The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1895-03-08

His visitor was looking at a queer
old cap. such as enlisted men used 20
wear at thu beginning Of the war II
had an "F-' aud a ia" In furnished
brass the company and regiment 20
which the doctor-then a mere boy,
belonged. At the upper edge Of the
crown u the cap right Ia the side Of
the tilted top piece, there was "A great
hole. blackencd at the edges. and In.
volvlng something like an inch Of the
blue article Of dress
The doctor had a quiet day, and had
fallen into q reminiscent uood be-
tween patients
II got that In the spring Of 'Ge,"
said the doctor, as he looked at the
cap and blew the dust from the visor
dust Of West Madison street, which
lay where the red dust Of the PENN.
sula had laid more than thirty years
ago. ut as right near Warwick
Court House. Va, and we had just
broken camp, aud were on the way
mp the peninsula on the general
movement toward Richmond"
what battlc?"
"Oh, u wasn't any battle at all. IL
was just n little picket fight That
was going on all the time. Tho
woods were full Of rebel sharpshoot.
crs, aud we didn't dare venture out
Of camp or they would pick us OF
They had a strong picket line ahead
Of ~ all the time, aud there was
good deal Of firing. Here Is a note In
the diary kept at tho time" And
he pointed 10 the lines In faded pcncili
"Rebels about eighty or hundred
yards, kept up a constant firing,
Bullet went through my cap
Ibid you hear ~"
"Well, there were 40 many | couldn't
picl, out any one; but this was tho bull.
let did not hear. You may DO Ger.
tain Of that Whom you can hear a
bullet Of course II has passed you,
and II Is harmless as far as you are
concerned. You won't hear the bull.
let that hits you"
"llut this didn't hit YOU"
"No, II only went through my cap
But II knocked me sensclcss-t the con.
cussion, suppose. II left queer
feeling all day. made n note OF II
here In the diary, because II seemed
To me at the time quite an important
thing. Hut came 10 look at ID DIR.
fcrently at the end"
"Werc you over really woundcd?"
"oncc or twice"
GLOW was Il, doctor9 How did II
feel?"
"Oh, II hurt little. II hit mo
here, just above the right hip, aud
travelled clear across my back, lodg-
ing In the right side. II was cut out
aftorward aud have II here. See
where II IL nattened by striking
against the bones as II broke them on
Its way through"
"whcn was that2"
"oh, three months afterward, dur.
ing the seven days Eight IL was In
June, You know all about the penin.
sular campaign. when Mcclellan
moved his whole army up country
In the first great advance on Rich
mond, Well, things didn't go well at
all with me. When was hit of course
II ended my fighting. Tho enemy
came rushing across the field whore |
lay with the rest OF tho wounded,
and with tho dead, for the matter OF
that Aud they were fighting for all
there was In them, aud when they
saw yankee that seemed to be too
much alive they ran him through
with the bayonct II may have boon
cowardly and all that, but they were
young to real battle then, and besides
they were terribly, fearfully In earn
est
"And so one Of them rammed mo
right through thu breast with his
bayoneL As he hurried ON he gave
the gun twisting motlon--it seemed
then TO be barbarlsm, but II may he
IL was simply his haste and the
bay onet was detached from the gun,
aud remained sticking In mo and
through me down into tho sand "
HIS visitor shuddered.
u"And you lived2"
YES, rather" replied the doctor
laughing. Even that seems small
thing now. "of course my hand
were all right, and after the rebels
had gone | managed to work out that
bayonet, hut II pulled some sand u!
with II, aud that was stripped OH IL
tho lungs and used to bother me {
good deal, but guess II Is all gon,
now.
I'VE LAID there ten days withou
the slightest attention from anyone
OF course there was no such peri, c
hospital arrangement then as ther,
was later, and we simply had To looI
out for ourselves. Some OF the boy
whose legs were good managed 10 =
TO the water and they brought driu
to the rest Of us And they wen
through tho havcrsaclss OF the doa
and found something for us 10 cal
Hut Il was n pretty hard ten days 70
a man who couldn't move, after all
H. used 10 rain every night, aud "
used TO scrapo little shallow plac
In the sand by our sides, aud tina
J would nh with water and keep u
most of the day. ! was afraid lwoul
bleed TO death; so two OF the fellow
tore the lining out OF blouse and
plugged up my wound with thnt, an
got along"
The doctor was turning over Ill