The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1900-03-01
SOLDIERS AT HOME.
THEY TELL SOME INTERESTING
ANECDOTES OF THE WAR.



ling Scenes on the BattleAeld.
among the numerous instances or
remarkable endurance and wonderful
vitality of wounded soldiers that had
knowledge Of during the late war.
said a former hospital attendant, Il
recall none SO remarkable as that Of
Bluff he was a member Of the Forty
second New York Regiment. He was
badly wounded in the hip, and he fell
on the field. While he lay there an
other ball fractured his right knee
joint. Utterly helpless, he was tram
pied beneath the feet Of the contest
ing soldiers until the close Of the en-
gagement, and was then taken a pris-
Oner to Richmond. He remained there
four months, when he was exchanged
and sent with other wounded to the
Philadelphia hospital. was an at
tendant there. Peters wounds had
been so carelessly attended to that he
was worse off. If anything. than when
he was first wounded. We did the
best we could for him, but he was in
such shape when able to leave the hos
pital that he was discharged from the
service as permanently disabled.
''SOme months afterward was trans
ferred to a hospital ut Washington, and
was there when the battle of Chancel-
lOrsville was fought. Two weeks after
that engagement a number Of soldiers
who had been wounded there were
transferred from the hospital at Acquia
Creek to the Washington hospital.
Among the most desperately and ap-
parently hopelessly wounded Of these
the soldier who had left the Philadel-
phia hospital to pass officially as life
long cripple. When he was at last able
to tell the story 1 was still more
amazed. After being discharged from
the service as permanently disabled, he
had placed himself in charge Of a
noted surgeon Of that day, and after
some months was made almost as
sound as he ever was. At any rate, he
was able to re-enlist, which he did in
the One Hundred and Fifteenth Penn
sylvania, and became orderly sergeant
Of his company. At Charlottesville
he was shot in the right thigh, the bull
let causing a compound fracture, and
almost at the same moment a mimic
ball struck him in the left hip and
lodged there against the bone. He fell,
and attempted to rise. As he raised his
head he was hit by flying piece Of
shell, which fractured his skull and
knocked him senseless.
When Peters regained consciousness
his regiment had taken another posi-
ton, and he lay there between two
nking fires. bullets. cannon balls, and
shells whizzing over him for hours, un
til at last he managed to drag himself
a few yards away to the bank Of q
stream where there were bushes.
GraspIng a bush. he pulled himself
over the bank and let himself down
into the water, waist deep, which re-
lieved his pain. Our troops retreated
soon after that, and the Confederate
army swept by where Peters hung.
After 1t had passed Peters endeavOred
to draw himself out of the stream to
the bank, in hope that he might be
picked up, but he found that the bush
to which he clung, while sufficient to
support him as he crOuched in the
water, was not stiff enough to bear his
weight In efforts to pull himself up on
the bank. There was a bush just be-
low him evidently strong enough to en-
able him to accomplish his purpose, but
it was out Of his reach. and IL he re-
leased his hold on the bush that was
supporting him to make the attempt to
reach the stronger one. he knew he
would drop helpless in the stream and
drown
while he was thus facing death he
saw a movement on the bank, and the
next moment an emaciated face with a
death-like pallOr on it appeared over
the edge. 1t was the unmistakable
face of a badly wounded Confederate
soldier, who was dragging himself to
the water. The sunken eyes fell on |
Peters, and the owner Of them must |
have cOmprehended instantly Peters
peril, for he dragged his body forward.
and placing both hands on the brush |
that Peters longed for. bent it down |
toward his helpless foe and gasped:
Hugh, Yank! Grab itr
1.-The bush dipped so close to Peters !
that he summoned all the little strength |
he had left. let go the bush he was
holding to. and grabbed at the other
one. He caught 1t. 1t withstood his
weight, and. after a long and painful
struggle. he pulled himself by it to the
top Of the bank. AS soon as he could |
recover breath enough he turned to the
wounded Confederate, who lay quiet |
on the bank, to thank him for his kind |
ness. The man was dead. His dying
breath was spent in saving the life Of
a foe.
1.-Two days Peters dragged himself
about that bloody field Of battle before
succor reached him. He had been re-
ported dead in the list. He was sent to
the Acquia Greek hospital, but eleven
days passed before his wounds were
dressed. His case being decided to be
hopeless he was sent to the hospital at
w ne WIS tucIc |
during which it was expected hourly
that he would die, SO desperate was his
case. But he did not die. and I heard
having quit the hospital
service, that he had been discharged
from the hospital so much restored in
health that he was preparing for a
third enlistment Whether he did enter
the service again never knew"
"Indefnite Perfectibility."
One who took part in the civil war
and had somewhat to do with the con
trabands' Of that period, has a good
story to tell of one Of these. "Jim'
was what used be called an Intelligent
In three weeks he learn
ed to read and write a little, and had
earned real silver watch which was
the joy Of his life.