The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-07-17
t,Iose CaIls-How Near Soldier Can
Come to Death.

|
AT the battle of Peach Orchard, when
Mcclellan was making his change OF
base. a Michigan infantryman fell to the
ground as if shot stone dead, and was
left living in heap as the regiment
changed position. The ball which hit
hin, first struck the barrel of his gun,
glanced and struck button off his coat,
tore the watch out of his vest pocket,
and then struck the man just over the
heart and was stopped there by song
book in his shirt pocket. He was I'M
conscious for three-quarters of an hour,
and it was full month before the black
and blue spot disappeared.
At Pittsburgh Landing a member of
the Twelfth Michigan Infantry stopped
down to give wounded man drink
from his canteen. While in this act
bullet aimed at his breast struck the
canteen, turned aside, passed through
the body of man and buried itself in
the leg of a horse. The canteen was
split open, and dropped to the ground
in halves.
At the second battle of Bull Run as a
New York infantryman was passing his
plug of tobacco to comrade bullet
struck the plug and glanced off and
buried itself in a knapsack. The to-
bacco was rolled up like ball of shay
ings and carried hundred feet away.
Directly in line of the ball was the head
of Lieutenant, and had not the bullet
been detected he would certainly have
received it. As it was he had both eyes
s-nassed with tobacco dust and had to be
fed to the rear.
At Brandy Station one of Custcr's
4 troopers had his left stirrup-strap cut
away by grape-shot, which passed be-
tween his leg and the horse, blistering
his skin as if a red-hot iron had been
used. He dismounted to ascertain the
nature of his injury, and as he bentover
a bullet knocked his hat off and killed
his horse. In the same fight was a
trooper who had suffered several days
with toothache. In a hand-to-hand
fight he received pistol ball in the
right cheek. 1t knocked out his aching
double tooth and passed out of the left
hand corner of his mouth, taking part
of an upper tooth along. The Joy of
being rid of the toothache was so great
that the trooper could not be made to
| go to the rear to have his wound dressed.
An object, no matter how trifing, will
turn bullet from its true course. This
was shown one day at the remount
camp in Pleasant Valley. They had a
"bull-pen " there in which about five
hundred bounty-jumpers and other hard
cases were under guard. Once in a
while one of these men would make
break for liberty. Every sentinel in po-
sition would open fire, and it did not
matter in the least if the man ran toward
the crowded camp. On this occasion a
prisoner made for the camp, and as many
as six shots were fired at him without
effect. One of the bullets entered the tent
of Captain in the Twelfth Pennsylvania
Cavalry. He was lying down, and the
course of the bullet would have buried
it in his chest Fortunately for him the
candle by which he was reading sat on
a stand between him and where the bull
let entered. This was struck and cut
square in two, and the lighted end
dropped to the floor without being snuffed
out. The ball was DETECTED and buried
itself in the pillow under the officers
head, passed out of that and through
his tent, entered one behind it, passed
between two men, and brought up
against camp-kettle.
There is in Detroit to-day man who
was wounded five times in less than ten
minutes at Fair Oaks. The first bullet
entered his left arm; the second gave
him scalp wound the third hit him in
the foot; the fourth buried itself in his
shoulder; the fifth entered his right leg.
While he was being carried to the rear
the first two men who took him were
killed. While his wounds were being
dressed an exploding shell almost buried
him under an avalanche of dirt. In be-
ing removed further to the rear run
away ambulance horse carried him half
q mile and dumped him out, and yet to-
day he is seemingly hale and hearty and
walks without limp.-Detroit Free