The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1875-08-19

, GailDplUH glGrTiesS over the Helu, an
the old hero vas saluted with tire
cheers from the soldiers who wer
watching him. At o'clock there wa
: lull in the battle, aud he layed dow
on the grass TO rest. On lOOkin
r about he was startled by seeing
= hand lying on the ground that la,
been torn from the body by some ter
, ribls missile; but the bs 1y who's
. pulsatiOn had warmed it was nOWher
= TO be seen. When the battle WAS re
q newed he went again earnest L
} work. The enemy, strong and wei
- supported, pushed forward fearlessly
n while the Union fOrce had but on
- thin line, and that now fearfuiiy deci
mated Burns took little care Of hi
: person, and he was finally struck il
4 the side by two musket shots, tina
eventually produced "A rupture, bu
= still be would not yield.
l. Again he was struck, now on tn
a buckle Of his bell the shock bendin!
q him nearly double, and for a few mo
ments he could not speak but he re
: covered himself, and might then
have retired with honor aud safety
!, the brigade with which he had been
fighting having already gone. But
now the enemy were coming nearel
and his chances for shooting were
rapidly improving, and he stood a.
his post firing away until the rebel
line was close upon him, when he re.
eeived a severe wodnd in the arm, an
} artery being severed, from which the
/, lbemOrrEsge came near proving fatal,
: and another in his leg, the limb being
!, completely paralyzed, and he could
e do no more, neither retire or even
stand. His first 4hOught was to di-
j vest himself of every appearance of q
g cambatant, well knowing that he
: could not hope for mercy with the
: evidences Of having participated in
} the fight found upon him. He sc
cOrdingly threw away his gun, and
: the four cartridges which still re-
: mained in his pocket he buried dig
ying for the purpose with his pocket
}, knife. Weakened by the loss of blood,
he soon became obiivious, and when
J the final charge OF the enemy was
made he was Insensible and was pass
ed for dead. At about 6 o'clock in
the evening q sergeant and six men
. engaged in gathering the wounded,
attracted by the strange sight of an
old gray-headed man in his ordinary
dress, bleeding from numerous ghast-
j ly wounds, approached aud stood
sneII-bound before him.
After q moments silence they turn
ed him upon his side, and, seeing that
he was still alive, inquired, chow
came you here ?" "My wife," an
sWered Burns, "was taken suddenly
sick this morning, and 1 started off
from the town to cross this field in
search of girl who lives out beyond
here to come and take care of her,
and was caught between the two
lines, and, as you see, am badly
wounded" "I believe he is an old
lizr," send the sergeant "Dut lie
will never harm US any more" and
passed on, leaving him in misery.
He then dragged himself along on
the grass to where two dead Rebels
and q Union man, with thigh all
crushed by a cannon shot, were lying.
Not long after burying parties came
and covered his three dead compan-
ions with earth where they lay, to
whom he repeated the story of hunt
ing a girl ; but they were alike in
credulOus. He finally fell asleep, and
rested till IL, when he was awakened
by the tfamping of a sergeant post
Ing his guards. It had been raining,
and he was chilled. He called to the
guard for a drink of water, which
was given him, and a blanket in
which he wrapped himself.
Atdawn he heard the cocks crow
ing, and saw a guard not far off, to-
wand whom he began to roll and pull
himself along An officer approached
| and told him to get to hospital By
great exertion and with excrucisting
pain-for his clothing was stiff and
rasped the lips of the undresssd
wounds-he reached little log house
and PULLED himself upon the cellar
door, when his strength failed him
and he tainted, and it was some time
before he recovered. He was taken
up and carried into the loft of the
house, which was full of wounded.
Seeing his exhausted condition he
was offered some blackberry wine by
the good woman but he stubbornly
refused it from a rigid sense of his
duty in view of his pledge to total alb
stinence. He sent message to an
old friend, who lived near, to come
and take him back to the town; bat
before he arrived a neighbor, Anth-
ony Sullivan, was returning with his
family, and laying Burns gently in
his wagon, carried him to his own
home, arriving about O'clock in the
afternoon of the 81 of July. Tue re-
port had spread that he was killed, he
| having been last seen badly wounded,
and it was with thrill of Joy and re-
lief to a heart burdened with anxiety
and grief that he was met at the cot
tage door by his wife.
But his home was now a hospital,
crowded with mutilated soldiers. A
place was made for him in an upper
room, and his wounds were dressed
by the surgeon in charge, a Major of
| the Confederate army, from North
Carolina. As General Ewell was
passing his window the doctor asked
| Burns if he had eyer seen the general,
and kindly raised1im up to look out.
Burns gazed an instant, and then, as
though not impressed with the Gener-
al's appearance, exclaimed: "Humph!
the old booger has only one leg, and
has to be strapped to his horse" On
Friday q Captain and Lieutenant Wis.,
tied she house, and, approaching him,
inquired, "Well, old man, how did
ycu come wounded ?" Again he had
recourse to the story of his sick wife.
"But who shot you your own men
or ours ?'' 'I can't tell that" said
Burns, 81 could get no further than
the Union line, and when | was
wounded / sat down, and could not
get back again, until brought in by
my neighbor." But this did not sat-
isfy his questiOner, who, as appears,
had been enlightenedr respecting Burns
case by some of the towns people,
and rather gruffiy responded, "Look
here, old man didn't you take a gun
from soldier out of the street here,
Wednesday morning ?'' HYes, 1 did,"
"Well, what did you say when you
took it ?" "Why, said a heap of
things folks say a heap OF things in
these times" "Didn't you say that
YOU was going out to Shoot some of
the d-d rebels ?p Burns was helpless
and ia the power of his enemies, but
his spirit was undaunted, and he
promptly and resolutely responded |
"Yes 1 did say Just that thing.' His
uuestioners had but one argument
remaining. They silently left the
house, and procured two rifiemen,
who, going into q chamber on the Op-
posite side of the street, took deliber-
ste aim at the old man as he lay help
less upon his couch. The missiles
penetrated the bed under him, just
missing his body. Realizing that
their purpose was to kill him, he roll
ell upon the floor and crawled into
the next room. SuppOslng that he
was under the bed they fired several
shots, and hearing nothing concluded
that they had effected their design.
But now the last charge had been de-
livered aud the day had gone hope
lessly against the foe. At 3 o'clock
on Saturday morning guards came
and aroused aiI-quietly removing