Escape
By Cameron
Escape
By Cameron
Our story begins on the plains of the U.S., where the North and South of the have been fighting for 2 years. This is because of a disagreement about slavery. The south won most of the first major battles. But at Gettysburg the tide turned in the war in the favor of the North. !
Kyle Overton
was running for cover, terrified of the shells hitting the side of the hill. He thought to himself, “why did I sign up for this?” “It is madness, one country fighting against itself. The Confederates were charging up the hillside, firing there muskets. Me and my comrades firing back. this battle seems end less.” ! !
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Suddenly a soldier shouts “we are out of food and water, and our medical
wagons have retreated behind the hill. We are trapped.” Our cannons fired, blasting holes in the Confederate line. But still they advanced, leaving their injured behind to die. There are craters in the hillside. Another soldier falls, but still the battle ragged on. Then a few soldiers had a idea. We could dig a tunnel to get past the Confederate lines, and get to our
supplies. A few soldiers started digging while
the others and I kept fighting. The tunnel was getting longer every second, and
Escape
By Cameron
every second our hope of getting out roes. Finally the tunnel was finished. We sent a few soldiers to scout the exit. The commander shouted “donʼt let the confederates find the tunnel. If they do we will lose.” Suddenly a shell smashes threw the side of the hill and destroys the exit of the tunnel, killing the men that were sent to scout. The commander sends more men to fix the exit of the tunnel.
I said to myself “I am lucky I was not sent down that tunnel or else I would have died.” I get up quickly firing my musket, killing a Confederate soldier. I am down to my last energy bar. A soldier next to me falls to the ground, dead. I think I am next to give my life in this terrible war. A bullet shoots over my head “that was close” I said to myself. A soldier fires a cannon, blowing off a leg and killing a Confederate soldier. The tunnel is finished. We hope it will not collapse, this time. We are under heavy fire. The Confederates wonʼt stop there attack until we surrender. !
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I say to the soldier next to me “do you have any food left ? I am out of
bars”. “Yes I do, would you want one?” He says to me. “Yes, thank you.” I say back. !
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We have lost more than a quarter of our men and are held back by
Confederate fire. There is no escape. The Union infantry on Culps Hill held the Confederates back for hours. Our General called for reinforcements, but none came. The situation was desperate, we could not hold back the Confederates for long. Our troops were tired and we had no more food. The tunnel was finished again. We lined the walls with wood so they wouldnʼt collapse. Finally we could escape. The first soldiers entered the tunnel. The confederates were now pelting
Escape
By Cameron
the hill with cannon fire. We had no hope. The battle would be lost and the Confederates would win the war. !
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I speak to my commander. “When can we leave”? “The general said
we have to fight of the Confederates before we leave.” He says. A Confederate shell tears threw the bunker 15 meters away from me, instantly killing a soldier . This is the bloodiest battle I have been in. I fire my musket quickly nocking down a
Confederate horse man. The air is thick with smoke, the grass is burning and the hills have craters in them. This is all after the first day of fighting. The two sides call it a day and agree to start fighting in the morning. The tunnel was guarded the exit of the tunnel so no sneaky Confederates find it. The night was long, dark and frightening. Finally the night was over, the light crept over the earth. The morning dawned. All the soldiers took up there positions. We couldnʼt have breakfast because of our food shortage. We were all starving. The first shot was fired. We all scramble for cover. From there we shot. The smoke from our muskets filed the air. It was the same as yesterday. The Confederates charged as strong as ever. But still we held them back. Suddenly a shot was fired and a felt a sharp pain in my leg.
Escape !
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By Cameron
“Iʼm hit.” “Iʼm hit.” I yelled. The medic rushed over to me. “Youʼre lucky,
it just grazed your leg. There is only a scratch.” He said while bandaging me up. “You should be fine.” “thanks .” I say back. !
