The Columbus journal., 1902-07-09
The Death of Johnnie Burns

Occasionally one comes across .
verse or line that Unexpectedly touch
60 . dormant chord in the heart and
bids the tear drop spring. Into the
past We wander under the influence
Of such excitant and by-gOne memOr-
les, then come to view pictures long
since veiled even from ourselves.
Memory uprises. silences upstarts,
Me and emotion that once we're real
Become again to us q reality. That
which in this way touches one heart
bids fair to touch others. and just
now q letter in print brings before
the writer Of these lines . bOyish face
Of the long ago. . childish companion.
Who turned his face toward the loved
South, never by us his boyhood's
friends, to be seen again.
But let that pass. The subject Is.
The Death of Johnnie Burns" posi-
Sly now told for the first time In
its realistic pathos to his relatives
and friends. II relatives he has yet
living. Johnnie Burns was q Cincin-
natl boy, q hero whose name history
ignores. No shoulder straps were his
part, but that he was a hero Will be
evident to whoever reads the story
this Southern soldier. forty years al
ter the boys death. tells In his letter
to the Confederate Veteran. which
chances to come before my eyes. 1t
% . touchingly pathetic tale. and
challenges thought One cannot but
wonder which Baptist Sunday school
I'm this city the boy attended. who
were his loved ones, whether that
Bible with the bloody finger marks on
the fourteenth chapter Of st. John
ever reached his mother. And one
cannot but further wonder. after these
years have passed. IL In this city lives
q friend to value this veterans touch
ing tribute paid to their bOyish SOL
dier Of that sad long ago. or II 1t
strikes only empty air in the home
city where once the child was pet.
with . view of possibly doing
service to relative or comrade. posi-
bly, bringing some member OF the
Fourth Ohio into touch with the
Southern soldier who cared for
brother in blue. presume to oner
for publication this Confederate's let
ter concerning the death OF Johnnie
Burns of Cincinnati.
From the Confederate Veteran:
&C. L. Gay, an Alabama veteran.
writes that Joe T. williams of Mont
eomery, vas . member Of company d,
Tventy-frst Alabama regiment, and
tells this:
"A comrade and I we're searching
the battlefield of Shiloh for some
missing men of our company. ID. OF
the Twenty-first Alabama regiment. In
passing through . swampy thicket
near where that regiment charged the
Fourth Ohio regiment early In the
morning. We heard the voice of a
wounded man crying: Boys! boys!"
Thinking 1t might possibly be one Of
our men We went to him. He first
begged for . drink of water. which I
gave him out OF my canteen. After
he Vas wounded he had rolled into
the edge Of this thicket in order to pro-
tect himself from being run over by
the flying ambulances. artillery and
cavalry. constantly passing near. His
LEFT knee cap was entirely shot Oh,
and he was extremely weak from the
loss Of blood. His ritiful appeal to
help him We could not and would not
resist after talking to him. His name
vas John Burns Of Cincinnati, Ohio,
company b. Fourth Ohio regiment. He
begged to be carried to our field hospi.
IL, where he might receive attention,
and. II possible. get word to his loving
mother. being her only son. He had
q small Bible In his hand, with his
thumb resting inside on the fourteenth
cAavter a st. John. His thumb being
bloody it made . bloody spot on this
eAapter. He desired that the Bible
Ghould be sent to his mother. showing
vhere he last read.
"Our field hospital being . few hun
dred yards in the rear. We carried
him there and requested our surgeon.
d.. Redwood oe Mobile. to examine
Mn. which - id IN Q few minutes.
Ae .hespital being crowded with pa
Dds. On examination the doctor
luunA Als vouDd 30 Be fatal and his
ph0d1aol eooolf1oa too weak Tor IN