The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-07-15
HLS WAR RECORD,
On. veteran who Ilad Horror Of Bleed
.,d Yct II si,t 20 the war 10 KIiL

One Y GlGEllll ~ lANAA- =
and Tet Vent 10 Tie War 10 KnL
Denver News: Gentlemen began
the veteran as he settled down In his
chair. with he evident intention Of In
teresting the group around him, =
don't ike to hear men talk 80 flippantly
OF war. War IS a serious thing. take
Il that none OF you here were in the
ranks during the civil war II you had
been yOu would see things differently
from what You do"
Were you an old soidler2" queFled
one Of the group,
II was. / served from Bull Run TO
Appomatox, and feeivery serious over
this AFFAIR with Spain. Jokes ana pnt-
lets do not go we'll together. yes.
Killed my first man at Bull Run.
GLOW WIS TT" asked another OF the
crowd. as all became interested.
"Wei,. we charged and captured q
battery. AS we reached one Of the gunl
/ seized n Confederate By the throat
and threw him down and choked him
10 death. You can see the scar here
where he bit me on the thumb, and
got my fingers around his throat and
squeezed the life out OF him. Poor
devH! He was In the prime OF life and
did not want to die, but there was no
mercy In my heart"
"Why didn't you shoot him or baSo-
net hiTn?"
because I had a horror OF blood. By
choking him 10 death / also saved
round OF ammunition. The next man
killed In that battle was an Infantry
man. They were driving as, when we
| turned and charged. l seized MIN BY
the arm and foot and held Inn aloft for
an instant and then flung him down
head first and broke his neck. A dozen
! OF us plainly heard the snap above the
roar OF battle. That man never knew
| what hurt him"
But you had musket," protested
| the fat man. who had some thoughts
OF enlisting in the navy.
''Oh, OF courSe!! But ! was fighting
my own way, you see. So long as l
| could XIII men and save cartridges Il
was all right. The third man seized
! and broke his back over my knee, the
| fourth drowned in the creek, the fifth
| 1 battered against fence until
| smashed in his skull and the sixth
| chased around until he dropped dead OF
| heart failure. fought to have killed ten
1 men in that battle, but was new at
the business and didn't know exactly
| how TO go to go to work at 1t. They
! made me sergeant. however, and our
colonel seemed to think had done fair
J ly we'll"
"And what did you do in the other
battles?" queried the cock-eyed man,
who was smoking u bad cigar.
my next battle was Williamsburg,
RENTED the veteran. We had been
fighting for half an hour before got
| hold OF a man. He was a young man,
and when ] seized him by the ears he
called out that he had dear old mother
| at home. have often wished that
had spared him, but the frenzy of blood
was upon me at that moment, Having
| his ears as a lever, slowly turned hts
head until broke his neck. 1t went
clear around until he looked back
I wards
| II don't think there was anything hes
| role in that" gToYled the fat man al
his neck seemed TO bother him.
J II freely admit that there wasn't.
replied the veteran; but you must re-
\ member that was excited. When I
/ got hold OF my second man TWAS cooler.
I / am not sure whether he offered TO
| surrender or not. He calied otH some
thing. but seized ard flung him down
| and then opened the veins Of his wrists
with my jackknife. He must have died
very quietly. for there was smile on
! his face as the burial parties found him.
] ] have no doubt that he was thankful to
me in his dying moments"
I'm be hanged II l believe ~" eX-
claimed the man with the cOck-eye as
| he got up ana walked around.
| "Duu't you beiieva, sir, that I Killed
the man as related?" demanded the vet
eraR In menaclng tones,
J But thar was no way to fight"
II don't say 1t was regular, but It was
my way OF fighting. was there TO Rh
the enemy. What was the odds how
finished him? The third man gave me
a hard tussle, but conquered him at
last and laid him on the ground. Then
put one end OF rail under fence and
| the other across his body, and when 1
threw my weight on the free end his life
was crushed Ou4 General Devins came
along just as had finished and said I'd
better adopt some quicker way with the
rest of them, as we were losing valuable
time. THE fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh
| and eighth men killed with my fists. I
simply jumped in and upper-cut EN-,
and they went down Ike so many logs"
IT never heard OF such things connect
! ed with n battle!" shouted the fat man
as he bobbed up and down in his chair.
cam to understand that you impugn
my veraclty?" colby demanded the vet
eran, half rising.
but soldiers fight with muskets."
Certainly they do And so did I-af-
ter the first few battles. ] am telling
you what happened while was a green
horn. was made lieutenant after
Williamsburg. In McClellaa's fight be-
fore Richmond used my sword entirely.
/ had run two pounds OF lead into the