Francis Union was
shot and killed by one of our own sentinels last night, the ball entering just
under the nose. This resulted from the cowardice of the soldier who fired. He
was afraid to give the neccesary challenge: four simple words: "Halt! who
comes there?" would have saved a life. This illustrates the danger there
is in visiting pickets at night. If the sentinel halts the man, the man may
fire at the sentinel. The latter, if timid, therefore makes sure of the
first shot, and does not challenge. We buried the dead soldier with all the
honors due one of his rank, on a beautiful hill in the rear of our
fortifications. He was with me on the mountain chopping, a few days ago,
strong, healthy, vigorous, and young. No more hard work for him!
SOURCE: John
Beatty, The Citizen-soldier: Or, Memoirs of a Volunteer, p. 62-3
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