Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1901-08-30

hand fight at the
rebel works, some of the boys going
over or through the INSTRUCTIONS in
frol.s of the works. The distractions
in our front consisted of logs wired
together, and when our men broke
through there was lighting with axes,
stones, spades, or whatever came
handy. l remember that Capt. A. A.
Lee of company 1 of our regiment pull
ed an AK out Of the hands of Il rebel
and brought it back to our line.
cat such u time there occurred many
incidents seen only by a few men, and
1T 10 only by diligent inquiry that the
full story can eve be given to those
most interested in the history of our
great battles. 1 still have a Spencer
rifle which that morning l gave to Fife
Major A. b. Weber, and from which
he fired 100 rounds while our wounded
were creeping back to our lines, after
the charge. He kept up a constant fire
on the rebels ut a certain point, keep
ing them under cover, and he wears q
medal for his bravery on that day."
Il remember some things" said the
Sergeant, (which a good many of my
old comrades seem to have forgotten
entirely. L account for this on the the
DRY that incidents of a certain charac-
ter left a marked impression on my
mind, whereas they did not particular
ly interest others. A case in point is
that of n stray shot from a rebel bat
terry while we were on duty just below
Chattanooga, some weeks after Chicka-
manga. One morning, at daybreak,
while the command was at roll-call, a
rebel battery which had been placed
in position on the opposite bank of the
river during the night, fired n volley
into the camp of the Third Brigade of
Gen. jeff G. Davis division. Capt.
Barnett's battery at once responded
and silenced the rebel guns, but the
first shell fired by the rebels passed in
its flight through the soldiers quar-
tiers, entered a small cabin the men had
erected for their chaplain, and killed
Levi w. Saunders. chaplain of the One
Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois.
another incident to which my mem
DRY clings tenaciously was thu adven-
ture of Capt. j. l.. BurkhalteA of the
Eghty-siXth Illinois, assistant ,.spect-
or general OH the brigade staff. In the
Atlanta campaign, i'll a movement of
the brigade toward Red Oak, on the
Montgomery Railroad. Burkhalter was
left in charge of lines around our
camp. After making the rounds and
satisfying himself that proper arrange
ments for the day had been made, the
Captain started to follow the brigade.
A thunderstorm coming on had destroy
ed the trail, as it We're, and the captain
followed the line of advance With ereat
difficulty.
AS he was proceeding through the
woods he heard the click of a rifle and
was commanded to halt. A rebel sharp-
shooter compelled him to dismount. to
put his revolver, sword and watch on
the ground. to remount, and then start
ed with him for the rebel lines. The
Captain was greatly Inundated. and
thought of a dozen ways to escape, but
not n was practicable. But it so hap
pened that Henry G. Swisher of COM
pany III of the eighty fifth Illinois, then
an orderly at brigade headquarters, re-
turning from Gen. Morgan, near Red
Oak, with a dispatch to Gen. Davis at
division headquarters, crossed the road
on which Capt. Burkhalter wa being
escorted as Il prisoner.
when Swisher came upon the pro.
cession of two, he took in the situation
and acted promptly. The rebel ordered
him to halt, but Swisher rode on until
he came within reach, when he seized
the rebels gun and pushed it to one
side before it was fired. After yainlv
trying to fire his revolver at the rebel.
who turned and ran, Swisher rode him
down and turned him over to Can't.
Burkhalter, who, with his prisoner,
soon after reached the head of the
column returning from Red Oak.
II have another story, the truth of
which, I suppose, will be questioned by
a great many. No mention of 1t is
made in any history, and possibly no
mention ought to be made of it. But
here are the facts: While our brigade
was at Rossville, just previous to the
battle of Chickamauga. some of the
men, in the face of stringent orders,
evaded the guards and went %foraging.
A few of them were caught returning
from a trip of this kind, and Gen. Cor
don Granger, commander of the corps.
caused several of them to be tied up by
their thumbs near his Headquarters.
Instantly there was an uproar in camp.
Officers demanded the release Of the
men, and thousands Of soldiers gather
ed around Changers headquarters.
"Granger swore, ordered officers and
men to return to their quarters, and
made threats of what he would do. But
the murmur Of suppressed excitement
that a through the crowd disturbed
the Generals associates. It looked
uko mufinv on tho MARI NJ <ho u,ho,o