The leaders were turned
slightly to the right to give new direction and another attempt was
made--ten yards gained. The leaders were swung to the left, men and
officers standing near by added their shouts and blows from sticks. A
tall artillery officer, whose red stripes were conspicuous, jumped up
and down and swore; the team gave a few more jumps, then they wheeled
the gun by a left about, with its muzzle pointing toward the city. It
was quickly unlimbered and run to its place.
The second piece started up the hill. The drivers of this piece sat
quietly in their saddles, and, with a cluck, started up the hill at a
walk. The tall artillery officer shouted, and a driver muttered under
his breath, "Damned fool!" Regardless of the orders to rush their
horses, the drivers of this piece continued to walk up the hill. At
the steepest part of the hill, they rose slightly in their stirrups,
as one man, and applied the spur to the lead horses, and, at the same
time, a lash of the quirt to the off horses of the team. The horses
sprang forward, and in an instant the second piece was in battery. The
third and fourth pieces were taken up in the same manner as the
second.
The pieces were loaded; a party of newspaper correspondents produced
their lead pencils and pads, and began to take notes; the little birds
continued to sing.
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