The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-28

! ter Jameson. He fought his way from the
| ranks to a lieutenancy.
| Well do I remember his last two f1stic
I contests One was with Billy Edwards.
| fought in q glen on the boundary line be-
! tween Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
about sixty miles below Pittsburg. His last
] light took place less than ten years ago,
| when Sam undertook. old as he was. to give
battle to Jack McAuliffe, who was then i'll
his prime.
! The appended account Of Sans heroism
shows that Il man can be "A prize hshter
and still possess IL tender and COMPASSION
ate heart. The old veteran Is still In the
flesh. and is now at present employed as an
| artisan in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. re-
| spected and honored by all who know him.
Here Is the story:
On July %. 1864. we occupied the en-
trenchment on the right OF the line of works
In front of Petersburg. Va. our brigade
resting on the bank of the AppomattoX
River. The fighting during the night had
been severe. and the intense heat of the
previous day had not abated when inorll-
ing came.
After swallowing my coffee and hard-tack,
j took my rifle and went to my lookout
hole TO see how the field appeared by day
light. II looked far worse than the day
before. Most Of the wounded had died.
The body Of the Captain that l had so Oft
EN- looked at reGretfully was nowhere to
he seen. What could have happened to
him? I wondered. I was sure he could not
have been carried away. for we had watched
the field too closely by the musketry
flashes for that to be accomplished. Dur
ing the forenoon some of our men made
him out, over near the other side. and sure
enough. he was alive, lying OF his back.
tanning himself with a rebel hat-a black
one with a very broad brim. Some rebels
had gotten to him during the night and had
snapped hats.
The heat was terrible. but the firing on
both sides had never ceased. towards even
ing II was reported that we were to be re-
lieved as soon as it grew dark. AS l
gazed at the poor Captain. my feelings got
the better of me. and I made up my mind
not to let the poor fellow die there in agony.
AS the evening closed in. my resolution to
save him grew more fixed. 1 wanted 1t to
be just dusk, but not so dark that the men
could not see the %loopholes of the enemy and
make 1t dangerous for anyone to look
throgh.
So 1 studied the cleaning. 1 got an empty
cracker box. stood it on end against the
breastworks and. climbing upon it. told the
men to throw 1t over after me. Then out
l sprang, head foremost with such force
that I landed away out on the abattis.
among the dead. where I tried to appear as
one whose last fight is fought. / kept quiet
for some minutes, and saw that my COM
rades, whom 1 had left. were getting to
work in earnest and firing rapidly, which
would keep the enemy from the loopholes.
This gave me fresh courage. and I started
to crawl along the ground. pushing the
dead bodies so as to cover my movements
on my return.
When I reached the spot where the Cap
tain lay. I could feel the conclusion of the
rebel guns upon my face. I lay alongside
him n whispered to him to roll ON my
back. With my load I started to crawl
towards our lines. making a few inches with
each effort. until I reached the abattis. 1
could not pull him through, and asked some
one to lend me a hand. The Orderly Ser
geant Of Company c, our regiment, jumped
over to me. 1t was now getting dark, SO We
lifted him over the sticks and threw him
into the arms Of our comrades. I found a
stretcher. and with the aid Of some men
carried him to the Ninth Corps hospital.
, A good story. well told.
]. B. c'MACON'9 MCCORMICK.