Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-12-04
70 Be 4 sTRAneE MEETING.
Nj. 1hsus Will EntsrtaIa Only Man No Was
Sure Ne KiIisd In war. m

shortly come to Savannah, where h
expects to meet, for the first time sine
the war, man who thought he haa
killed him at Gettysburg. For NOR,
than 80 years Mr.. Simeon Theus o
Savannah has been telling a story o
how he came to kill the only Fedora
who fell in battle from a wound in
fiicted by his hand. And after al
these years that same Federal is com
ing to Savannah to be guest of Mr.
Theus.
There is world Of interest in thu
story, which tells of Mr.. Theus acct
dentally ascertaining that his dead
soldier is a real live business man
fully abreast of the times. and doine
a thriving commission business in Gin
cinnati. They are now fast friends
and the Yankee is under grateful obli-
cations to the Confederate for shooting
him down on the field that second day
at Gettysburg. The reason of his
gratitude is because the next days
fighting was of such a fierce and furi-
Gus nature as to cause nearly all of his
command and every officer associated
with the command to be swept to death
by the battle.
1T was this way" said Mr.. Theus to
a. reporter. II was with Ranse Wright
brigade, which was that day under the
command Of Col. Carswell of the 4Sth
Georgia. We We're making a desperate
charge at Gettysburg when, for some
reason, the remainder of the division
halted. but Wright's brigade kept on
abreast of the fury of the battle storm.
| with Cen Hunt chiaf Of of
the Federal army. in front of us.
Wrights brigade broke through the
lines. capturing all the artillery in their
Immediate front, among the captured
| being Battery b of the LIST Rhode Is
land Regiment of Artillery, COM
manded by Lieut.. r. Fred Brown. All
this time Wrights brigade was far in
| advance Of the rest of the division
away up the mountain, an eighth of a
mile ahead and alone
Battery b had been given the com
mand 10 Timber to the rear but before
the order could be executed Wright's
| brigade reached the four right guns of
the battery. The four left guns were
| rushed up the mountain side through
| a gap in stone wall, placed quickly
in battery and opened fire on our adj
vancing line, the officer in command
at intervals riding in front of the bat
terry. apparently trying to stop the in
fantry, who had been broken up in the
charge, and who were streaming
through their guns. Failing in this, he
took his position on the left of the
guns, and continued the firing upon
our advancing line. The storm of the
battle grew thicker in those parts, but
Wright's brigade. realizing that they
We're alone. and therefore in desperate
straits, pushed forward with deter
mined onslaught. and in few mo-
ments the remaining guns had been
captured.
officer 4. Fred Brown. mounted on
large roam horse, full of action. with
pistol in his hand. was all the while
urging the fight on the Federal side.
and one of our men said to me: XIII
that man with your next shot l was
armed with an Enfield rife. 5O-calibre
l levelled down on the officer and shot
him in the neck. He fell from his roam
horse, and l was assured of having
killed him. Ever since the war l have
been telling the story, and saying that
this man was the only Yankee I was
sure of having killed during the war;
Not long ago l wrote to the Prov
idence OR. L. Journal, asking for list
of the living officers of this battery de-
signing to establish the position of our
brigade exactly as held in that strug-
gle. l did not have the slightest idea
of ascertaining the name of the officer
l had believed to have been killed by
the ball from my rifle that day. This
was not in my mind at all. But such
investigation has led to the discovery
that my man was not killed at all.
but that ne is. on the contrary. alive.
an excellent gentleman. and a prosper
Gus business man in Cincinnati"
Col. T. Fred Brown. who was shot down
by Mr. Theus that day on the battlefield.
in reply to the first letter of Mr.. Theus
said among other things. without know
ing that he was writing to the man who
had shot him. Il had the honor to be
the lieutenant commanding Browns Bat
terry B. LIST Rhode Island Artillery. at the
battle of Gettysburg. Every incident of
the charge of Gen. Whight's brigade to-
ward the close of the afternoon of July
stands out in my memory as though it
were yesterday-that is, up to the time |
was left for dead on the field. shot
through the neck and falling headlong
from a large buckskin horse and left ly
ing insensible. l was trying to withdraw
my battery behind the stone wall and
place it in line of the troops there. My
battery had been left out in front of the
lines all the afternoon. expecting to be
called upon to help Gen. Sickles.
II am pleased enough to hear from one |
of those gallant gentlemen in gray whose |
line doomed up so grimly in that fading
daylight. marching on remorselessly until
oblivion came.
Later, when Mr.. Theus made honest |
confession to his correspondent that he |
was the man who had shot him that day |
in battle, the veteran wrote as follows:
"All the incidents you describe nit per- /
fectly. 1t was mounted on large what |
we caIied bucksl1in. though. excited and |
covered with sweat and dust. it was |
nearer roam. horse, dancing, as you may |
say. for he was taken out of an ambu- |
lance team, and was not used to battle |
fields. By and by he was shot under me |
and had to be abandoned. I was flourish |
ing a derringer which l had drawn try
ing to make the men passing through my /
battery stop and lie down. just as you
describe 1t looks very much as though
you were the man to whom I am indebt-
ed for my life for the engagement next |
day would have been my last had | not /
been shot down, there is no doubt"
Want Relief Tor Tougaioo /
The Boston Office of the American Mis-
r.<.-- IL 4 IL.