The National tribune., 1901-08-01
KILLED BETWEEN THE LINES.
Corpl James, 9Th N Y. Cav, Was the First
Man TO Lose His Life at Gettysburg.

EDITOR NATIONAL tribune: In the is
sue of July II | observe an article by
VIM. T. Ivey, of Weatherford, Tex, as
to who was the lone Cavalryman killed
between the lines" at Gettysburg.
Mr.. Ivey says: Il have received many
replies that the first Federal soldier
killed was Fred Usher, of the Sth III.
Cav" And he also says, referring to the
lone cavalryman, that Mr.. w. G.. Nash,
Sd Ind. Cav, thinks said cavalryman be-
longed to the Sth n. Y. Cav.
Among the many '.recOllectiOns' of the
stirring scenes of that busy July morning
permit me to give mine, so far as bearing
upon these particular events.
Gen. BufOrd's cavalry command ar
rived at Gettysburg on the afternoon Of
June 30, having orders to avoid an en-
gagement if possible, to enable the in
fantry to come up.
On the early morning of July 1 "our
friends the enemy" called on us. Our
line of battle was formed on the ridge
Seminary Ridge, / think-and the left of
the 9th n. Y. Cav.-nOt the Sth-rested
on the Chambersburg Pike, with the right
across the Mummasburg and Carlyle
roads, and continued by 6ther Union
forces leading to the Hunterstown and
Harrisburg roads.
The left of the 9th n. Y. Cav. was
Joined by the right of the Sth III. Cav.
and that regiment running left to near
the place where Gen. Reynolds was so
soon after killed.
Well to the front of the 9th n. Y. Cav.
thus formed we had videts; one, at the
bridge over Willoughby Run, on the
Chambersburg Pike. was in charge of
Corpl Alpheus Hodges, of Co. L of our
regiment, with orders that if the enemy
appeared, to fire and fall back. Between
D and q, and | think nearer to ), the
enemy appeared, and COrp'l Hodges fired
the first shot, from the Union side, in that
great battle, and fell back, as ordered
Other shots followed, and the skirmish
line soon became the line of battle.
As the Confederates came on one Of
their boys in advance of his line made
a break for n temporary shelter very near
our line, and having discharged his gun,
him, and he was the first Confederate
captured by the Union forces at that bat
tie.
Almost Simultaneous with this capture
by Nichols, Corp'l c. W. James, of Co.
G, 9th n. Y. Cav, being between the
dead, and thus fell the first Union SOL
der at the battle of Gettysburg.
l was present and saw, and know for
fact, these events occurred as related;
but / also know, and give due credit to
all, that there were Others" present, and
that our lines were long, and the struggle
fierce; but the claim that the first Union
soldier killed at the battle was from the
Sth III Cav. / now learn for the first
time.
The formation of the Union lines, and
the direction of the Confederate advance,
put the 9th n. Y. Cav. into action long
before the Sth Ill. Cav fired a gun; but
when the storm did reach them no better
work was done, or brayer deeds performed
during all that long bloody day than fell
to the honor and credit of the Sth Ill.
Cav.
Twenty-Five years after that great strug-
gle, and or July l, =, 3, 1888, the sur
vivors of the 9th n. Y. Cav. met on the
"Old Camp Grounds" to dedicate their
regimental monument.
The Sth III. Cav. then claimed the honor
of the first shot" but the officers of the
Gettysburg Cemetery Association. after a
careful consideration of all the facts in
the case, unanimously awarded that honor
to the 9th n. Y. Cav, as herein stated,
and that fact is cut in the granite face of
the stone, and stands there today near
the old "Forny House." and within a few
hundred yards of the very spot where
Corpl James lost his life, and as we
think, the first Union soldier killed in that
greatest combat of the wars. w.
CLARK, Major, 9th n. Y. Cav, Seattle,
Wash.