Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-02-24
WAR "REMINISCENCES.
Deadly Eject Of tho whitworth Guns
At Range Of Two Miles.
A Soldier Pierced by Miuis-BAll at a
Range Of Twenty Hundred Yards.

MCPHERSON, TIKI, heb, N, lisa
10 the Editor OF the 0nrcite.
Having just read an article In
Northern paper referring to the great
distances at which men were killed
and wounded during the lale war re.
minds me OF one circumstance, es.
pecially, relating to the same.
On that memorable retreat from
Chattanooga, when we had fallen back
M Tar as Marietta, Ga, our army
made stand At kenesaw mountain,
with one line extending TO the right
and left 90 the same. The olrcumstan-
cee alluded to occurred to member
OF our brigade Of the Sixth,
Tenth aud Nineteenth cnnsoh.
dated Texas regiment The IN.
dividual was Billie Wilkes, u
sln OF the Col, Wilkes commanding
companies Twcnty-four and twenty
five OF the consolidated regiment Be.
ing 80 closely besieged on every side
at the time In question, it was custom
AIRY, and even necessary, 20 send two
or three of each company, once y day
TO the rear TO meet our wagons with
cooked ratlons and carry the Same to
the front, ON this occasion Billie
Wilkes and myself were Of this detail,
aud from the fact OF our foe having re-
Gently given our rear n tremendous
Smelling, we had % go u little further
than ueual TO meet the wagons. AT
the time we reached the temporary
grub station the Smelling had Ceased
almost entirely But Just Mt that
iuncture the enemy made grand
charge on Cui works Ia front, and
were repulsCd 10 their former position,
when they commenced a terrific mus.
kerry, aud stray hall struck Billie
Just under the heart and penetrated
that vital point, from which he died In
few hours. The distance was fully
two thousand yards. or my own pef-
sonsi knowledge this II the greatest
distance nc which man was struck
with "A mimic tall out OF the common
army gun during tho war.
or course the Whitworlh gun was
much more effective az a long distance,
but we had the rad misfortune Of LOS.
sesRing few OF those gums in our SER
vice, each division being euppiied with
only five or six. / well remember
la Circumstance pOrtrBying the
great long.ranse power ~ those
guns. Before VIC retreAted from
Missionary Ridge, and while VIC were
holding Lookout Mountain, this arm
~ our service the shan -shOOterP, did
| some very effective work, the nature
OF the localities rendering favorable
| points from which to prosecute the
| work The circumstance alluded 10
| occurred NJ Lookout Mountain, when
the enemy We're camped about two
miles below on the river. They were
acarcoly Ill cernible TO tho naked eye
NJ I'll they would fully emerge from
the woods, going TO the river for varl.
GUS purposes, which occasions were az
seldom Rs possible, from the fact oi Oui
| WhitwOrth BhoOterB harassing them
30 terribly. Several men aud mules
were killed and many wounded NJ die
tanceB ranging from one and u half {,
two miles with those death dealing
Whitworth guns.
crnuot clOse this little remlnlHCenc
without mentioning a circumstance II
connection with above referred to Col
wilkes Of cur old brigade, Granberry'r
All old members Of the brigade re
member the colouelis peculiar canin,
physiognOmy, which used To receive
many interpretations, but the funnies
version, and the one most generally
accepted, wac thus given: That IN tn
beginning land since) God nude al
thinge, and In creating man, there wa
aecarcity ofheaas. In rustling aroun'
for portions and limbs the colonel 40
there, eli, which his well-foTmed pro
portions indicate, except head ,whiol
he discovered had aboutHll been taken
until, suddenly looking around, h
espied d pile Of mixed heAde, and II
the extremity Of the situation b.
grabbed up one and put II on, heno
bis bulldog, tenacious appearance.
O. W w