pipes in the streets. The people were amazed, and wondered if the sailors were on fire. So tobacco began to be used in England. That was in 1584. We shall see that a little tobacco-smoke whiffed nearly three hundred years ago has had an influence in bringing about the rebellion.

      Twenty years rolled by. London merchants dreamed of wealth in store for them in Virginia. A company was formed to colonize the country. Many of the merchants had spendthrift sons, who were also idle and given to bad habits. These young fellows thought it degrading to work. In those Western woods across the ocean, along the great rivers and upon the blue

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