The times., 1897-05-02
A BRAVE DEED In BATTLE.

| "It was on May 18. lovely day, In
| 1864. AS i said, Gen. Grant was after
! us hot and heavy, but he struck US at a
| strong point, and the stornIin' columns
| were engaged in a deadly cross-firin'.
| Bullets whizzed around like snowflakes do
PEELED your first advances, gentlenien, with
fearful loss. Before we knew IL voc made
another gallant charge against US, and
we gave you q still warmer reception
Your lines melted away VI can see EN-
now-under the storm of musketry, grape
and canister, that swept the intervenin'
space. On, 1T was day of days. Your
troops fell back, gentlemen, and you didn't
stop to remove your dead and wounded
from the smokin' field You had business
which required your immediate presence
further on. At once our skiFI;ish line was
thrown out TO watch your movements,
and was located at a point where the
slaughter was most fearful. Our men had
hastily dug rifle pits TO protect them FROM
the sure rain of the Federal sfarpshooters,
and dead and dying men were heaped up
even to the edge OF those pits.
in one of the pits were found four or five
members OF Company II, First Regiment
South Carolina Volunteers. An ungainIy,
angular. red-headed lad was among them
Hisname W as JohnM Nichols, andhehaiIed
from Spartanburg, a little town in the
beautiful Piedmont belt. The wounded
had been lying for hours unattended The
sun heamed hotter and hotter upon them,
and they Were suffering terribly from pain,
loss of blood, and thirst. Their groans
and curses were sickening To hear. Not
fifteen feet from the rifle pit protecting
the South Ca rolinans la mortallyw omded
Federal officer.
Water, water.' he cried. viii no
one give me water? Just one drop, that's
all. I'm dying for want of water
AS the day Wore on his cries, instead Of
subsiding, grew more pitifuI, andi I was evil
dent that lie was suffering more and more
Finally, Nichols could stand il no longer
he was one of those efferveScent boys,
who was always looking out for things todo
for other people. At last he cried, with
the tears streaming down his cheeks:
- Boys, j can't stand this any longer I'm
goin TO take the poor fellow my canteen of
water
Everybody tried to dissuade him. To
show him the danger OF his undertakin' some
one stuck hat on the end OF Iamrod and
held it above the pit for an instant In
stantly dozens of bullets from the guns of
the Yankee sharpshooters passed over their
heads as a reminder that the Yanks were
still in the ring.
.'Inthe mean time thedyin' officer moaned
on. Water, water. Just one drop, some
body, please. Only one tiny drop
''The tender-hearted boy could not be
scared out Of his determination. After
maxim three unsuccessful attempts, he ut
last succeeded in ciealin the little embank
Inent. Once on the other side it was an
easy matter for him to throw himself flat
upon the ground between the furrows of
the corn field, where the battle had been
waged. He crawled slowly along and
got as near the dyin man as the protectin'
furrows would allow; then, breakin a stick
from sumac bush, he tied his canteen to
the end of it and landed it into the suf-
ferer's hands.
Talk about gra titudel never heard
gratitude expressed as that Federal off
Ger expressed it. Not man who heard
him had a dry eye. He begged young
Nichols to let him tie his gold watch to
the stick, that he might in that small way
show his appreciation. But the boy SOL
der scoffed at the very idea, and returned
as he had come, among a hailstorm of buI-
lets. When he reached the edge of the
pit he yelled to his comrades TO clear the
track for him, and, with mighty leap,
he was among his friends once more, with
out so much as a briar scratch TO call to
his mind his heroic act That was the
kindest and bravest deed 1 saw durin'
the whole war. 1t was no act Of impulse,
but a deliberate calculated risk of his
own life to give aid and suceor to his
enemy"