The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1893-07-22
MEMORIES OF Fort FISHER.
uried Thirty-Six Hours In tn,
When the Fort Bleyv TIN.

Buried Thirty-Six Hours In the
. When h Fort Blew Up,
Inc funeral Of Joseph Nelson took place
~ oakland last week, and when the coffin
was lowered into the grave he was buried
ior the second time. The first burial was
IWenty-seven years ago, when he was en-
tOmDeu alive at the explosion of Fort
flsher, when he was buried in the debris
for thirty-six hours before he was found.
and then he was dug out for dead. saws the
San Francisco Examiner. "
Josepn Neison was then o lad of Fl, a
volunteer In Company + of the Sixteenth
New Yark regiment, and attached to Gen.
BENJAMIN +. Buffers division. He was ut
the storming of Fort Fisher under Gen.
Ames with a feet under the command of
Admiral Terry. Fort Fisher was captured,
aud when the Union forces took possession
the fort was blown into the air and the
Union troops with it. MIR. Nelson was
was thirty-six hours before he was found.
he was paraiyzed from the burial and be-
came q sufferer from sciatic rheumatism
TOR Ills entire life from the effects Of the
shock aud exposure. He never recovered,
Tut was for u while able to perform the
duties OF a conductor on u light run On
the Southern Pacific railroad.
MI. Nelson was not always willing to
tell OF his unusual experience OF feing
buried alive for such a length # time. He
was very graphic in his account, however,
and nd this a,l y the way he told 1t shortly be-
1T all seemed like. a nightmare or the
things one fancies while IN a fever. Fort
Fisher seemed to be on top Of me-, With alr
move nor speak. Slowly l began 70 grow
cold, SO cold and nuu,b that I began 10
wonder IL l We're dead. 1t began 1T my
fleet 1p m npd oe eaSpt uu SR through L . ALMOST n,y ,. ,l@Ssa "9 70
clutch at my heart. I thought that it was
death itself, but I could hear noise. 1t was
very human noise, and sounds that told me
cries Of the dying and wounded from the
battle and the explosion.
They were over me and around me
cries ad,a,. that made made my already chilled Il, body
1t seemed to me, the cries Of those In
greater pain than l, for they were wounded
and mangled, while Il was only cold.
heavy sand of the breastworks, but my
head was free. Over it some timbers and
rocks had become crossed and jammed,
and they had formed a roof over my head.
This did not know ut the time. I could
only feel the terrible cold that benumbed
me, for the pressure Of the sand around my
body drove the blood back to my heart
and left me without feeling.
~ could not move; my arms were buried
In the sand and I was absolutely pinioned.
! could breathe, and that was all. Then
s Seemed fa as Il T { sfe %eu pa'p BURST In my gn5 head stil, i t
was helpless. l hardly knew whether
was alive or not. I was conscious. for
could hear the cries of the wounded: but
that was all I knew save that l could not
move and that 1 was cold,
''The fort blew up at I o'clock in the
morning, and it was the following day be.
time ! was conscious but helpless"
When Mr.. Nelson was found he was
taken to the hospital at Wilmington. N. G..
but he, never fully Recovered from the In
jury to his spine, and during the greater
part of his life walked on crutches.