Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-01-12


| We were the extreme right of our army.
| We went on to the field by the right flank,
marching ut quick time, but as we came
| under hotter fire our pace was quickened
| to the double quick We soon began to de-
scepd the hill to the Wsrrenton pike, be-
| yond which the enemy who were firing
| upon us were situated.
| Heavy firing was heard soon at the Henry
house--to our left and front. portion at
least of the 18th Brooklyn was re-
firing to our left, and Ricketts, battery was
flying to the rear on our right. The idea
OF retreat or defeat had not entered our
minds at that time. We thought, l did at
least, that the retiring battery and troops
were going back after ammunition or to
make room for fresh troops.
While marching at double quick down
the slope at trail arms, at the head OF my
company, which was next to the color
! guard, ! was hit in the right arm, near the
shoulder, by piece of shell which passed
across my breast and whirled around and
fell to the ground. In the twinkliug Of an
eye was Transformed from an athlete to a
pensioner. Another piece from the same
shell killed my file leader, Corporal Ben ia
min OF Company G. of Brattleboro. His
life was the first laid upon the altar Of his
country in battle by Nermonter. l was
carried to the rear by two comrades after
my bleeding was partly stopped, placed in
an ambulance, carried to little old coop
er's shop near the Sudley church, placed
upon n board upon the ground. aud my
arm, which was completely shattered and
! hanging together only by the skin aud
muscles, was amputated by Surgeon Ballou
OF my reg ment. l remember OF seeing him
standing over me as | was being etherzad,
| and ! did not him afterward for 20
years almost to day, when | met him at
the Van Ness House.
The regiment continued on and soon
became closely engaged with the enemy.
They fought bravely and only retired whom
| peremptorlv ordered to do So They re-
trea tod IN good order and formed a part Of
the rear guard, such as there was. The
! service OF the regiment thereafter,
! part OF the famous First Vermont brigade,
was brilliant and unexceled by any other
organization in the Union army.
| Soon after ] recovered my consciousness
| | heard tho cry, "The Black Horse cavalry
is coming, and soon major OF rebel cav
airy cGme into the shop and sternly in
| formed us that we were prisoners
| | had started out in the morning conf
| dent Of victory and that tho war would be
ended and the Union preserved, and now
| thu consciousness that our forces we're routed
and flying to the rear, and that | wa.
prisoner and MANNED for life put me in an
unhappy state Of mind from which did not
entirely recover until left Dixie.
| My arm was laid upon bench beside me-
in my fun view. 1t was pale aud useless
then, and told one OF the boys the next
morning to take it out and bury it. The
shop was filled with our wounded, and it
was interesting to note the effect Of wounds
| l
Iouave who shot with a musket ball
when his mouth was wide opcn-presumably
when shouting The bal did not hit his
teeth or any part of his mouth. 1t first
struck the posterior pharynx and passed
| through DIS neck and out through the side
OF his spinal column in the rear.
He could not lie down, but slept some
sitting. He very light hearted and
made rapid recovery BY my side lay an
apparently strong young man who had
simple i,sh wound in one of his forearms.
He was homesick and respondent, and in
Illumination set in, with accompany ing
fever, and he died in a few days The
weather was hot and moist, and wounds did
moi do well. 1t before the days OF an
tiseptic surgery, the great boon of the sub
| jects OF the surgeon knife.
Ono week from The day of the battle we
were taken TO Manassas Junction, bound
| for Richmond Va.
| We passed through the centre OF the bat
tleileld. Broken gun carriages caissons
accoutrements and dead horses, from which
II horrible stencil arose. covered the ground
in all directions.
We sat up in an old sde-seat omnibus
during the two hours journey, and whea
we reached the junction We fot pretty well
used up.
| Wo were put in an old tobacco shed for
the night. While there we were visited by
many rebs, who tsunted and threatened US
Though our prisoners were better treated al
| this tims than later on, so far as food and
care were concerned, there was bitterer
personal feeling by the rebel soldier toward
the Union soldier than after they got better
acquainted. On the morning of July 90
we were loaded iuto some old freight cars,
uuprovided with even straw to lie upon,
and started for the capital OF the conteder-
ncy. What terrible journey OF 36 hours
and $50 miles that was for the wounded
| Unable to sit up we lay upon the floor of
the car with, at the most, but a blanket
under u.s. Every time the car wheels struck
| tho joints of the rails our arms and leg,
were thrown up few inches into the air,
to come down again at once with a thud on
| the floor.
More dead than alive we reached Rich
mond. | was carried to the poorhouse.
with some others OF the badly wounded,
and was there visited by those ministering
angels, the Sisters of Charity, who know no
difference between Union rebel. They
were doing the work of their Master, who 10
mo respector OF persons.
One of them gave me few swallows of
rum punch which revived me much. am
a temperate man, but think that if a sister
should offer mo rum punch now | should
drink it, to see If it would taste as good as
it did in Richmond 81 years ago.
Captain James b. Ricketts,, U. S. A.,
who commanded Ricketts, battery in the
battle aud who lost a Leg was a prisoner in
the poorhouse with us. His devoted wife
had bravsd the dangers incident to jour
nov through the lines, and was there
ministeriDg to her husband.
Ricketts, was aftsrward major general
While in this place occurred an incident
which illustrated the mean side of human
nature, very rare indeed in Union sodi, r.
Among the prisoners in an adjoining
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