River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1883-12-13
A CLOSE CALL.
A Storm OF Buliets-An Incident or
The Rattle of Erederickgburg

a prominent clerk m the Postoffice de-
partment, who served in Hancoek's Old
division of the I'd corps.
"Close call?'-yes, several. We had
them nearly every day from 'Gl TO Or;
but the closest call | ever had was at
Fredericksburg, when Gen. Burnside
ordered the attack on Marye's Heights
Our division was in the advance, and
lost more men that day than the balance
of the troops engaged on the right wing
When my regiments filed out OF the
streets OF the town We mustered 2lS, and
that night only twenty-seven answered
roll call. All were not
killed but every man left alive out
side of the twenty-seven could show
wound. / was one of the number who
responded at muster after the hight
Our adiutant was also present, yet dur
ing The engagement he received an in
Jury that prevented him from lying on
his back or taking a comfortable seat for
two weeks. We noticed something pc
cnliar in his gait, hut, he being proud
map, no one dared to ask what was the
cause, and it was months before we found
out"
81 will tell you the story of my ex-
perience that day." continued the vet
eran. Directly after we leltthe streets
to make the attack, | felt tug at the
haversack by my side, but, was too busy,
looking ahead, to investigate the cause.
Next came decided jerk under the left
arm, and upon examination hole was
found through both my coats-fof 1t was
winter, December 18th 1862 The
Johnnie's bullets did not touch my
clothes again until we got to within 80
feet of the stone wall, at the base of the
hill, under the Marye's mansion.
The fire from the three lines of
battle of the enemv.-o at the top,
one on the side. and ore at the foot OF
the ridge, had been steady all the way
up the slope from the town; but when
we reached the vicinity OF the wall, and
it appeared we were carrying every
thing before us, the jaws of hell seemed
to open on both sides. l never was IN
such fire, from Bull Run to Appomat-
tox, as we experienced that moment.
Bullets or pieces of shell seemed to be
striking everything above ground, near
where we stood in line, and one by one
our men fell dead or wounded. A small
board fence in our front disappeared In
less than half hour. A splinter from
this fence struck me across the bridge OF
the nose and eyeiids, and made the
blood fly fora second or two. 1t was only
a scratch, but | thought at the time that
half my head was gone and concluded to
lie down and calmly await the approach
of death. Just then piece ola shell
took off my right coat-tail. This hasten
ed the movement into horizontal
position on the ground, from
which l did not stir, until dark
ness put a stop to the slaughter, except
to crawl up few feet closer to the hub
of an old wagon wheel, that had been
stuck i'll the ground probably for years.
The rains of many seasons had washed
the earth down hill against the hub, aud
it afforded an excellent protection
for my wounded (?) head. Once, and
only once, did | venture TO look out
from tins haven of rest, and then a
southern gentleman behind that MEM
orable stone wall took the cap off my
head with a bullet from his rifle. God
only knows where that cap went, for
never looked for it again. After this a
bullet lodged in my knapsack, which
was exposed above the wheel hub. The
old spokes of the W reel were all knocked
out. In fact the members Of the oppo
stiou behind the wall shot OIL their guns
at everything within range until they
cot tired, and the line of blue coats was
so still that there seemed to be no life
in it. Some few were crowded behind q
brick house short distance OIL. These
were the only men who appeared to be
alive, and towards the last all their en-
ergies were apparently devoted to keep
ing under cover of the house.
Gust ut this time a new danger APP
peared in our rear. A green regiment,
over whose backs we marched INTO the
fight that morning. opened fire on the
enemy, as they thought, but their range
was too low, and the bullets from their
guns were striking along our posi-
ton and finishing the work of destruc
ton. NV place of shelter and that be-
hind the house was open and exposed to
this iueiada One of the first bullets,
fred bv this regiment caught in the
hollow of my right shoe and tore Off the
heel. This WAS the only danger done
me by these laundering volleys, but
many of our men were killed by the
shots from behind. The knowl-
edge that fellow is between two fires is
not pleasant, and for nearly three long
miserable hours we waited for night to
re ieve us from our awkward position.
1t was by this fire from the rear that OuI
gallant adjutant was damaged in the way
| have mentioned.
"When darkness came on the few who
had strength enough to move crawled
down to the city. A tall old veteran,
who had followed Gen. Scott through
Mexico and who was then a member Of
my company, was the only man in my
immediate neighborhood whom | could
recognize as belonging to the regiment
of 2l8 men who faced the heights that
morning. We brought out the colors
and by rolling and creeping succeeded
In reaching shelter under the brick walls
of the town. Nearly two and half
years after, when Lees army stacked
arms for the last time, l asked what wa.
the hottest place he was ever in, and
he replied, without moments hesita
ton, Fredericksburg! That night white
old Mike aid | were preparing to have
some supper. near the corner of Prln
cess and Caroline streets, put my right
hand in my haversack to get some crack
ers and upon examining the handful
brought out we found the bullet, which
had caused the first tug at nv side that
morning. This discovery led Mike to
remark: Better have it in your hand
than where you are putting that hard
tack and coffee"
"That is the story Of one days life III
the army of the Potomac" added the
veteran. "The experience is not ex
clusively mine. Hundreds can tell
similar story; and for that reason you
are not to use my name. All You want
is some more light on the events Of a
day that will never be effaced from my
memory if live to the age of Methuse-
al"