The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-05-06


Singular StOry-HOw Many Times a
Man can stand TO be Shot and
Still Live.
The following statement Of the pecu-
liar experiences in the war of John E.
Donovan, the Union candidate for Mar
shall of the city of Springfield, in the
approaching Ohio election, was first
published in the Daily Wisconsin at
Milwaukee 1t has since been extern
siVely circulated, but will bear republi-
cation, as it is a record of adventures
which have fallen to the lot of few men,
and have been survived by fewer still.
Mr.. Donovan gave, at the period refers
red to, and at the request of his friends
the following statement:
went into an engagement at Bull
Run, Sunday, July p 1861, at 10 clock
g. M, or whereabouts. Marched ub a
hill after getting over fence, and on
reaching nearly to the brow | was
struck by rifle ball in the calf of my
right leg, outside, passing through to
the skin on the other side In the cars
on the way to Richmond the next eve.
ming, a young man looking among the
wounded prisoners, wanted me to let
him take it out and keep the ball, to
which | consented, and he cut it out.
After being hit, as above, stepped
back to the fence, sat down and bound
up my leg to keep it from bleeding. l
then got up and loaded and fred from
where | stood. After firing three
times, another ball hit me in the left
knee, glsncing up along my ankle
Joint This ball remained about eight
weeks, when, my leg being badly fes-
tered, the prison hospital surgeon
laDced it one evening; in the night the
ball worked down, SO that l got it out
next morning
After being hit the second time, l
still kept loading and firing as fast as
| could In about ten minutes, as near
as / could Judge, third ball struck me
in the right side, which still remains
somewhere within me- This disabled
me somewhat for short time, but |
again loaded and fred two or three
times as well as / could, when | was
struck in the right arm (while in the
act of firing, about midway between
my elbow and shoulder joint, the ball
running up toward my neck, which balla
was taken out about nine weeks after
ward, by the hospital surgeon at Rich
mOnd, about half way from my shout
der joint to my neck bone. fired my
musket but once after this, as the re-
coil of it hurt my shoulder so l was
unable to bear it.
/ then left the fence to get behind a
tree standing some $50 yards off, and
picked up a revolver which lay on the
ground, Just after left the fence, at
which time a bullet struck me on my
right wrist, glancing off from the bone
l went little further toward the tree,
when some twelve or fifteen Confeder-
rate soldiers came out of the woods di-
rectly toward me.
/ fred the revolver at them three
times, and just as fred the third bar
rel, bullet, fred by one of this COM
pany, struck me just below my left eye,
and going into nay mead. ! knew moth
ing more until about noon the next
day (Monday) When l came to,
found myself lying right where fell
the day before. tried to get up, but
could not. After this ] made several
Intellectual attempts TO crawl away to
the shade of tree, the sun shining
very hot About pm, couple OF
soldiers came along, picked me up, car
ried me TO the cars, and l was sent to
Riehmond, afterward sent to alabama,
and finally released on parole
As our citizens generally know, Mr..
Donovan carries the proofs Of his adj
ventures as here set forth, upon his per
son TO this day, and will DO so for the
rest OF his life-Sprizgfetd ReP45iicqA