The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1903-06-04
Viewed Hi. Own Grave at Shiloh.


accompanied the Governors party to
Shiloh, April 4. for the dedication of
the Indiana monuments, for the pur-
pose of seeing whether he was still
dead He desired to view his resting
place again.
~ was especially anxious to see this
old battlefield" said Mr.. Phipps, "for
there 1 fought, bled and died in my
youth.
Il WAS staggering about out of ranks
when was ordered to get to fighting.
1 told the officer that was shot and
he ordered me to the rear. My COM
rades saw me making my way to the
nearest hospital, when a shell crashed
into a decaying ash. The dirt and
bark flew everywhere. 1 escaped with
my eyes and mouth filled with debris.
My comrades felt sure that 1 was
killed. and long afterward they picked
up the mangled body Of a man near
the site Of the explosion. 1t was
mangled beyond recognition. They
tenderly bore it away and buried it.
and the rough board above the grave
bore the inscription:
WM. C. PHIPPS,
Company A, 11th Indiana.
Died April Z, 1862.
THAT night. when the fighting was
done, they wrote home that 1 was
killed
Strange as 1t was that 1 was not
killed, was not even injured by the
explosion, and continued on my way
to the rear. finally a soldier over
took me and put me IN his horse.
Presently we came to a hospital in the
woods and asked the regiment. 1t
was the Illinois regiment, Of which my
brother was surgeon, but his assistant
said that he was on General Grants
staff. His assistant was very kind to
Inc. l sat on a soap box while he
dressed the wound In my breast.
by the time he was through I was
so weak could hardly sit. He looked
around for a cot. but there were only
seven in the tent and all We're occu-
pied. He said, however, that they
would die fast and that one of the cots
would soon be ready for me. 1t may
seem a terrible thought now. but 1t
seemed all right then. Presently one
Of the men died and got his place.
81 was awake most Of the night,
and I shall never forget the things that
1 heard and saw In that tent. By
morning all seven men, with the excep-
tion Of a man who had a great hole
torn in his head, had died. The doctor
came in occasionally to tell some poor
fellow that he could not live to get
back home. All night long they talked
of their wives and mothers and sent
loving messages to those at home.
Some dictated letters.
81 was feeling good deal better when
morning came. and 1 crawled out to
find my company. AS I walked, my
shirt, which was a mass Of blood, flop
ped against me and the odor Of the
blood made me sick. I wanted another
shirt. 1 finally came across big fel-
low from a Pennsylvania regiment,
chopping wood. I showed him my
shirt and asked IL he knew where I
could find a clean one. He did not say
n word but solemnly laid down his
AK. pulled off his coat and skinned his
shirt from his back. l thanked him
as he put his coat back on. but he did
not say a word as he went to chop
ping wood.
when 1 arrived at camp. the men
were mourning my death. The first
man met was Captain David Negley.
HelOOked at me blankly for moment,
then said:
How In the h did you dig out"
This was the first intimation I had
that was dead and buried.
81 went with the boys to see my
grave, and when I left for home on
furlough. my silent partner was still
on watch in my name. I went to old
Shiloh to see If he was still serving in
my name. Poor fellow, presume that
his friends at home never did find out
what became Of him."-Amsrican Tri-
bune.