Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1893-07-13
MEMORIES OF FORT FIsIEp
"uriea Thirty-six Hours I'm a..
Debris When the For,

Inc funeral Of Joseph Nelson roo.
III o"hiahd last week, and wha, tha ~
was lowered into the grave ha ,,a .onAu
VI tue second time. The first bnr,oI ~
."'h'!'seNeh years ago, when he wos 80
Wnioeo awe at the eXpIosion of H.,
rlSher, when he was buried In rho 80
ioF thiFty-six hours before no wos f"an1
ahu theh ne was dug out for dead S.vs tha
san francisco Examiner, "e
,arup -,e'soh was then a lad Of u. n
s"lun.seE i'll Company f of the Sixt.entI
i"tN i'Slihent, and attached 10 Cen
benjamin +. Buffers division Un uos -
the storming of Fort Fisher mr.
Aliles with Il fleet under tn, cnp,p,,,J -;
AuulFal Terry. tOrt Fisher was catt,,roJ
ana When tie Union forces TOO, nnsss-sfNr,
ine lori was blown into the air and th,
hhnrf.dd loops WIN II. MIR. Nelson was
puEleu many feet under the ruins, and /,
was lhlrty-slX hours before he WAS tonnd
lie was paralyzed from the burial and nv,
came u sufferer from Sciatic rDenmgtisT,
~ Lis "Iulc uie from the effects OF lie
SHOCK ana exposure. He never recovered
put was Tor Il while able to perfpr,o The
uu'icS oi Il conductor On Il light run an
the Southern Pacific railroad. VA
y '>tlsoh was not always willing to
zen OF his unusual experience Of being
buried awe Tor such a length II time. Ae
was very graphic in his account, however
aud ibIs Is HE way Ia tod il shortly b,..
ANAN az NdNh
at all neemed like a nightmare or the
things one fancies while in a fever. Fort
flsher seemed 10 be on top OF me. Uith All
the guns directed AT me. ! could neither
move nor speak. Slowly l began 10 grow
coid, so coid and numb that | began 10
wonder II / were dead. Ii began At my
feet ana crept up through my limbs AMI
up my body until Ii almost seemed to
GiutGh at my heart. | thought that it was
death Itself, but l could hear noise. 1t was
very human noise, and sounds that told me
only too plainly that | was stil aIiye-the
cries Of the dying and wounded from the
battle and the explosion.
They were over me and around mo
cries that made my already chilled BODY
colder. l could hear them everywhere,
II seemed TO me, the cries Of those In
greater pain than !. for they were wounded
ana mangled, While Ii was only cold.
Il was buried up TO my shoulders In the
heavy sand Of the breastworks. but my
head was free, Over il some timbers and
rocks had become crossed aud iduiinyi,
and they had formed a roof over my head,
This ! did not know ut the time. / could
only feel the terrible cold that benumbed
me, for the pressure Of the sand around nv
body drove the blood back TO my heart
and left me without feeling.
IL could not move; my arms were buried
in the sand and l was absolutely pinioned,
] could breathe, aud that was all. Then
there came a great pain in my head. 1t
seemed as il il would burst: and still
was helpless. | hardly knew whether |
was alive or not. ! was conscious. for
could hear the cries Of the wounded: but
that was all | knew save that | could not
move and that | was cold.
THE fort blew up mt Z O'Clock in the
morning, and II was the following day be-
fore i was found and dug out, and all that
time l was conscious but helpless"
When Mr.. Nelson was found he was
taken to the hospital at Wilmington. y. c.,
but he never fully recovered from the in
jury 10 his spine, and during the greater
part Of his life walked on Crutches.