Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1903-05-23
A WarTime Incident.

Several months ago, when Depart
ment Commander Weber of the Grand
Army was in Chattanooga looking
after site for the Ohio monument to
her soldiers who fought at Mission
Ridge, he met Capt. Smart. Incident
ally, in the conversation, Commander
Weber spoke of the charge of the
Union forces up the ridge. and of
Confederate battery which tried to
escape, but snagged one of its guns
on q stump. He spoke also of one OF
the boys of his company who dropped
q red cap near one of the batterymen
Capt. Smart gave him the address OF
Capt. Dent, who commanded the bat
terry, and the commander wrote to him
receiving the following interesting re-
ply:
Il commanded what was known as
Dents battery at the battles of Chick
amauga and Mission Ridge. My bat
terry was on the ridge and not far to
the left of that part of the Confeder-
ate line which was opposite Orchard
Knob. My battery was divided when
the assault was made on the ridge.
had two guns at the left of a public
road, and four to the right of said
road. l think the road was the Shall
low Fork road, but am not sure. 1
guns, and lost five of them in this
battle.
81 feel satisfied from your descrip-
ton of the battle that it was my bat
terry that fired on your flank, or at
least a part of it. AS soon as the as
saulting column got under the hill SO
we could not reach them by front fire,
we turned our guns so as to infilade
the assaulting column as much as pos
sible. One of my guns, the one near
est the road, got away. When l found
the fire so heavy that l could not
hope to escape that way, 1 tried to
take the guns over through the under
brush.
I'm going down l remember the axle
of one of my guns caught against
stump. tried to have it lifted over
the stump, as the ground there was
quite steep, and got the front axle
over, but before we could get the hind
axle over your people got very close
and opened fire, killing, as l now re-
member, one man, and wounding sew
eral others. l was with this gun, and
a bullet went through my coat sleeve.
The gun, o. course, was abandoned
there.
The red cap which your people
found there belonged, 1 think, to the
man killed there-his name was
Schaub. When 1 say he was killed.
know he was shot through the neck
and fell, and judging from the way the
blood spurted, 1 saw no chance for
him, and we left without ceremony.
My impression is that the officer
who rode the white horse in that bat
tie was Gen. Patton Anderson. Gen.
Anderson was afterward very badly
He died few years ago in Memphis,
Tenn, but went into the army from
Florida.
MY battery was reorganized, but
with only four guns, and / was in all
the battles from Dalton to Atlanta,
and was wounded July %, 1864. in the
battle of Atlanta-the day Gen. Nc
Pherson was killed-and later was
wounded in the battle of Nashville. l
was also in the battle of Pittsburg
Landing, as some of your people call it
and was wounded there
1.-The war is over. / have a son in
the navy who took part in the Span
isn-American war few years ago-so
you see he fought for the flag in that
war. If 1 did follow the stars and bars
in the war of 1s61-65.
IS D. Dent, Eufaula, Ala"
d
the battle of Mission Ridge:
'One incident of the battle you may
recall AS your column advanced up
the hill Just opposite where one sec
ton of my battery was posted, which
was to the Confederate left of this
road in firing on the column with the
infilading fire, we cut down the only
tree, as remember, left standing
The tree fell right on the advancing
column, and, as it rolled down the
steep hill, it carried with it one man,
who had evidently been caught in the
limbs of the tree. The picture of that
tree is very vivid in my mind"
Think Railroad Rate Too High.
There is a good deal of comment in
Grand Army circles in the East over
what the comrades regard as too
high rate established by the rail-
roads for the trip to the National
Encampment, to be held in San Fran
cisco in August Seventy-three dol
lars from New York is regarded as
too high. They cite the fact that the
Christian Endeavorers, when their
International convention was held in
San Francisco, were given a rate of
$50. Massachusetts, veterans have
taken the matter up seriously, and
committee of six will be appointed to
act with the Department Commander
of that state in securing lower rates.
e possible. A meeting of the present