River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1895-05-30

Army of the Republic. Col. Mussey
had met many old friends whom he had
not seen for a quarter of a century.
But when Jack Adams came into the
office the scene was dramatic beyond
description. Col. Mussey acted like
man whose dearest brother had come
back from the grave. lie said:
"Why, my dear boy, saw you killed.
l saw a six-pound cannon ball cut you
in two in front of Baton Rouge. We
were in a charge. and pressed on with
the regiment. Other fellows were fall
ing all around us, some of them illed,
but nearly all of them wounded. We
accounted for all of them, buried the
dead and sent the others to hospitals.
supposed that fragments of your body
were buried, for i never saw you after
that cannon ball struck YOU"
"Yes, Fred, you are right about that
cannon ball hitting me-" said Adams.
with smile. but it didn't cut me in
two. As a matter of fact, it was spent
ball, and only grazed my right hip. l
suppose it appeared to go clear through
the. But you must remember that
there was some little excitement just
then, and maybe you got ratified.
There was enough fighting and enough
danger to rattle the bravest fellows that
day. Well. the spent ball paralyzed
me, and bruised me, and nearly killed
me. But | was breathing, although
unconscious, SO they picked me up, put
me in an ambulance and sent me to a
field hospital. Then / was carried on to
q hospital steamer, taken to a general
hospital at New Orleans, and finally
recovered. l never went to the front
again, and it was many day and many
q month before | was sound and well
again. But here l am again, in the
body, and mighty glad to see my old
friend and courade again"
Col Mussey mad similar singular ex-
perience about the same time. We had
desks in the same Office room, and one
evening he came over to see me, and
said with considerable excitement: Il
have discovered my brother, Al. Mus
sey, after nearly thirty years of silence
on his part. lie left our Vermont home
after the war, saying he would never
come back until his fortune was made.
We have never heard of him since; and
now have discovered him"
"Where is he, and how did you find
him?" inquired.
ut is providential," said Col. Mussey.
"The pension Office sends typewriter
slip every day giving the names of Ohio
and Indiana soldiers to whom pensions
have been issued. l never received a
California slip before, because my paper
does not circulate in California. And
s,-l.@ -. Nv
of some clerk, found the California
pension list. | was about to throw it
in the waste basket when | saw the
name of Albert w. Mussey. That must
be my brother. He is in California.
He has applied for pension. 1t has
been issued, and this slip bearing his
name, the only California slip | have
ever seen, has been waited into my Of
fee. l will write to him"
The result of this peculiar incident
was that Col. Mussey wrote to the pen
sioner. received a reply and then sent
word to his venerable mother in Yer
mont that her eldest boy was still alive.
Al Mussey had become a prosperous
rancher. He had been silent for many
years and dreaded to write to his home,
lest sad news of the deaths of his kim
DIR ID might come to him. But, after
all, the family was reunited, and they
all look upon that stray California pen
sion list as providential occurrence.
More remarkable than the story of
Jack Adams is n thrilling romance
which the records of the pension Office
disclose concerning Hugh Thompson.
of Van Vert, o., a farmer lad who had
enlisted in the Fifteenth Ohio infantry,
September /. 1862, and marched away
TO the front with the tens of thousands
of other farmer ladGies who comprised
the bone and sinew of the r. - Ind file
of the armies of the union. At the
battle of Chicl1amauCa. as q comrade
relates. while they were lying on the |
ground at the front 20 escape the tenn
pest of balls that swept the thin woods /
where his regiment was engaged, a
case shot, probably DETECTED from
tree, struck him in the head. and his |
face was instantly covered with blood.
His companion spoke to him. but he |
did not answer. Just then the order
10 fall back was given. lie was assist
ed to his feet, staggered a few feet in a
dazed kind of way, and fell in a heap /
as confederate brigade swarmed into /
the woods. and his, comrades were /
forced to leave him, evidently dying |
from a mortal wound. lie never re- !
Joined them. The regimental report of |
the adjutant for September. 1868, bears |
the note opposite his name: Wounded |
aud missing in the battle of Chicza- |
manga, September 10. 1868" And so l
he disappeared from comrades and /
friends aud home. one of the unknown
dead, remembered only as an integer
component of the myriads of soldier 1
boys who gave their Young lives for |
their country. His father. years after |
ward, applied for a pension on account /
of his service. his mother having died /
prior - his Ell istment. No doubt was
aised as to his death in the army, but