The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1865-11-17
Il Gettysburg Hero.


hale old man, with slight blue eye, Il
long, aggressive nose, firm-set mouth, eX-
pressive of determination of character, and
choleric temperament His hair, origi-
nally dark brown, is considerably bleach
ed with age; and his beard, once sandy,
covers his face Shaved once or twice a
week. with a fine crop of silver stubble.
A short, massy kind Of man; about five
feet four or five inches in hight, should
Judge. He was never measured but once
in his life. That was when he enlisted in
the war of 1872 He was then 10 years
old, and stood five feet in his shoes 9 But
Eve growed u heap slnce," said the hero.
He introduced me to his wife, a slow,
somewhat melancholy old lady, in i'll
health. "She has been poorly now for
good many years. They have no chill
dren
At my request, he told me his story.
He is of Scotch parentage; and who knows
but he may be akin to the plowman poet,
whose arrowy songs still sing in our
morning air." He was born and bred in
Burlington, n. J. A shoemaker by trade,
he became soldier by choice, and fought
the British in what used to he the ''last
war" | am, afraid he contracted bad
habits in the army. For some years after
the war, he led wandering and dissipat
ed life Forty years ago, he chanced to
find himself in Gettysburg, where he
married and settled down. But his un-
fortunate habits still adhere to him, and
he was long looked upon as man of little
worth. At last, however, when there
seemed to be no hope of his ever being
anything but despicd old man, he took Il
sudden resolution to reform. The fact
that he kept that resolution, and still
keeps it so stictly that it is impossible to
prevail upon him to taste drop of in
toxicating liquor, attests Il truly heroic
will lie was afterwards constable in
Gettysburg, in which capacity he served
some SIX years.
On the morning of the first days fight.
he sent his wife away, telling her that he
would take care of the house. The firing
was near by, ever Seminary Ridge. Soon
wounded soldier came into the town and
stopped at an old house on the opposite
corner: Burns saw the poor fellow lay
down his musket. and the inspiration to
go into the battle seems then first to have
seized him. lie went over and demanded
the gun.
What are You going to do with it ?'
asked the soldier.
lin going to shoot some of the damn
ed rebels :" replied John.
He Is not a swearing man. and the
strong adjective is to be taken in 4 strict
Il literal. NOT Il pr"tanr, sense.
Having obtained the gun, he pushed out
on the Chambersburg Pike and was soon
in the thick of the Skirmi>h.
Il wore a high-crowned hat. and a
long tailed blue; and was seventy years
old"
! The SIGHT Of 50 old man. in such COS
tune, rushing icarlcssly forward to get a
shot in the very front OF the battle. OF
course attracted attention. He fought
with the 9TH Wisconsin regiment, the col
oncl of which ordered him back, and ques-
toned him, ard finally, seeing the old man :
patriotic determination. gave him good
rifle in place of the mu,ket he had brought
with him.
/ Are you good shot p
g Toerabe good" said John, who Is
an old fox hunter
"Do you see that rebel riding yonder..''
81 do"
"Can you fetch him."
g | can try
The old man took deliberate aim and
fired. lie does not say he killed the rebel.
but simply that his shot was chcered by the
Wisconsin boys, and that afterwards the
horse the rebel rode was seen galloping
with an empty saddle. ''That's all |
know about it,
He fought until our forces were driven
back in the afternoon. He had already
received two slight wounds, and q third
one through the arm, to which he paid
little attention: ''only the blood running
down my hand bothered me a heap -
Then, as he was slowly falling back with
the rest, he received final shot through
the leo. down went, and the whole
rebel army ran over me-" Helpless, near
ly bleeding to death from his wounds, he
lay upon the field all night. ''About
sun-up, next morning, l crawled to a
neighbors house, and found it full Of
wounded rebels" The neighbor after
wards took him to his own house, which
had also been turned into rebel hospital.
a rebel surgeon dressed his wounds; and
he says he received decent treatment at the
hands Of the enemy, until a copperhcad
woman, living opposite, told on him .
"Thai's the old man who said he was
going ont to shoot some of the damned
rebels.''
Some officers came and questioned him.
endeavoring to convict him Of 'busll
wlI,cking;' but the old man gave then
little satisfaction. This was on Friday
the third day Of the battle and he Was
I alone with his wife in the upper part o
the house The rebels left and soon aftel
) two shots were fired. One bullet entered
the window. passed over Burns head, anC
t struck the wall behind the lounge OF
which he was lying. The other shot fel
lower, passing through a door Burns i
, certain that the design is to assassinat,