Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-08-08

WIKI the DS9aAM anu heACue OA LAE
Body of Major General James b. Nc
PhersOn, Commanding Army of the
Tennessee.
(From the Cincinnati Commercial
NEAR DECATUR, GA, IN THE FIELD.
Returning from near the spot where
our reg irrr,srls yivPlayed in line of skir-
mishers, and about three-quarIers Uf IN
hour after they had commenced to be
sharply engaged with the enemy, and 90
ing, as 1 then conceived, 10 the rear, in
compliance with previous orders, enter
ed heroad we encamped on the previous
night and during the morning, and from
which we emerged about an hour before
had proceeded about thirty rods under
heavy rebel fire of musketry and artillery
from the Atlanta side, straggler follow
ing me. l gave the order to quicken our
pace, to insure safety from our present dan
gerOus position, when asolitary voice from
the woods, about five Iods to my right, re-
marked that it was safer there, by way Of
diyertmg my attention. entered the
woods, and beheld wounded man, whose
name is George Reynolds, of the 18th
Iowa, 4th Division, 18th Army Corps, and
short distance from him lay Major Cen
eral james b. Mcpherson, suffering in
tense agony from IT fatal wOund-a MIME
ball having entered the right breast, pass
ing near the heart, and coming out near
the left side. l then took my position
close 10 his side, and requested him
to drink a little cold water l had Sc
cured short time before and asked
the privilege to bathe his temples, to which
interrogat0ries l could elicitno reply, only
faint nod of the head. Occasionally re-
turning to consciousness he would ask me
for his hat-which by search, l found had
been stolen from him, as also his belt. i
had not been in this situation over five
minutes, when rebel straggler came up,
to whom 1 remarked, 'you are prisoner
are younot2n To which he replied, NO
sir-reer And then asked me, Can you
walk2 Come along &c. gave mega
| tive answer, and exhibited very sore and
bandaged leg, all besmeared with blood,
! which had troubled me of late, and was
thus successful in making him believe l
was severely wounded.
This was the work of q few moments,
when four more rebels came up, and SIM
| ultaneOusly two more OF our stragglers
passed near by. They were taken with
! the previously mentioned. They then ex-
tracted the papers which were in plain
view from the Generals pocket, took his
watch and marine glass, but did nOtsearch
the remainder of his pockets nor ask any
Questions in reference to who he was noI
did we inform them. They then ordered
the wounded man and myself to follow
them We told them we were not able
and if they took us, they would have Il
carry us, &c, when, to my glad astOnish
ment, they abseonded with their prisoners
with the aforementioned articles, leaving
their supposed cripples with the General
All this time the rebel shot and shell werl
crashing with fearful rapidity all AROUND
us, in every direction. Several balls light
ed within few feet of the General, scat
: tering the dirt all over him in complet
J shower While the rebels were takinj
l from the General the articles previousl
mentioned, he sat up and again asked IN
for his hat, and which believe, were tn
last words he spoke, for his agony was mo.
intense.
: Alter the rebels had gone, it was agree
; that should go in search of an ambI
a lance, while my solitary wounded compaI
ion remained with the General. My con
: panion, believing that our men were sti
in front fighting, as well as rear, l pr
ceeded III the direction of Atlanta, as ne;
as can Judge, about three eights ofa mil
when l saw rebel skirmishers not far di
tant in my front, as also their work
the brush being rather thin, it was dificu
to escape; but by ereaping back where Il
> brush was more dense, then ran as best
r. could until got back again to the Ge
n eral when my companion informed me
? had Just died but said nothing after I Il
RI him. During this interval the woods we
ID thoroughly riddled, and every moment
,e expected to meet the Generals sad iai
Y but Providence spared me.
as The General being dead and fearing ca
ture. we both concluded to go again
rs search of an ambulance. Preparatory
in leaving we secured everything the Ger
re- raj had left in his pockets in case ne shol
N t.lJ into the hands of the rebels before
n caE.e back. The articles consisted, as nj
as 1 can recollect, of two poeket-kniv
"a pecket compass, patent matchbox {
N or two plain rings, watch keys, and I
m other KEYS. The wallet contained la
no goId piece or medal, of what value we
- moi ascertain, two gold chains, the b
consisting of, think, two 500 bills, tn
S5O bills, and eight dollars in small bi
md believe two United States certiica
of n, ,-,ds, but did not ascertain Of W
rairo- ~ - e.. - -~ous which l will now ST
st Ealue loF reaa. -ad those articles Fl
When we had secul, '1''o - s,S,5 :,
= the Generals pockets my - :'--,[;l .,o;ce
myself had agreed to take an In,
Il. the number of articles and amount of mt
~ ey, together with each others names, co
~ ~ pany, regiment &c, 50 that there should
% no mistake, cheating, or in case of az
ba dent, or being taken prisoners; and it v
agreed between ourselves that our wOui
- ed partner should carry the things, as tt
"a would not be so likely to rob him, if Il
NJ took US as they would myself
At this stage of the proeee lings a str
gler came along, and one that had 81
before, and said that he belonged to the
ta or 4th Division, Pioneer Corps, and
re longed to the nth army corps. Findi
what our object was, be desired also to
Dir IN eyewitness, and, supposing his int,
,ge tions honest, and the more witnesses
) a better, we did not object
The first thing we examined was
b contents of the wallet, and, on opening
..l saw the gold chain and gold piece, or m
. al opening another compartment, we s
he a roll Of bills, which the new conner
.iaI stantly grabbed, in order he said, to asc
er- tain the contents. Unfolding them S,
as near as can reeollect, the aforem
ON toned bills AS soon as his eye eau!
ate the large bills, he separated them fir
III the small onsS, and then made the follc
ing proposition, to wit: Boys let
an equally divide the spoils, and say moth
/ is about it. We positively, and in
tie, strongest terms, refused to be accompi
nd in such an internal scheme. He Il
at took possession of all the large bills, le
nd ing only eight dollars in small bills, s
ran as fast rs his legs could carry him
or Westerly course towards the wagon trsi
on [ looked upon him as a wretch, like Ju