Fergus County argus., 1886-11-18
A PlucxY PRIVATE.
How n Busk~y~ BOY w"" Pr"""''"" AZ
the Battle "r G~ss ysss"rg---A 'icar''sr
Of Pluck. which saved the iif"
,C % Sosa rsser.


making inquiries in regard to Joseph
p..,o.s. whose death was referred 10
Is.f week-'there goes Il fellow whom
saw do a. nervy II thing a. ! wit
messed while was in the >'rvice.'
The Leader reporter looked across
he street. ia ,lIr direction IN which the
rrlonel had hooded and saw Dick
Enderlin plodding along. hands IN
locket. in his matipr-oi fact. indlifer-
.n; sort of way.
lit was at Getty-hurg. remarked
the colonel. knocking the ashes from
his cigar. You probably Knew that
Dick enlisted a. "a drummer boy. lie
WIS in my company and he beat II
drum for all that was out: beat u 50
hard that YOU couldn't find drum
head. enough in the army 10 keep
him supplied; and II -hor; time before
the Get tysburg tight lac came To me
for the sixth or seventh druinlieiid,
and lust gave him gun. He kicked
n little. but took it. and made pretty
good use of it afterward. too.
Toward the close of the first day
ii.ht al Gettysburg our retimrntalii iine
was stretched along the crest oi
ridge. a,lown the side oi wh'ch was II
field of wheat almost ripe enough Tor
the reaper. Much of it had been cut
that dny. and more was 'le-i med To
he clIt on the morrow--crt 10y shot
and shell. and swept 10y the ni'i~ketry
oi the two armies. On the opposite
side of the field, aud but n irl.iitiuily
~hort distance away. were the rebel
lines. Twice that afternoon We had
charged across that wheat field IN the
effort to drive the ener y from their
position, and twic. We were driven
back. leaving many dead and
wounded man among the standing
.heat. The wheat wa, 50 high ihhi
when living down one could not be
seen by the enemy, ana Tor some time
before the charge WIS ordered we hhd
occupied the position described, keep
inn up II sharp fire on the enemy and
receiving a. good a. We sent IN return.
Icouldn't help but he aniiI-etat Dick.
In order to save the men ;iS much a.
possible directed them To lie down
To do their loading. and only rise to
deliver their fire. but Dick insisted
upon standing up all the time. Three
or four times yelled at him to keep
under cover or hc would get hit, and
lac would attempt To obey me- but M
"A irw minutes exrif,nent would get
the better of him. aud he would be on
his feet agiin. loading and firing ~
rapidly as he could handle his piece.
'.Whcn the sun had gone down and
the shades oi night had checked the
firing considerably several of us were
,.tan,linggroupc1 together looking over
the field of wheat. wondering what had
been the result OF the days work and
what would be the result Of the NOR
row. when We heard some wounded
man way over in the wheat groanina
terribly. Ills grOanS were ~ickcningto
listen to. and it got 50 after awhl,
that couldn't stand it any longer
50. taking of my haversark J handed
Il TO Endcrlin, who was standing by
and remarked that ! was going after
that fellow. This, rs every one knew
was pretty ticklish piece of business
for, although il was then night. tlI,
moon was shining, and at every rustl,
of the wheat that indicated the posi-
Slbility of it being moved by II human
bein. the Johnnie, would send theii
m,,skct and rifle balls through IT in I;
way that made it very unhealthy fol
any person that might be comeale,
there.
..Still I resolved to chance it, anc
getting down on my hands and knees
began to worm my way through th
whe;,, in the direction ot the groans
had gone but n few yards. however
when felt some One grasp me 10y tn
I.g and heard Dicks voice
Look here. Major, he said, 'yo'
mustn't 90 out there. You might g.
killed, and We can't spare YOU; let m
co.
"Why. don't believe you could ae
the fellow in, Dick" | replied; ''he j
probably hurt 80 bad that he has Il
he carried. and don't believe yO
could carry n man ia that way AN
througl, that wheat"
We'll. you inst come back and le
me try it," said Dick. "Tll he, yo
that bring him in" Saying which h
bolteI ahead. wormng his way ON hi
belly through the wheat. as carefull
and cautiously ~ possible. so as &
avoid attracting attention. while +,
turned To the line to await results.
lie was gone II long time. so Ion
that ] began to grow uneasy. but fina
~ he made his appearance. crawlnl
Oh his stomach through the wheat
and on hi-back. with his arms claspe
around his neck. WAS II poor deV
whose hip had been shattered by
musket ball.
Where did You find him. Dhk?'
asked him. ~ ile lifted the poor iello
oil his back.
lie WAS within couple of rods {
the rebel lines was Dick reply. as Il
crawled To his feet and stretched hin
sell after his long trip.
..Dick, | slid, Won area sergeant
Of course meant in embryo. for q
;hat moment there wasn't any yaca,
cy. but there Mere plenty oi them viii
in twent y-four hours.
There was another little incidrl
that occurred at the ,.ct y-burg fight
continued tliet Colonel. 'and that can
directly under my observation. viii,
will illustrate pretty well the s,i
that was IN the men of 81 aud u
Thcr. was I'M officer in hc regiment !
the name of John u. Martin. lie WI
"A lieutenant then aud l. living at W
verify now. was -tanf,in. ina grou
OF which Martin was one. when ligll
.l shell came ricocheiting across q
field and stopped almost nj our ie,
the fuse still burning, and burned
most iownto the shell The situate
was about as critical a. you can II
agine. and the group began to scatt
with Il rapidity that would do cret
to the activity Of ,ach individual nic
lar All r,p Inn Mart i'm who ,ll.l1.