The National tribune., 1893-02-02
TRULY A HERO.
living COmrade Whose Grave is Kept
Green by the Government.

living COmrade Whose Grave is Kept
Green by tiie Government.
EFERRING to Capt Mex inney's arti-
- Gle on the charge and capture of the
3 " rebel fort al Ncksburg on the 22d
of May, 1863. there IS no question
but the 18th III. was thar or thsrabouts" upon
that occasion, and / will relate an incident
that happened there and then which has no
parallel in the history of the nth III. or any
other regiment / take this liberty, because
the hero is a brave man, and too modest to tell
it himself He Is at present residing in the
town Of Buchanan Va.
John T. Wilson, late private. Co. A, nth H.,
on the morning of May -. 1863. was OH de-
tailed duty as clerk at Gen. McClernands
Headquarters, and, knowing of the part his
regiment was to take he asked for and was
given permission to he with the boys of Co. a.
He charged with his company, was in the
first line. and among the first down in the
ditch outside the fort. He was climbing up
the glacis Of the fort. on the muskets of the
18th H., stuck in the face of the fort like the
rungs OF ladder, and had reached a point
where his head was nearly on level with the
parapet, when johnny stuck his gun over
ard fred The muzzle of the gun was but a
few inches from Wilson's face; the ball struck
him fair and square between the eyes, in the
forehead at the base Of the nose. passing under
the left eye out OF his left cheek into and
through the left shoulder blade. lie rolled
into the ditch among the dead and wounded.
The Chaplain of the nth III. found him,
turned him over, saw the center shot in his
head, and when the 18th I'll. retired Wilson
was left for dead and was SO reported by the
Chaplain in letter published in the Peoria
(lll) papers.
After dark Wilson found himself alive and
blind and in cropping around found a comrade
NltoSn left leo was shattered This ron, raIp
with his hand on Wilson's right shoulder, and
a musket for a crutch, guided Wilson to the
landing and QUITO transport, which landed
him at Cairo. where he lay in a hospital for
days without attention. until Mother Bicker-
dyke. whom the boys will remember, noticed
him, and said she believed he would live if he
had attention. He told her if she would get
some one TO dress his wounds he would live
She nursed him herself, and after several
months he was able TO get to his home, near
Peoria.
In the meantime the loyal people of Peoria
erected a monument TO commemorate the
names of its heroes, and to-day the name of
John F. Wilson, private Co. A, 9TH Ill.,, killed
May q, 1863. at Nicksburg, appears on the
monument There is also grave in the Ma
tional Cemetery AT Yicksburg marked John F.
Wilson, Co. A, 18th III. Y. J.; and yet private
Wilson, Co. A, nth H., is living to-day in a
little Virginia town in the Blue Ridge Mount
aims. minus left eye and the use of his left
arm, but with heros record as soldier. with
a grave kept green by the nation and his name
Oh monument irnperishable.
After Wilson was able to get ont. lie applied
for and was commissioned in the Veteran Re
serve Corps and served till honorably mustered
out OF the service in 1867 as Captain, since which
time he has resided in Virginia.-J B. W.,
Grand Crossing ILL.,