AN INCIDENT OF THE WILDERNESS.–

19. August 2008 by admin.

The following account of the exploits and sufferings of Maj. William B. Darlington, of the Eighteenth Pennsylvania cavalry, gives some idea of the hazards, as well as the glories, of war:

On the 5th of May, 1864, the day preceding the great engagements of the 6th and 7th, there was heavy skirmishing by the cavalry of the two armies, that of the enemy being commanded by Wade Hampton. Maj. Darlington, with his regiment, was ordered to hold a certain position in Gen. Wilson’s line, for forty-five minutes, while the remainder of the force was retiring to more advantageous ground. He obeyed the order, with a grace of five minutes, and then, attempting to retire, found his line of retreat commanded by an entire brigade of rebel cavalry commanded by Rosser. The Major drew up his men in the proper formation and charged.

This was met by a counter-charge on the part of the enemy, and hard fighting followed, the greater part of the Union force, however, accomplishing their purpose.

But, when leading the first charge, Maj. Darlington received a ball in the right leg, which shattered the thigh bone, and brought him to the ground. Here he lay, the enemy and his own men charging backward and forward over him; but, strange to say, he received no other injury.

On that battle-field he lay for three days and nights, without food or attendance of any kind. As this part of the field was left in the temporary possession of the enemy, after the battle which raged on the two following days, he was found and carried to Hampton’s headquarters, where the amputation of his leg was performed by the chief surgeon of the division.

The operation was performed with skill, and he received as good treatment as the limited resources of the rebels would permit. He was then conveyed to a farm-house, some three miles from the scene of the action, and there he lay five weeks, slowly recovering.

When Sheridan made his famous raid, in the latter part of June, Maj. Darlington was found at the farm-house, and being laid in an ambulance, kept with the column for eight days, until he reached West Point. Gen. Sheridan and his men showed him the utmost kindness, especially in providing for him palatable and nutritious food, of which he was greatly in need.

He had been officially reported as killed; and few constitutions could have survived the loss of blood, the hardship and exposure, followed by amputation, from which he was now rapidly recovering.

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