The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-12-31
"KILDEE,S, STORY.
The Great Confederate SharpslIootcr
Talks.

l4lRSs
A few days ago in Twiggs county,
John West, better known during the
war by the soubriquet Of "Kildce," the
most noted sharpshooter Of the Con-
federatc service, gave us some inter-
esting facts connected with himself in
that pcrilous service.
"I was born and raised in Twiggs
county, Georgia" said he, "but went
to the war from Louisiana as a private.
At my solicitation I was transferred to
the fwiggs County Volunteers, my
home company, which I found in Vir-
ginia. The Twiggs Volunteers were
nicknamed the 'Jorees,' because of
their uniforms having three black
stripes upon the tail of the coat, re-
sembling the three black feathers on
the bird called 'Joree.' I was nick
named 'Kildee,' because of my slen-
derness and agility, and because / was
in the 'Joree' company. In '62, Gen
eral Lee received thirteen fine Eng
lish Whitworth Rifles that were war
ranted to kill at 1900 yards. These
were the best guns in the service on
either side. Thirteen of the best
marksmen in the army were detailed
for this special service, and l was the
the only Georgian that was selected.
We were placed under the command
of q Colonel Brown, who had no other
duties than to command us. We were
practiced three months before going
into service. A score of every shot
was kept during this three months,
and at the end | was one hundred and
seventy-six shots in the bulls eye
ahead of the rest. The last day Of the
practice, our craftsmanship was tested
by our superior officer. A white board
two feet square with black diamond
about the size of a hat in the center,
was placed 1900 yards away. The
wind was blowing stifiy, and it was
very untavorable Tor good shooting,
but l put three bullets in the diamond,
and seven in the white of the board.
I beat the record and won the choice
of horse, bride, saddle, spurs, revolv-
ers and sabre. Our accoutrements
were the best the army could afford.
Then we entered active service, and |
have been through scenes which have
tried mans. soul I soon became
indifferent to danger, and Injured to
harlships and privations. I have
no idea how many I have killed, but
I made a good many bite the dust.
We were sometimes employed sepa-
rately and collectively; sometimes
scouting, then sharpshooting. Our
most effective work was in picking off
the officers, silencing batteries, and
protecting our lines from the enemy's
sharpshooters. I am certain l killed
Generals Banks and Shields. was
the only Confederate sharpshooter on
our lines on the days when those gen-
erals were killed. The enemy were
fourteen and fifteen hundred yards
away, and my rifle was the only, gun
that could reach them. | was shoot
ing at officers, and I know that |
killed them.
Artillerymen could stand anything
else better than they could sharpshoot-
ing, and they would turn their guns
upon sharpshooter as quick as they
would upon battery. You sec we
could pick off their gunners so easily.
Myself and comrade completely
silenced a battery of six guns in less
than two hours on one occasion. The
battery was then stormed and captur-
ed. l heard General Lee say he
would rather have those thirteen sharp
shooters than any regiment in the
army. We frequently resorted to
various articles in our warfare.
Sometimes we would climb a tree, and
pin leaves all over our clothes to keep
their color from betraying us. When
two of us would be together, and
yankee sharpshooter would be trying
to get shot at us, one Of us would
put his hat on ramrod apd poke it
up from behind the object that con-
cealed and protected us, and when the
yankee raised his head to shoot at the
hat, the other one would put bullet
through his head. I have shot 'em
out Of trees and seen 'em fall like
coons. When we were in grass or
grain, we would fire and fall over and
roll several yards from where we shot
at, and the yankee sharpshooter would
fire away at the smoke.
I was captured once. Colonel
Brown and got caught inside the
Federal lines at Cold Harbor, and
Shcridan's wagon train was between us
and liberty. We had on yankee
coats, and we rode along up the wagon
train for some time trying to head it,
and escape. But we couldn't do it.
Finally Colonel Brown rode up to IL
driver and ordered him to turn to one
side and let us pass.
"By whose authority?" asked the
driver.
"By my own," replied Brown au-
thoritatively.
"1yho are you ?" asked the driver.
Colonel Coleman" answered
Brown, who had found out the name
Of the colonel who was in command Of
the train.
The driver then began to question
Colonel Brown pretty closely, and was
about 10 catch up with us. Colonel
Brown drew his.revolver and sent
ball crashing through his brain. we
turned our horses and dashed down
the line of wagons at full speed, and
we ran right iato company Of Fed
eral cavalry who we're protecting the
train. A shower Of bullets whistlcd
about us. We wheeled to the right,
jumped stone wall, and just as my
horse cleared the wall, a bullet struck
him behind the ear, and down we came.
Browns horse was shot from under
him about twenty stems ahead, and we