The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-07-17
FIVE feet from the ground. The meas
urement showed it to be sixty-three
.aaa4;an thi1 oc nnrrnhara.

urement 6h0Wed IL 10 De slAGy-Gulee
inches. [ mention this as corrobora-
tive of Gen. McGowan's statement, it
being more nearly correct than any
other account I have ever seen: This
string I still have-one of the few
mementoes of the war of which l am
possessed. The trunk of the tree is
now in the ordnance museum at Wash
ington-the present Of Gen. Nelson
A. Miles, of the United States army,
who commanded division on the
Union side in the battle of 1.-The
Bloody Angle saw it there few
wears ago, and at once recognized my
old enemy.
Gen. Badeau, in his military history
of Gen. Grant, says of the battle OF
the Wilderness ''Men looked at their
watches, thinking it must be almost
night, and found it 9 o'clock in the
morning" To those Of us who were
in "The Bloody Angle" it seemed
that neither day nor night would ever
end.
In conversation few days ago
with Capt. Wallace l. DELPHI, the COM
mander of Company l, in my old reg
iment, soldier whose conspicuous
and noble devotion to duty won tor
him the admiration and love of all who
had the honor to serve with or near
him, and now prominent merchant
of this city, an incident of The
Bloody Angle was mentioned with
which both of us were more or less
familiar. but neither had ever seen IN
any publication. About mid-after-
noon there was lull of few minutes
in the withering fire which had been
going on from an early hour in the
morning. Instantly all eyes were
above the works and looking at the
enemy, who H. in line Of battle not
more than forty yards away. One OF
their men approached, and mounting
our breastworks asked if we wished
to surrender. Upon being Informed
that we had no such intention, but,
on the contrary, had gotten the i'm
preston, from the truce, and his com.
ing to us, that it was the purpose OF Of
his side to surrender, he said: 81
am sorry, gentlemen, but mistake
has been made. Will you permit me
to return to my own lines E Ihe
| men in the traverse whom he address.
ed, seeing that he was brave and
loyal man, though an enemy and IN
their power, at once gave their con-
sent. Raising his cap, and with a
graceful bow, be sprang from the
6breastworks and started to where his
troops lay, but before reaching them
a shot was fired and the man fell:
There was the murmur of "Murder +
from several voices in the traverse,
but I am glad to say that it was after
wards learned that he got back safely
to his command. The shot had the
effect to reopen the battle, and IN the
confusion it was never known to us
who it was or why he fred it.
Of Gen. Samuel MCGOWAN, our old
brigade commander, 1 must say word;
a brave, competent and accomplished
soldier, Of great personal magnetism,
his presence was always an inspira-
| tion to his men, and cheering words,
as at Chancellorsville, for example !:
"Go in boys" ."Give 'em a whoop,', :
never failed to send them with "rebel
yelr' and flying feet into the enemy 8
lines, no matter how formidable they
were. {,
Thirty odd years ago the General
was rousing stump speaker ana a
/ capital anecdote teller. Whenever he
was called away from camp for any
| length of time, the men would gather
about headquarters and call for q
speech. Upon his return there would
be repetition of this performance.
One of bis best hits, which doubtless
he has long since forgotten, was in
| this fashion: Just prior to the open
ing of the Wilderness campaign he
made a most entertaining talk, in
which he said: 'Now, boys, | want
YOU to drive the Yankees from Dan to
| Beersheba. The Wilderness and
Spottsylvania were fought. At the
latter place the General was wounded
and obliged to go home. When he
came back the brigade was in the
"Lines near Petersburg" The usual
call was made upon him, to which he
responded in very amusing strain,
saying, among other things. "Boys,
you remember what | said to you
some time ago.. that / wanted you to
drive the Yankees from Dan to Beer
sheba, Well, you. have done that.
Now I want you to drive them from
Beersheba back to Dan.
The General services to his State
did not end with the war. For q q
number of years he held the exalted
Office of Associate Justice OF the Su-
preme Court of South Carolina.
B. F. Brown,
Sergeant Of Company L, 1st S. G.
Regiment, McGowan's Brigade, 1861
/ 1QEh