The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1900-03-22
THE BOOMING CANNON
7ECITALS OF CAMP AND BAT.
TIE INCIDENTS
survivors Of the Rebelli0n Relate
Many Amusing and Startling Incl.
dents Of Marches, Camp Life, Forag.
ing Experiences and Battle Scenes.

dents Of Marches, Camp Life, Forag.
ing Experiences and Battle Scenes.
sill shortly go to Savannah. Ga, where
te expects to meet. for the first time
ince the war. man who thought he
'ad killed him at Gettysburg.
For more than thirty years Simeon
theus of Savannah has been telling a
tory of how he came to kill the only
ederll who fell in battle from q wound
Inflicted by his hand. And after all
heSe years that same Federal is going
o Savannah to be the guest of Mr..
rheus.
There is world of interest in the
tory, which tells of Mr.. Theus acci-
lentally ascertaining that his dead sol
iier is a real live business man, fully
ibreast of the times, and doing a thirty
ng commission business in Cincinnati.
they are now fast trends, and the Yam
Zee is under grateful obligations to the
Confederate for shooting him down on
he field that second day at Gettysburg.
The reason of his gratitude is because
he next days fighting was of such n
ierce nature as to cause nearly all of
lis command and every officer assO-
lated with the command to be swept
% death by the battle.
1T was this way" said Mr.. Theus to
l reporter. Il was with Ranse Wright's
brigade, which was that day under the
command Of Colonel Carswell of the
FOrty-eighth Georgia. We were max
ng a desperate charge at Gettysburg
when for some reason the remainder of
he division halted, but Wrights bri-
sade kept Oh abreast of the fury of the
)attle storm, with General Hunt, chief
II artillery OF the Federal army, in
'rOnt of us. Wright's brigade broke
through the lines. capturing all the ar
illery in their immediate front, among
he captured being Battery B of the
First Rhode Island Regiment of Artil-
cry, commanded by Lieutenant T..
Fred Brown. All this time Wright's
brigade was far in advance of the rest
II the division, away up the mountain
side, an eighth of a mile ahead and
ilOne.
Battery b had been given the COM
nand to Timber to the rear but before
he order could be executed Wrights
brigade reached the four right guns of
he battery. The four left guns were
'ushed up the mountain side through a
gap in a stone wall, placed quickly in
oattery,' and opened fire on our advanc-
ng line, the officer in command at in
tervals riding down in front Of the bat
.ery, apparently trying to stop the in
.antry, who had been broken up in the
charge and who were streaming
through their guns. Failing in this, he
.OOk his position on the left of the guns
and continued the firing upon our ad-
RANGING line. The storm Of the battle
grew thicker in those parts, but
Wright's brigade, realizing that they
were alone. and therefore in desperate
straits. pushed forward %~,th deter
mined onslaught, and in a few mo-
nents the remaining guns had been
captured.
OiANC' l. ACu DAONh, htOuutCu Ou
large roam horse, full of action, with
4 pistol in his hand, was all the while
Urging the fight on the Federals' side,
and one Of our men said to me: Kill
that man with your next shot was
armed with an Enfield rifle, so calibre.
leveled down on the officer and shot
aim In the neck. He fell from his roam
horse, and 1 was assured of having
killed him. Ever since the war have
been telling the story and saying that
this man was the only Yankee 1 was
sure Of having killed during the war.
Not long ago 1 wrote to the Provi-
ience, r. L., Journal asking for a list
IF the living officers Of this battery, de-
signing to establish the position Of our
brigade exactly as held In that strug-
gle. did not have the slightest idea of
ascertaining the name of the officer I
had believed to have been killed by the
ball from my rifle that day. This was
aOt in my mind at ALL But such inves-
tigatiOn has led to the discovery that
my man was not killed at all, but that
he is, on the contrary, very much alive,
an excellent gentleman. and prosper
ous business man in Cincinnati"
Colonel T. Fred Brown, who was shot
down by Mr.. Theus that day ON the bat
tlefield, in reply to the first letter Of
Mr.. Theus, said, among other things,
without knowing he was writing to the
man who had shot him:
Il had the honor to be the Lieuten-
ant commanding Browns Battery b,
First Rhode Island Artillery, at the
battle Of Gettysburg. Every incident
of the charge Of General Wrights bri-
gade toward the close Of the afternoon
Of the I'd of July stands out in my men,
Dry 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 large buckskin
horse and left lying insensible. was
trying to withdraw my battery behind
the stone wall and place it in a line Of
troops there. My battery had been left
out in front of the lines all the after
noon, expecting to be called upon to
our left to help Gen. Sickles.
Il am pleased enough to hear from
one of those gallant gentlemen in gray
whose line lOOmed up before me so
grimly in the fading daylight, march,
ing on remorselessly until oblivion
came"
Later, when Mr.. Theus made honest
to his correspondent that he
was the man who had shot him that
day in battle. the veteran wrote as fol-
lows:
"All the incidents you describe fit per-
fectly. l was mounted on a large.
what we call buckskin-though excited
Ind covered with sweat and dust, was
nearer roan-horse. dancing. as you
may say. for he was taken out Of an
team and was not used to
BY and by he was shot
under me and had TO be abandoned. 1
was fiOurishing derringer which had
lrawn, trying TO make the men passing
through my battery stop and lie down |
lust as you describe. 1t looks very
Il