The National tribune., 1903-08-27
PICKET SHOTS
From Alert Comrades Along the Whsle
Line.
THE BRoNzE EAGLE.

4 IL
Rellaire o.. writes: "COmrade StockGale,
Co. a, 9th Ohio, claims that the bronze
| eagle presented to the 18th w. Va. by
Gen. Gibbon cut no figure in the capture
of Fort Gregg. Notwithstanding the COM
rade's assertion, there remains the incon-
troyertible fact that Gen. Gibbon present.
ed the bronze eagle to the 18th W. Va,
for gallantry at Fort Gregg; therefore. the
regiment must have cut some figure in
| that assault The comrade further SAYS
tina. he was one of the first to enter the
| intrenchment and to scale the parapet;
that the 9th Ohio was the first regiment
in the ditch and to scale the parapet;
that the 199th Pa. was next, the other
organizations of the brigade following. A
glance at authentic records will prove him
in error"
THE 9TH IND.
| John A. Thomas. Co T., 9th Ind.
| Cumback, Ind. writes: My regiment, the
9th Ind. commanded by excellent off,
GERS. was with Banks in the Shenandoah
Valley; at Cedar Mountain. Second Bull
Run. Antietam, Gettysburg. We were
| transferred from the East to Tennessee
with Hooker. nearly all of our service in
the Army of the Potomac having been
| with the Twelfth Corps. On being trans
| ferred to the West. the Eleventh and
Twelfth Corps We're united, forming the
Twentieth Corps. commanded by Hooker,
Gen. Kruger commanding our brigade.
| The 9th Ind. was with Sherman at At
lanta. on the march to the sea and through
| the Carolinas. We We're discharged Aug.
1. 1860. l was severely wounded at New
Hope Church. My first pension was 80,
then 81. then Sc, then IS. Under the new
law, 1880, / got $12."
GETTYSBURG THE HIGH WATER MARK.
W. +. Webster. Cowan's LIST Battery,
n. Y, Auburn, n. Y, writes: Il was sur
prised when l read the article of Comrade
Hansell, of the 5lst Pa, in which he says
Gettysburg had nothing more to do in
suppressing the rebellion than Fredericks-
burg, Charlottesville, Wilderness, or Cold
Hafbor. We all know that Grants victory
at Nicksburg was opportune, the results
far reaching. Vicksburg, however, sur
rendered because of starvation, nor was
X. Il. Lee in command there. Had our
army met with reverse at Gettysburg
there would have been no Wilderness or
Cold HarbOr. Washington, Philadelphia,
and Baltimore in the hands of the Confed-
crates, would have brought recognition of
the COnfederacy from Europe. At Gettys-
burg there was a Bloody Angle and the
hardest fighting of the war. Fighting the
Army of Northern Virginia when COM
manded by Lee was no picnic. Gettys-
WIS TIE Ddttle OF the war, WHICH
should have ended there"
WAS IN TIE RING.
]. c. True, Co. G, 10th Mo-, Oatville,
Kan, writes: Gen. Raum in naming the
various commands that were at Columbia,
Spring Hill, and Franklin, fails to men
ton the 10th Mo-, commanded by Col.
Samuel A. Holmes. The regiment was
in front of Columbia, Nov. %, 1864, and
held harricoaa ueor rho turnpiya On
the march to Franklin we reached Spring
Hill after midnight, losing two men, Clay
ton and VOorhis, of Co. G. l was one Of
the detail that marched as fankers be-
tween our column and the rebel camp fires,
they firing upon us as we passed by. I
recall the halt for hasty breakfast just
before entering Franklin. When we
reached Nashville we were with Gen. T.
]. Woods Division"
TWO COMRADES WOUNDED BY THE SAME
BULLET.
S. o. Wanzer, Co X, Seth ILL.,, Nevada,
Mo-, writes: Il have been a reader Of
The National Tribune for more than %
years, and often wonder that we hear so
little from comrades of the Both III. I
do not think they are all dead. l recent
ly had the pleasure of meeting my close
comrade, Burton Honey. At Stone River
we were both wounded by the same bull
let, his wound being serious, mine slight.
He was captured and paroled, and We
never met thereafter until recently-42
years"
"a YEARS OLD.
Edna II. Blackmer, Co. A, 10th n Y.
Cav, Mackinaw, Mich, writes: AT the
Michigan Soldiers Home is a comrade,
James Rachford, who was born in Ireland,
1909. He can go up and down stairs
tcfo Mo
the boys, and when he takes trick
thumps the table with as much emphasis
as the younger fellows. Irishman-like, he
is ready for fight at any time. l was
born in 1S47, and, May 6, 1868, ran away
from home and enlisted"
ENTERING FAYETTEVILLE.
G.. w. Hanes, Co. F, 25th Ind. Mon
rovia, Ind, writes: In The National Trib-
une, May IA, is Il story regarding the oc-
cupancy of Fayetteville, 'Inhospitable Wo-
men,, and Gen. Blair's Headquarters
The cOmrade errs in several statements.
Gen. Blair commanded the Seventeenth
Corps, not the Fourteenth. The 25th
Ind, not the 18th, led the way. l was the
first to cross the river in pontoOn boat
after the cable was anchored, my company
being in the first boat. When the entire
regiment had landed we formed line to
THE FOURTH CORPS DID NOT RUN.
Hugh Brady, Co. l, S4th ILL.,, Yates
Center, Kan, writes: 'Comrade Bishop,
Goth Conn.,, says in The National Tribune,
July 16, that he marched through Georgia
with Sherman; that his corps (the Fourth)
was composed of good fighting stock, but
it did run at Bentonvillc. The comrade
may have run at Bentonville, but assured
ly the Fourth Corps did not. Having re-
manned with Gen. Thomas as a Part Of
the Army of the Cumberland, that corps
could not have been at Bentonville."
MOBILE EXPLOSION.
Charles Bissell, Cos. G and O, 31st
Mass. Mid Inf, Hannibal, n. Y, writesi
THAT was 4 mighty big explosion down
at Mobile. When it occurred l was on
Government street, not quarter of q mile
from it. My company was ordered to
saddle up Immediately and guard all the
streets leading into the city. l understand
that some COnfederates have denied that
there was an explosion. Well, l know bet
ter. 1t was loud and big" =
THE OLDEST VETERAN.
VIM. Hamilton, National Military
Home, Dayton, o., writes: "A comrade
in the Home here, jeremiah Crab. Co. c,
LIST U. S. Dragons. was born Feb. %,
1910; consequently he is in his 9th year.
He is a veteran of the Mexican war. In
-ha Franklin IuStifuta at this n1oea fhara