The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1900-09-06
WENT THROUGH
ELEVEN BATTLES.
A Man Who Was Near the FIR
ing Line, But Never Re-
Ceived Even a
Scratch.

battles Of the civil war and not to have
experience Of Mr.. 6. W. F. Hummer, one
Of the veteran clerks in the patent Office
in Washington. The battles referred to
were Manassas (frst, Balls Bluff Will
lamsburg, Seven Pines, Gaines Mills,
Frazier's Farm, Manassas (secOnd), South
Mountain, Antietam. Fredericksburg and
Gettysburg Mr.. Hummer was also in
many skirmishes, and during the march
Of Gen. Grant on Richmond, in the sum
mer of 1864, the firing between the two
armies was so regularly kept up day after
day that he kept no account of the various
engagements, and considers that the last
great battle in which he was participant
was that Of Gettysburg, which, as is
known, was fought during the early days
of July, 1863.
During almost the entire period of Mr..
Runners services in the Confederate ar
my lie was a courier for Former Senator
Eppa Hunton, of Virginia, the latter hav-
ing been first a colonel and later was pro-
NOTED to the grade of brigadier general in
the Southern army. Although Mr. Hum
mer's fret battle was that of Manassas,
or, as it Is more usually termed, Bull Run,
and which was fought on Sunday, July2l,
1861 he had been under fire before, and
frequently he had been shot at by pickets
on the north side Of the Potomac while he
was doing similar duty for the cause for
which he had espoused on the south side
Of that historic river.
The morning of the day on which the
| Grst battla Of Manassas was fought found
Colonel Hunton's regiment, the 9Th Nir-
einia, drawn up in line of battle as early
az o'clock. 1t was, however past the
noon hour before the regiment was order
cd to take part in the engagement. Pre-
viouslv for six hours they had been shell
ed by the federal troops, but during that
!
ton TO which they had been assigned by
order of General Beauregard when the line
of battle was formed Sometimes Mr..
Hummer said to Star reporter, shell
would come unc0mfortably near and the
man most directly interested in keeping
out of the way of the ugly missile would
be very ant TO dodge from its course if he
could do so. The major of the regiment
happened to see one of his men making
movement of that sort, and called out to
! him, Don't dodge" As the major spoke
the words a shell came 80 close to the lat
fer that he lodged involuntarily, and, no
ticing what he had himself done, he again
called out, dodge, but don't dodge too
much
With his colonel, Mr.. Hummer pariici-
pated in a charge into piece of WOODS, or
dercd by General Beauregard, because ii
was supposed there WAS federal force III
ambush there. but no Union troops were
discovered at that place, md they, with
the regiment, marched TO near the Henry
house, where the heaviest fighting Of tie
day took place, and in this they also took
part. Mr. Hummer visited this part OF
the battlefield the following day, and he
noticed that there was not a single stalk
Of corn in Il field near by that had not
been struck by bullet.
NEAR THE TERRIBLE SLAUGHTER.
At the battle of Fredericksburg Colonel
| Uuntom's regiment occupied part OF the
| line Of battle which was at a considerable
distance from Marye'S Heights, in front
Of which there was q terrible slaughter.
| While awaiting the order to advance,
which, however, did not come, MIR. Hum
mer. hy permission Of his commander,
rode to the top of hill and Witnessed a
part of the fight, which he regarded as the
most beautiful sight of the kind during
his campaigning. First, the federals, in
long and magnificent lines, would march
! hravely forward TO attack the confeder
ates and they would make steady progress
uutil they arrived within GOO or 500 yards
OF The confederate intrenchmcnis, when
| the cannon Of the south side would belch
| forth, the rifles would he fired and the
/ federal troops were forced back Neat
the confcderales would become the at
| tacking force, and wacn they got about
/ the same distance above mentioned from
the Union army they would he driven
back to where they had come from. So
the battle ragged hour after hour, back and
fourth, until the struggle ended in the
manner in which it is recorded in history.
| The day succeeding these events Mr..
Hummer rode to the plain in front of
Maryes Heights, and there he found the
dead bodies to be so thickly strewn on the
ground that in space of several acres |
in extent il was only with the greatest !
difficulty that he could keep his horse from |
stepping on some of the corpses while he |
vas moving about.
IN THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. |
When the battle of Gettysburg was
fought General Hunton, who had been
promoted to that rank, was in command |
Of a brigade in Pickett's division. On the
morning of the Bird Of July, when the ia