The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1898-07-07
! u ri EDSOE ONCE
INK A SHOT AT DEWEY
J, Saws the Captain, he is
Mighty Glad That the
Aim Was Bad.

..saishsd ex confederate u D
..,e,v fame, is a veteran Of two
Vers J, having served in the Mexican
dis W IN the civil war. The frosts
Jan. wipters have silvered his
tLo "a furrowed his cheek, and
- ,.r now is slow and faltering,
he vas once ore OF the most
II. ,..sipa and intrepid artillery officers
ing ,ssw sword for the south.
al :. o,der to avoid confusion of
ler i. Il should be borne in mind
J., r., Colonel Bledsoe did not con-
md The same battery throughout
VT /. war. The battery that did such
Is ,r.et;ys work ia 1861 10 Missouri
) - altogether different from that
.hicb subsequently won fame at
Ia. second battle of Corintb, at
raekamauga aG4 upon other well
u. t,orn battleields east of the Mis-
oa:. dsippi.
Ia the fall of 1861, BIedsoe was a
III | antsin Of artillery under Generals
Rains and Price, in Southwest Mis-,
muri. His battery then consisted
W. dfour or five pieces, the famous
/ a0d Sacramento a 12pounder,
)E Asiug the largess. The history OF
VII, / his cannon is interesting. 1t was
1 ~. anturei at Sacramento, Mexico, 10
CO tbs war with the nei9hboring Re
i cblic, by Generals Doniphan and
Price II was considered very valu'
able, not only because of ito effect
iyepsss in battle, but also from the
fact that there was supposed to be
large quantity of silver in its com
position.
II was about the 18th of Septem
Der, 1861, that General Rains wal
sncampsd on Drywood, a small
stream in Vernon county, Missouri
J. where he had been engaged in re
Wuiting troops for the confederate
service. A day or two before, Gen
IL eral Prices army had arrived at thu
camp augmenting the force to 1900
/ or 5000 men. A detachment o
| federal troops from Fort Scott at
/ tempted to surprise General Rains
aud uneA pectedly found himself fac
| to face with Prices whole army. 1
| lively little skirmish followed, tn
| Bledsoe battery doing most of tn
| firing from the confederate side
and forcing the federals to retrea
| toward Fort Scott, whence they ha
| come.
| In this engagement Captain Bleo
I soc was struck by a minnie ball
the thigh and severely wounded. L
conversation with a Republic GORE
spondent the old commander sal
he did not pay much attention
the wound. however. thinking 1t di
not amount to much
"Frequently," said he, "a buil'
would strike one side Of the cannon
rebound and hit one of the mel
The ball would be hattened by II
pact with the metal, and, though
would smart and burn the ski
would not penetrate the flesh.
just supposed that the ball tn
struck me, =" said the Colonel, "w
one of those pesky bullets reboun
ing from the cannon, and thougl
no more of it until my foot slush'
the blood in my boot, and I realize
that I was badly wounded"
The old Colonel will say very lit
about the war adventures that a
so creditab.e to him, but | have
from his nephew, ex postmast
Charles Ingalls,, of Nevada, Nj
who was with him after he W
wounded, and at the battle OF LIE
ington, that Colonel Bledsoe W
not out of the service or absent frc
his battery a single day on accou
of this wound.
On the forced march from Nern
county to Lexington, Bledsoe W
driven in q spring wagon, In viii
he sat in rocking chair, and Ike
along with his command. In t
evenings, when the army went in
camp, two or more of the soldie
would lift the chair and the Color
nuk of Kbo uccror On tho nh vsipia