Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-07-20
MEMORIES OF FORT FISHER:
Buried Thirty-Six Hours in the
Debris When the For. I,Iexx lin

DEBRIS When the Fort Blew I'm.
Inc funeral of Joseph Nelson took place
IN oakland last week. and when the coffin
was lowered into the grave he was buried
LOT tne second time. The first burial was
l"euty-Se'en years ago, when he was en-
tOmDeu alive at the explosion of Fort
Fisher, when he was buried in the debris
1or thlrty-siX hours before he was found,
ana then he was dug out for dead says the
San Francisco Examiner.
Joseph Nelson was then a lad of 81. n
voluntne" In Company L of the Sixteenth
New Iurk regiment, and attached to Gen.
Benjamin +. Buffers division. He was at
the storming Of Fort Fisher under Gen.
AInes with 1; fleet under TIL. command of
Admiral Terry. Fort Fisher was captured,
anu when the Union forces TOOK possession
lhe fort was blown into the air and the
Union troops with ii. Mr.. Nelson was
buried many feet under the ruins. and it
was thirty-SiX hours before ne was found.
He was paralyZrd from the burial and be-
came Il sufferer from Sciatic rheumatism
for his entire life from the effects q the
shock and exposure. He never recovered.
but was for while able TO prrfT:a the
duties of a conductor on Il light run Gu
the Southern Pacific railroad.
MIR. Nelson WAS not always willing TO
tell Of his unusual experience OF icing
buried alive for sucn Il length If time. He
was very srapnc in his account however.
and this is The way IL told it shortly be-
fore his death:
1T all seemed like a nightmare or the
things one fancic> white in Il fcvsr. Fort
Fisher seemed to be OH top of me, T.ith all
the guns directed ut me ! could neither
move nor speak. Slowly began 20 grow
cold SO cold and numb that | began 10
wonder if 1 were dead. 1t ''rEtn at my
feet and crcpt up through my limbs AMI
up my body until it almost seemed to
clutch at my heart | thought that 1t was
death itself but l could hear noise It was
only too plainly that l was still aive-the
cries of the dying and wounded from the
battle and the explosion.
They were over me and around me
colder could hear them everywhere,
If seemed to me. the cries of those in
greater pain than l, for they We're wounded
and mallgled. while II was only cold. A.,
heavy sand of the brcas,workS. but my
(, head: was free. Over it some timbers and
rocks had become crossed ana )ammcI'
and they had formed roof over my heau;
This | did not know ut the time. l couid
only feel the terrible cold that bennnbed
me. for the pressure of the sand around my
L0iy drove the blood back to my heart
and left me without feeling.
II could not move: my arms were DurlPu
in the sand and l was absolutely piniomcd.
| could breathe. and that was all. Ihcn
there came great pain in my !nd hea an,
was helpless. l hardly knew whether
was alive or not. I was conscious. for
could hear the cries of the wounded; out
that was all | knew save that | could not
move and that l was cold:
1.-THE fort blew up at I O'Clock In the
morning, and it was the following day be-
fore | was found and dug out. and all that
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
iury 10 his spine and during the greater
part of his life walked OIL crutches.