CANNON AND MEN AT PLAY

WALTER OSGOOD HART:36TH WISCONSIN
The 36th was a regiment who arrived on the Virginia front in mid May of 1864. Mr. Hart,a surgeon's assistent offers a clear glimpse into life in the trenches. Enjoy.
"One day as he was passing in front of the battery of siege guns, which was some distance in the rear of the front lines, he was startled by the firing of one of them. Looking in the direction which the sound of the shell cutting the air indicated, he saw Confederates on top of their breast works repairing them.
They jumped down to places of safety and the shot made the dirt fly right where they had been at work. They came up again and went to work lively with their shovels, but another gun fired and they hunted their holes again. This shot also hit its mark, and so it went for a little while.

Sometimes Plodder would stand near Fort Rice and watch the fun. A few of our men would stand on top of the works to draw the enemy's fire. When they saw the flash of the cannon, they hunted their holes with laughing and cheers. Plodder saw the shells drop into the ground many rods short of the mark and explode, throwing up a cloud of dirt. Up the men came again and stood till they saw the next flash. This time the shell fell a little nearer the works but farther to one side. This was repeated several times, but every time the shells fell harmless and far from their mark. On his way to the front he had to cross a certain knoll, and when he failed to crouch low enough he would hear a sharpshooter's bullet whiz past him, but none ever hit him."