Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1891-05-02
A FIGHTING GIRL.

termined soldlerS'
AS our brigade advanced crossing
pasture land, sweeping through thiclSets
and fording Il creek which seemed to be
all turns and elbows, a man about ten
feet from me on the left dropped dead.
My company was on the extreme left OF
the line, you see, and the man was a |
Tanker. He had been shot from the |
window of humble looking cabin
which stock in open ground about rife
shot away.
Sergeant, take ten men and clean
those bushwhaclxers out and burn the
house!" was the order got from my |
captain, and minute later / had a
squad marching away.
There had been more or less fighting
over this same ground all the forenoon,
and the artillery and musketry fire had
been pretty hot We were now driving
the line, and as we advanced we found
many of the dead still lying where they
fell 1t wasn't lawful warfare for a
bushwhaclSer to hide away in n farm
house and shoot soldier in the back.
Even If battle was raging such deed
smaclled of murder. If he could shoot
it was his business to be in the lines OPP
posed to U.S. Then if his bullets found
human target it was the chances of
| war, and if he happened to be captured
by us he would be treated as prisoner
of war.
We marched straight for the house,
expecting that the bushwhackcr had
fed as soon as he fred the shot, but we
had not covered over half the distance
when rifle cracked and one of my men
| dropped with bullet in his heart. The
nearest cover to the house was n stone
fence hundred feet in front
of it and shed-barn about
the same distance from the back
door. Dividing my squad and now
adopting all the precautions we could,
all of us finally gained the shelters men,
toned. 1t was log cabin, a story and
a half high, with two windows in front,
one on each side, and one in the rear.
The two doors were front and back.
How many men were in the house we
could not say, but as soon as in position
we opened fire on the doors and win.
dows. Not shot was fred in return
for three or four minutes. Then one OF
my men at the wall, who had exposed
himself, got bullet in the shoulder
and crawled away to hide under a bank
of earth. Our bullets soon riddled doors
and windows, and must have searched
every part of the house. We expected
to see three or four men dash out and
make run for it, or a white flag to be
displayed in token of surrender, but all
was grimly silent. About ten minutes
after my man had been shot one of the
men at the shed got his head out too far
while shooting and received a bullet in
return. 1t didn't kill him, but carried
away the right half of his upper lip and
mustache, passed through his cheek,
carried away four teeth and split his
ear, and after term in the hospital he
was discharged and sent home.
That was two killed and two wound.
ed and all apparently by the same wea.
pom. We knew it to be an ordinary
, rifle by the whip-lille crack of it's re-
, port, but there might be three or four
men in the house for all we could de.
termine. We kept blazing away AT
{ doors and windows on the chance of hit.
ting some one, and from the silence ol
the next ten minutes l felt confident
that we had disabled them. Then
, gave the signal for rush at the house
All of us were up and half way there
I when rifle-barrel was polSed through
/ a broken pane and flash followed
r The ball grazed my cheek and strucl
I the man behind me in the forehead anC
dropped him dead. Next moment we
q were at the doors, front and back, anC
q they were banged open with crash.
9 This is what l saw: "a boy soldier
I lying dead on the floor with an arm
o torn off by a fragment of shell. On tn,
bed was a gray-haired woman, with
q bullet wound in her face. Standing il
q the corner of the room, proud and de
> tiant, with the unloadcd rifle in he
g hands, was girl of siXtcen-a regula
g country belle in grace and beauty.
I, II can do no more Shoot us if yo,
a will!s she said as she confronted us.
~ AYE! shoot" added the mother
ID There lies my only boy, killed by you
a. guns this morning. l lie here wounded
ID and my gal jim has dropped four or fiv
of you to get even! One gal to a dozcl
soldiers! Come and finish your work!
o. But we simply took the rifle away an
left them with their dead, and we pitie
n them even as we smarted with the sens
of our own loss.- Detroit Free Press.