Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-03-04
A Visit at Chickamauga.
EzLieut F1eg

A Letter From Ex-Lieut. Gov. Rice tc
Chattanooga, Tenn, Feb. 20, 1908.
Comm lander and Comrades of Col.
.Heg Post G A. r.:
Having made an implied promise to
some of the boys that I would write
them an account of my visits to the
battlefelds of '63 and 81, more partic-
ularly that of Chickamauga, I must
confess now that I did not at the time
realize how vast is the subject, or how
incompetent am for its performance,
hence whatever I say will be the pro-
duct of such knowledge as I gathered
on the field, the perusing of reports
and such information that l have
gained from some of the boys Of '65
who were left of the 18th Wisconsin on
the eve of the Goth of September, '63,
when our troops Withdrew from Snod-
grass Hill to Rossville.
vi UA0 4fVu, 0o. d40u1I0S . uoys
bade goodbye to Mrs. r. and Cushman
at Puerto Principe and proceeded by
rail to Havana, reaching there on the
evening of the 18th, thence by steamer
to Key West and Miami. My next
stop was at Atlanta, Ca, where I
boarded the train for Dallas. Thence
by team to New Hope church. l was
so fortunate to receive letter of in
PRODUCTION from Mr.. Watson to John
w. Wooddall, who is the owner of
the land on which the battle of New
Hope Church was fought. I could not
have come into better hands as the
Wooddall's have lived there all their
lives and their fathers before them.
As I walked over the field with Mr..
Wooddall, he explained to me where
the fight began and the position of the
Union and Confederate troops. But I
could not recognize the position OF the
18th Wisconsin and so informed him.
He said sup yonder,' pointing in the
northeasterly direction about one and
three quarters of mile from where
we stood and in full view of Lost and
Kennesaw mountains, be said shat
there had been right smart fight, and
near the road to Pickett's Mills I kin
show you where seven hundred Yanks
were buried in a hole.' I informed
him that Pickett's Mills was where our
regiment charged up a steep noun
tain thirty-nine years ago. He then
said, "My father owns the ground on
which you fought and has in his pos
session the ball of the first shot fired
by the Yanks. 1t fell close by his
house" We then proceeded to the
old gentleman's farm. After explain
ing the object of my visit and that I
was recommended to him by Watson,
the old man brought out the ball, as
he called it, which I found was an un-
exploded she'll. I asked him if he had
had it in his possession all these
years, to which he replied in the af-
irmative. 1 expressed q desire to
buy it in case it was the first shell
fred by our troops. He quickly re-
piled that it was not for sale, that he
had been offered a good bit of money
for it but had refused to part with it..
He went into the house and brought
out the letter which proved to be from
Mr.. Walker of Indiana, asking him
if he had changed his mind and would
part with the she'll and if so to name
his price. The subject of the shell was
dropped for the time. Accompanied
by all the Wooddall's, four of them,
{ and five sons) we proceeded in the
direction of the field where the main
fight took place. Here had not the
slightest difficulty in locating the po-
sition of our regiment and the very
spot of ground where I was wounded
in the hand. The topography of the
country is such that none of the boys
who were there will not have the least
difficulty in locating their position
during tie battle. Here it was that
Woods Division of the Fourth Army
Corps, to which our brigade was at
tached, made the desperate and bloody
assault up the steep and rugged noun
tain. Our brigade commanded by
Colonel Gibson of the Forty-ninth
Ohio made three attempts to drive the
enemy from their works, and each time
we're repulsed. The other brigsdes
followed in quick succession and met
with the same fate. Standing here in
the centre of the crescent shaped rebel:
works, showing where . battery had
been posted on either side of US en-
abling the enemy to enfilade their fire
OF grape and canister on our men as
they charged up the mountain side, I
wondered how any OF our boys came
out alive, Mr.. Wooddall told me that
- Hxs = 49,