The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1892-01-07

IN BATTLE.

4 Doctors Sensation After Getting an
Enemy's Bullet In His Body.
Hearing the groans of wounded men
somewhat near to the edge of the
woods, | took n sergeant and two men
and went in search of them. There
were many dead, lying among them
three more or less badly hurt; one of
these needed immediate amputation Of
the arm, and we set about this at once.
Meanwhile a sharp firing broke out
on the right; the balls began to fly over
us so that the twigs fell about us from
the trees. Rarely does n man try to
operate under fire. This time it fell
upon me to do SO, and as / began my
assistant suddenly cried out: 1T is no
use, doctor" A sharp convulsion shook
the body of the wounded man, and,
looking up, ! saw that the bullet had
gone through his head. A moment
later ] felt a blow on the back of my
neck, and lost consciousness.
can not say how long | remained in.
sensible. BY degrees l began to see
the trees, the moon, and the swift hur-
ry of clouds across its brightness. l
family remembered that at first | con-
nccted their quick motion with retreat
and failure, and was hurt with the
shame of it. Then again lost it all.
and for a t~ime-how long l do not
know-rose to brief spells of dream
haunted consciousness.
The sadness of dawn was in the Sky
before was fully myself. heard the
moan of wounded men, and knew that
it was my duty to take care of them. I
tried to rise, and could not; my arms
and legs were alike motionless.
made an immense effort, and knew
that it was in vain. was also para
ly2ed as to sensation. and could not
feel that | touched the ground. But
about my neck l felt the blood dried
stiff in my collar. ! must, however,
have been still bleeding freely, for
again | lost myself while divided be-
tween wonder and horror Mt my state.
At about sunrise ! was awakened by
familiar voices, and presently was
rolled ovcr and inspected by a hospital
steward and one of my brother sur
geons, to whom were soon added two
line officers, | could not speak, but
could lear more and more easily ms
they lifted me to a stretcher and made
my obituary in a few brief and not al
together eulogistic phrases, with a final
remark by a captain that HE treated
me at Cold Harbor and got me u long
sick-lcave, and gave derned little med.
icine, too"
One man remarked, Good fellow,
but n dreamy sort of n cuss." And
thus, having died for my country, and
heard It's opinion of me in little, ! came
to myself. As my bearers trudged
along had first n misty recognition Of
the fun Of IL, then curiosity as to where
| was hit but at length pain in my
neck from the to-and.fro roll of the
stretchcr as my bearers, keeping step
from habit, moved toward the camp.
At last | was able to say, Break
step; I'm not dead"
"By Gcorgel The Doctors alivel' ex.
claimed one of my aids, and SO. after
this excursion out OF my wits, | got in.
10 a good tent and, after a more thor
ouEh examination, was sen home 10
die. $. Weir Mitchell, In Century.
lie tdespairingly)-It doesn't mat
ter II | have got lots Of money, | can
not forget that my grandfather was u
stage-driyer, She (sweetly)-That Is
all right You can refer / o your ances-
trail hauls without roinG into partiep-
lara, Sparks