Evening journal., 1902-05-30

lO-Ot IQitOlltl tOnuACl uNAWttu the
North and South. And 1t was a con-
nict in which Delawares sons bore
themselves bravely and well.
General Postles' Brave Act
In that rare and valuable volume,
Dunn Brownies Experience in the
Army" which is in the form Of letters
written by an army officer, and pub
lished after his death, appears the fol-
lowing story, which will be Of interest
to all Delawareans. 1t is under this
caption:
Exploit of Hero
"To show you that all the gallant and
chivalrous exploits are not confined TO
the history Of ancient battles, to the
knight-errant and feudal times, am
going to tell You of one little in
cident of the late battle. which
know You will thank me for relating
and for the truth of which you may
put me down as authority. There was
a huge barn right in the track of that
desperate charge of the enemy on the
sd whose blackened brick wallis are
doubtless remembered by every visitor
to the battlefield as one of its most
prominent objects. IL is the same barn
which part of the Twelfth New Jer-
sey charged and carried in gallant style
on that eve of the I'd, capturing
therein 81 prisoners; and, at an
other time, two companies of the
Fourteenth Connecticut, also with a
similar result. out not so many
prisoners. Indeed It was on the de-
batable ground between the two ar
mics and the scene of many a sharp
conflict between the advancing and
receding pickets. where not few
noble fellows breathed out their lives
during the three bloody days.
"The incident speak of occurred on
the afternoon of the 2nd The skir-
mishers were firing very briskly, and
those of the enemy, heavily reinforced.
were pressing our line back. Eight OF
ten OF our boys were holding the barn;
but the enemy's line had come up
even with it. and more; and it was
evident that our little party must fall
back and let the Butternuts gain this
advantageous position for harassing
us. The colonel in command Of the
second brigade. third division. Sec.
ond Army Corps called for an of.
iicer to volunteer to so down the line
and order our boys to fire the barn
before retiring.
Quick as thought my hero put
spurs to his steed-most men would
have crawled down on foot to a front
where bullets were buzzing as they
were there at that time-and dashed
down the slope with at least fifty
skirmishers practicing on him as {
Target. Right up to the barn h'
charged (Which l have told you wal
flush with and even a little beyond
the enemy's line of skirmishers)
lcoOlly delivered his message and theI
turned and rode back to our lines. ex
posed to a double fire.
LAS the surprise of the rebels al
his coming was over. and knowing
| ,lat ho must return the same way
they had time to prepare and to take
deliberate aim from all sides. Miracu-
lously. not one of the hundret
bullets that whistled near him touche,
] tAAliaA 4lOl rl "a AAnIAs 0AA ANAANAAAAAt1 Ohl
| lines. though by no means out O
range of the balls, he reined his horse
waved his hat in the air and made {
graceful bow to the unseen marksmen
who. I really believe, were not sorry
to see him escape unharmed.
"To make the thing complete oul
noble General Hancock and severa
other generals, were at that time pass
ing that part of the lines and saw thu
gallant deed done; and the genera
lifted his hat in honor of the brave
soldier. who at that moment rode up
/ have told YOU the story, and now
tell You the name of the herO-CaptaiI
Posues. of the First Delaware-actinl
inspector general of the second brigade
of our division"
It was for this brave deed that Gen
eral Postles received the Congressiona
I medal
General Wilson and Woman Editor
General James II. Wilson tells al
Il"