Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1862-05-15

| From the st. Louis Democrat
! Lieut.. L. IL. Simmons, Of the Illinois 18th
regiment, relates to us the following interest
| ing incident which occurred on the battle field
| Of Shiloh
About II o'clock, on Sunday the 9Th dav Of
| April, Lieut.. s., was wounded, being shot
through the left lung. He was supposed to
be IN dying condition, and was left on the
field by his companions About 3 o'clock in
| the afternoon Of that cver-memorable dav,
our forces having been driven back from their
position, confederate officer of high rank.
and his staff, came upon the ground where
Lieut. Simmons lay. The rebel officer observ-
ing him lying there, not yet dead, and from
hS uniform taking him to be a Union officer
approached him, when the following CONVEX
sation ensued;
/ The rebel officer asked Lieut.. S., how far
1t was to the Tennessee river. Lieut. S., be-
ing too weak from the loss Of blood to speak
loud beckoned to him to come closer, and in
low tone replied, 1.-TWO miles and Il half"
The rebel officer shook his head doubtinglv.
Lieut.. s., observed it, and said to him: '.You
seem to doubt my word. But you see" he
added, pointing to his wound THAT am dv-
ing, and upon the word of dying man, to the
best Of my judgment, it is two miles and
half to the river" The rebel officer turnedto
converse with his staff, and ordered his sur
geon to give the lieutenant some stimulants.
The surgeon gave him some brandy and
morphine, which revived him considerably.
| The conversation with his staff which the
| lieutenant overheard, was about as follows =
O1hcer-''lt Is now after three O'Clock. II
Is two miles and a halfto the river. The dis
lance is greater than | expected, but we can
! drive Grant to so close quarters vet tonight
that his capture or capitulation will be an
! easy thing in the morning" The oficerturn-
| ed again TO the lieutenant and asked him
ABOUT BuelFs torces-their number and posi
uon' Upon this subject Lieut.. S. was entire
| ~ ignorant, of course. The officer then re-
marked to him, Its no matter how far if is
to the river, we shall whip YOU ANYHOW. and
force Ten Grant to surrender Tonight or ear
y tomorrow morning, and then capture Buell..
| II ne makes appearance on the field" Lieut.
! D repled, ~ gu are not so certain of that.
lou nave got hard fighting to do before YOU
| capture our forces yet, and northwestern free
men are not the craven dogs to lie down af-
ter the first brush and allow themselves
10 De taken. mo matter" said the officer,
we shall whip you! Your men won't fight
pom That subject" said the lieutenant, ''vou
will probably be better informed before Won
get through with to-morrow's fight. You sur
pnsed our men this morning. and they were
thrown into some confusion; but even this
day work will show that our men will fipht. "
"Well,' said the officer II admire your cour-
age and wish such men as you were not fight
ing against the south; you cannot conquer the
south, and amt you sorry you engaged in the
war;! mo, sir" said lieutenant S., '.and [
would do it again ''Do your people all feel
that way" asked the officer eyes. sir. re-
piled the lieutenant
The officer said no more, but with sad
look mounted his horse and rode off. One of
the rebel officers aids had dismounted to water
his horse in creek close by, and before re-
mounting came near where the lieutenant law.
who beckoned him to come to him, and asked
him ''who that officer was Z" The aid said
''that is Gen. Beauregard' The lieutenant
however had recognized him from his striI-
ing resemblance to photographs of the rebel
| general.