STORIES OF BATTLEFIELD.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 101, 30 April 1898, Page 3 (Supplement)

STORIES OF BATTLEFIELD.

HOW MEN BEHAVE. WHEN SHOT.

. An army doctor who has seen mueli hard fighting' in Various parts of the world gives aninteresting account of some of .his experiences on the ■ battlefield. Wounded men, he says, are often misunderstood. One general officer told him he .never expected, forgiveness for one harsh judgment of his/. In the midst ot a battle he was trying to stop the' flight of the panic'stricken men. One mail came" stumbling along, not heeding a word that was ■ said., to him* Indignant and impatient, as-the man came near, he leaned from his horse and touched the man with his sword, saying sharply—'Go back, sir!'. The man looked: up,with a look that said as plain as words—'l am looking for, a place to die." He openeu his blouse and showed a great gap;iig wound in his breast ; Then he dropped to the ground. The officer dismounted as soon as he. could., but almost as he, took the mart's head in his arms the poor, .fellow died. Some men when struck showed no sign. : I remember one little ffellow who was struck three times in as many minu,tes. ..The first shot struck;his right arm, and he proceeded to load with hie left. The next shot struck him in the leg, and brought him to. his knees. He had his ~: left arm up loading-, when a bullet struck > that arm. Then he lodked vp r and said J quietly, .'. They have, .a particular spite against hie. I. think I'll quit,' and ha dropped down. ■ . ■- ..'■■ ! : 'We had one man-in our company, 1! says a sergeant, 'who was shot through the body. He was carried off in', an ambu-lance,-and his mates supposed they would never;- see' him- again. But three days after the battle the regiment went intocamp not far from the field hospital, and that afternoon the men were surprised'to> seethe man who .had been shot-through and through walk into camp, using his rifle as. a cane. He announced that/hfe had Had enough of the hospital and wouldn't go back to it. -The regimental surgeon swore a good deal, insisting that the wounded, man should return to, thehospital; but in-the end agreed that the plucky fellow should be cared.'-for ih'the company's quarters. The men took great care,of him. He improved rapidly, Went on duty as'soon as he was able to walk r and was with the company to the end oi theservice. Men who can't bear physical pain are greatly troubled by fiesh wounds, and receive less sympathy than they deserve. The hardest wounds to bear are those'from Spent, balls. Men struck by such bullets receive no sympathy at all. For/some, reason if is counted .disreputable" to .~be struck by a spent'Dallor a. splinter from a rock,and many men worry along under the most painful wounds without going to the hospital or withouteven consulting the surgeon. The oi^cfll report of the capture of a mountaitv fort stated that the general in command, was wounded, but - that he didn't leav£ the field. That is all true, but it is only half the story.. He was one. of, the most impetuous, driving officers'in the army. He was a regular old stbrmer.' He-was pushing things in great shape in front When he was struck by a rifle ball. He became deathly siok, and it was supposed at first tlia't he was fatally wounded. The surgeons and some of his associate officers gathered about him, anxious and nervous. A. surgeon, opened the .general's coat and vest looking for the wound, which seemed to be in the vicinity, of the stomachs He [ found between,,the vest and underclothing I a irifle, ball that had not broken the, skin. jHe said quietly,' -A spent ball.' The general'opened his eyes and looked-up wrathfully arid . ;indignant.i "What's,. that ?-. What's ,that? Somebody hit me with a spent ball ! I'won't stand it. Bring mo: my horse." And fairly throwing-aside all the. people about him,, he sprang ' to., his feet,-climbed, on his horse, and with his' clothing, in disarray art's his hat banged On his liead, started for the front, swearirfgiat the man who had hit. him wi*h a spent ball. But the fire-eater, after that, probably had more sympathy, with the men who were struck by balls that seemed, to' fall from the* air- or that came with as little force as,a^tone thrown b,y a vicious boy. Sometimes these; will striko a man on the foot and fairly craze him with pain. Sometimes they will drop on his back as he lies .face down on the ;;. ground kicking up his heels,, and he 'will ;yvrithe' as .though he were in the agonies Ofjdeath.' ' .; :■-- "v*.:, ,;:-V. ■;<■■ ;::■■: ■■.•."-.

'Cases of malingering were so common,'; says the regimental doctor, ' .that surgeons are suspicious over wounds ■ that ■ have any mystery about them. ;* Sometimes a man would come from the battle-; field pretending to be dazed or Unconscious, and would shrink from the touch as though he were sore all over.;; There; were so many cases of fraud among men' who acted, in this way that surgeons were lin! danger of doing1 injustice to severely ' wounded- men. ; One . day; a man was brought back who seemed in gfeat agdhy, but upon Tjvhom, we could find no wound. He couldn't talk coherently, but He pressed his hand constantly to his right' side. Close examination showed that he had been struck by a fragment of shell or a piece of rock.so large as to make a bi'Uisft two or three inches across. It was, ill fact, one of the most difficult cases to, treat that came under my personal no-i tice, and the man's suffering for weeks was = intense. And yet probably no mark of a wound is on that man's body.',,:, .-,.

'While I was in charge of one hospital,' says another surgeon, 'the most difficult cases to handle were .those in >Which' thd soldiers were influenced by hallucinations or^ superstitions. The patients were arranged in a large hall, the cots in long rows, extending the full length of the r00m.,, One- night a patient about half way down the hall died. The next night the man coming next in the row. died,"arid ■the; next'day the third man in order: Hied. Immediately Nos. 4, 5, and ,6 insisted on being moved from the row, and they were so;wild about it that they had*to be moved". | No. 7, I noticed, was.a ciuiet,unconiplflinj,ing man of .equable temper; : and, .feeling that I,must;in some way stop, the panic and break the" line oi superstitious .dread; :I: went to. him and led up to the point by asking., hifn if .he had any superstitious notions., He said-he had not. Then I asked him if he would be-satisfied to remain as he waS, and explained that if lie did not" insist upon being moved I could quiet the excitement. He smiled and said he would trust himself, in the unlucky row. Trifling as this circumstance was, it had the greatest influence on the patients in the row. They watched that man for. two days with unflagging interest, and it was a great trial for. him to see, whenever he was lifted up by'the nurse, a dozen wild-eyed men looking him over' to see Whether death was on him or not; but he stood, his ground and stopped the panic. He recovered, and has been as hearty as a buck ever since.'