Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1897-10-15
AMAZING VITALITY.
BULLETS AND SHELLS COULDN'T KILL
JOHN PETERS.
Discharged From the Service Al. n Hone.
less Cripple. He Recovered and Re.en-
listed - Saved by a Noble Fo, on the
Field at Chancellorsvillc.

Among the numerous instances OF
remarkable endurance and wonderful
vitality of wounded soldiers that | had
kliowlcdgeof during the late war, - said
a former hospital attendant. II recall
mono SD remarkable ais that of John Pc
tcrs. at the battle of Balls Bluff he
was a member of the Forty-second New
York regiment He was badly wounded
i'll the hip, and be fell on the field
While he lay there another bali frac.
tsrcd his right knee Joint Ut!erly help.
less, he Was trampled beneath the feet
OF the contcsting soldiers until the close
OF the engagement and was then taken
prisoner tt Richmond, He remained
there four mouths. when he w:is ex-
changed and sent with other wounded
to the Philadelphia hospital WAS an
attendant there. Peters wounds had
been SO carclcssly attended to ,iat he
was worse of. ii anything. than when
he WAS first wounded. We did the best
We could for him, but he was in such
shape when able to leave the hospital
that he WIS discharged from the servics
as permanently disabled.
"Some months afterward l was trans
ferrcd to Il hospital at Washington and
was there WHEN the battle of Chancel-
louisville WAS fought. Two weeks after
that engagement Il number of soldiers
who had been wounded there We're
transferred from the hospital at Acquia
(tYnnIy fn fl,n NNncl,%, lo,.A,1
Among the most desperately and appar-
emily hopelessly wounded of these
was amazed to discover John Peters,
the soldier who had left the Philadel-
phia hospital to pass officially as u life
long cripple When he was at last able
to tell his story, / was still more
amazed. After being discharged from
the service as permanently disabled he
had placed himself in charge of a noted
surgeon of that day and after IL
months was made almost as sound as he
ever was. At any rate he was able to
rc-enlisr, which he did i'll the One Hun
drcd and Fifteenth Pennsylvania and
became orderly sergeant of his cow
pany At Charlottesville he was shot
i'll tie right thigh, the bullet causing a
compound fracture, and almost at the
same a mimic ball struck him
i'll the left hip and lodged there against
the bone. He fell and attempted to rise.
AS he raised his head he wa hit by a
flying piece of shell, which fractured
his skull and knocked him ~senseless.
"When Peters reaained consciousness,
his regiment had taken another posi-
ton. and he lay there between two rak-
ing fires, bullets, cannon balls and shells
whizzing over him for hours, until at
last lie managed to drag himself a few
yards away to the bank of a stream
where there We're bushes. Grasping a
bush, he pulled himself over the bank
and let himself down into the water,
waist deep. which relieved his pain.
Our troops retreated O after that,
and the Confederate army swept by
where Peters hung. After it had passed
Peters endcavored to draw himself out
of the stream to the bank, in hope that
he might be picked up, but he found
that the bush to which he chung, while
sufficient to support him as he crouched
in the water, was not stiff enough to
bear his weight in efforts to pull him
self up on the bank. There was a bush
just below him evidently strong enough
to enable him to accomplish his pur-
pose, but it was out of his reach, and #
he released his hold on the bush that
was supporting him to make the at
tempt to reach the stronger one he knew
he would drop helpless in the stream
and drown.
while he was thus facing death he
saw a movement on the bank, and the
next moment an emaciated face with IL,
deathlike pallor OH it appeared we the
edge. 1t was the unmistakable face of a
badly wounded Confederate soldier who
was dragging himself to the water. The
sunlien eyes fell on Peters, and the
owner of them must have comprehend
ed instantly Peters peril. for lie dragged
his body forward and, placing both
hands OH the bush that Peters lonsei
for. bent it down toward his helpless
foe and gas;red:
"'Iiuyl. fanl,. grab 1t!
THE bush dipped 50 close to Peters
that lie summoned all the little strength
he had left. let so the bush le was hold.
ing to and grabbed at the other one. He
caught it 1t witllstood his weight, and
after Il long and painful struggle he
pulled himself by it to the top OF the
bank AS soon as lie could recover
breath enough he turned to the wound
ell Confederate. who lay quiet OH the
bank. to thank him for his Kindness.
The man was dead His dying breath
was spent III saving the life of a foe
1.-Two days Peters dragged himself
about tlat bloody field of battle before
s.ccor reached him He had been re.
ported dead i'll the list. He was sent TO
the Acquia creek hospital, but II days
passed before ms wounds were dressed
His clsc being decided to be hopeless
he was sent to the hospital at Washing
toll He was there IL month. daring
which 1t was expected hourly that lie
would die. so desperate was his case
But lie did % die, and | heard subse.
queiitly. having quit the hospital serv.
ice, that he had been DISCHARGED from