The Confederates advanced even though they had
lost many men. Just like the first day. Our gunners were firing madly at the Confederate line. There gunners fired madly back. Most of their shells missed though. This battle seemed endless. This war is a joke. A bloody civil war about slavery. The Confederates are surely going to win. And I will die. There is no hope. The Confederates are desperately trying to take the hill. But our strong resistance holds them back. We have made little holes in the bunker so we can fire without being seen. The Confederates just wonʼt give up. We are trying our hardest to beat
them, but they wonʼt give up. I say to the soldier next to me. “Fire at that guy running up the left. I will cover you.” “Ok.” He says back. He fires at the man
running and the soldier immediately falls to the ground. “Good shot.” I say. “Thanks.” He says back. The cut on my leg is starting to hurt. I think it is more than a cut. I walk over to the hospital. I say to the medic there. “My cut is starting to hurt. Can you check it out for me.” “Sure.” He says. “Donʼt worry. It is just a cut.” Off you go.” He says. “Thanks.” I say back. The cut still hurts as I limp back to my trench. The General is thinking about surrendering, but a few soldiers convinced him not to. We Did not want to
Escape
By Cameron
surrender. The Confederates looked tired as well. Their attack was slowing. I am starving. I havenʼt eaten for hours. The soldiers on both sides are tired. It is getting dark. So day 2 ended. The next morning I woke up, feeling very tired. There would be no breakfast today. The battle started a third and final time with the Confederates attacking our post over and over again. I hoped it was the last day. We were planning to make our escape threw the tunnel today. We have lost most of our troops. We can only hope our comrades are doing better. The day progresses We start entering the tunnel. Finally it was my turn to enter the tunnel. I was so excited to leave the post. The tunnel is very dark and gloomy. As I walk threw the tunnel I here a shout. “The Confederates have fund the tunnel.” The soldier shouts. There are gun shots from the end of the tunnel. Everyone is in panic. We fight courageously and start to push the Confederates back. But not enough to get
threw the tunnel. Both sides fight well but in the end we push threw with heavy casualties. We march proudly threw the field, very happy to be safe. Later the Confederates surrender and the Union wins their first major battle of the war. We are all very happy. Kyleʼs brother Marc was also in Gettysburg, they both survived.
One week later ... I was part of General Shermans army marching to Savannah. We burnt all the crops and farms we passed. Destroying the areas agriculture. When we got to Savannah. We were told that we were going to meet up with Grants army and take Richmond to win the war. Everyone of my comrades was tired. But we felt confident
Escape
By Cameron
that we would win the war. We had enough food unlike at Gettysburg. I felt very happy that I am part of the Union, not the Confederates. Slavery is wrong. I can始t believe any one would like slavery. It is unfair. We were almost at Richmond when we are ambushed by the Confederates. The battle was not very long, but it was bloody. Finally we were past. We did not think that there was any army left to stop us. But we were wrong. Right at the gates of Richmond. We meet General Lee始s Confederate army. For a moment the two sides just starred at each other in disgust. Lee始s army did not think our army could get this far. Lee始s army were not ready for a fight, so we won easily. At a court house near by. Lee surrenders to Grant. Me and all my comrades were celebrating like mad. We could not believe we won. We were to happy to care. After all the celebrating we started our march home. The march was long but finally I got home. I was so happy to see my son and my wife again. I
continued my lovely carer as a P.E. teacher, I love teaching, it makes me very happy to see the smiles on the kids faces after the dread of war. I still get nightmares at night because of the war. I can still hear the screams of the injured soldiers on the battle field. It will haunt me forever.
Escape
By Cameron
Kyle Overton lives to an old age and has a happy life with 2 kids and a lovely wife. He taught P.E. for the rest of his carer. Although not at the same school. The Overtons moved 3 times. From Washington D.C. to New Jersey and from New Jersey to Philadelphia. And on this we end our story of a brave soldier from the time of the civil war help his country achieve greatness.
THE END