Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 3.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

---

[373] use of the rifle, for, having to fire from an elevated site upon those below, they were obliged at each shot to expose almost half their bodies above the parapet; consequently, they seldom ventured to engage in this kind of unequal warfare with the trenches.

The labors of the besiegers, therefore, were seldom seriously interrupted, and their losses in the trenches were very trifling. We can mention but one vigorous sortie in the whole course of these operations. In the night of the 22d of June, Cummings' brigade of Stevenson's division surprised Herron's men at work near the Hall's Ferry road, destroying their trenches and making twelve prisoners. But this was an isolated exploit, and the Confederates did not actively interfere to delay the works of approach until the end of the siege, when they felt themselves too closely hemmed in.

The Southern generals frequently carried their anxiety to spare their men and ammunition too far, and by constantly forbidding the useless firing of muskets they allowed actual periods of truce to take place between the outposts of the two armies; which were all in the interest of the assailants, because these temporary suspensions of hostilities enabled them to prosecute their works in safety. Favored by these intervals of truce (generally nocturnal), the two lines of skirmishers would begin with an interchange of news at a short distance; then they drew nearer in order to converse more at ease and enter into political discussions; at times they would become so thoroughly mixed up that the officers of both parties were obliged to come to an understanding for the purpose of drawing a line of demarcation between their respective forces. But after having thus yielded to the cravings of humanity and forgotten for an instant their cruel trade, these same men would take up their muskets again, ready at the least alarm to resume the fight.

The sufferings and privations, however, were not the exclusive lot of the besieged. The want of water and extreme heat distressed the Federals exceedingly, giving rise to numerous diseases among them. The danger of an attack from Johnston, which might have compelled them to raise the siege, also entailed much anxious solicitude upon the generals and a considerable increase of labor on the soldiers.