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| Explosive bullet. |
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| Poisoned bullet. |
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[78]
with the name and regiment marked on each, and planted a small evergreen close by, a tender memorial of heavenly emotions in the midst of the hellish deeds of war. We passed on to the peach-orchard so prominent in the records of the battle, and then rode back to Gettysburg, observing the fields on our right, over which Pickett swept with his division to the attack of Hancock,1 thickly strewn with the graves of men and horses, the former marked by small head-boards, and the latter distinguished by large mounds.2
expecting to revisit Gettysburg soon, we did not then go over the Confederate line of battle.
The remainder of the day was spent in visiting the Headquarters of the benevolent Commissions, already mentioned; the hospitals of the National wounded, in the town, and the College where the Confederate sick and wounded lay. Sad, indeed, were the sights that met us. Many, mostly young men, were maimed in every conceivable way by every kind of weapon and missile, the most fiendish of which was an explosive and a poisoned bullet, represented in the engravings a little more than half the size of the originals, procured from the battle-field there by the writer.
These were sent by the Confederates.
Whether any were ever used by the Nationals, the writer is not informed.
One (figure a) was made to explode in the body
of a man, and the other (figure b) to leave a deadly poison
in him, whether the bullet lodged in or passed through him.3
among the Confederates wounded at the College were boys of tender
1 see page 72.
2 see page 77.
3 figure a represents the explosive bullet. The perpendicular stem, with a piece of thin copper hollowed, and a head over it, of bullet metal, fitted a cavity in the bullet proper, below it, as seen in the engraving. In the bottom of the cavity was fulminating powder. When the bullet struck, the momentum would cause the copper inverted disk to flatten, and allow the point of the stem to strike and explode the fulminating powder, when the bullet would be rent into fragments which would lacerate the victim. In figure b the bullet proper was hollowed, into which was inserted another, also hollow, containing poison. The latter, being loose, would slip out and remain in the victim's body or limb, with its freight of poison, if the bullet proper should pass through.
it may be here remarked that wonder is often expressed because of the comparatively small loss of life in great battles. The explanation lies in the fact that a great proportion of the combatants are highly excited at the time of action, and as a general rule, when raising the musket to fire, bring it up with a jerk that makes the elevation of the piece, when fired, too great. The writer observed in the woods on Culp's Hill, between the lines of combatants, the bullet marks on the trees were thicker at a height above a man's head than below it. Again, in all armies there are a vast number of cowards and incompetents, who actually “lose their senses” in action, and perform accordingly. In a report of the number and condition of the small arms picked up on the field of Gettysburg, appears the curious fact, that of 27,554 gathered up, at least 24,000 were loaded. One-half contained two loads each, and many contained ten loads, showing that the bearers of them had loaded but did not fire. In some the balls were put in before the powder, and in many instances a large number of cartridges were found in one musket, having been put in without being torn. In one percussion smooth-bore musket were found 22 bullets, 62 buckshot, and a corresponding quantity of powder, mixed |
| Austrian gun at Gettysburg. |
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| Wounded cannon at Gettysburg. |
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