Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930, 1904-04-28
THE BOOMING CANNON
RECITAlS OF CAMP AND BAT.
TIE INCIDENTS.
Survivors of the Rebellion Relate
Many Amusing and Startling Incl
dents of Marches, Camp Life, Forag-
ing Experiences and Battle Scenes.

Anderson, want to know why |
iidn't say more about the Resaca am
nunition story at the time, and why
waited forty years to put the Incl
Gent on record. 1 said little or moth
ing to the men of the company at the
lime because the doing Of the thing
lid not seem to me then as remark
ible, and because just at that time
my younger brother, Eli s. Anderson,
was very sick and was quartered i'll
IN old building not far from the rail
way station, used as a hospital and
surgeons headquarters, and l was
nursing him.
Taking care of him kept me busy
Ind away from the company. felt
then that my brother could not live
many weeks, and l was so absorbed
n the work Of getting him home to
tee the good mother that l forgot all
about the fire incident. In a few
weeks u regiment was ordered
North for discharge, and after Il re-
:eption at Cincinnati we were quar-
''No ~ w pvt dil-lS
discharge. There vas delay about DIS
charges, and payrolls, and I freited 4
good deal about that sick brother.
One day I met on the streets Coates
Kinney, the a who wrote Rain on
The Roof Mr.. Kinney had been an
I'D neighbor Of mine before the war,
md he found a way to help me.
when 1 explained the circum~
stances he asked why l didn't 90
home. [ answered that | was wait
ing for my discharge papers, and my
pay. He said that being a paymastnr
he could help me, as he knew the dis
charges for the men of our regiment
were ready, and that the payrolls
had been approved. He went with
me to the paymaster's office, where he
vouched for me, secured my discharge
and pay, and started me on my home
ward way with the remark, You are
the first mar to receive a discharge
Tor a full three years service in the
Western army
II went at once to my brother, and
thanks to Coates Kinney we were
Don at home. Ny brother lived until
1875 and MI. Kinney was buried re-
Gently at my old home town, Waynes-
vile, Ohio. Every time l hear the
:ain on the roof or against the win
lows, l think of his kindness to the
soldiers in 1854. This explains how 1
was carried away from the men of
my w company, and, as to making
: record of the affair, l was disin-
clined to do that because it might
seem like Boosting for me to tell the
story myself. But longing to hear
from the real hero of the occasion,
the officer who led the way into the
crater, got the better of NE and l told
the story. Like Lieutenant Gruff. |
nm pretty well worn out, but l am
not ashamed of what the Of us did at
Resaca in May, 1864"
81 know how Comrade Anderson
felt" said Peter Miller of Company
G., Ninety-second Ohio. "At the
charge up Missionary Ridge, William
Croy, John McVey and myself cap
tured a battery. and there is no rea-
son in the world why we should not
have received credit for the capture.
When we three men of our company
climbed over the rebel works there
were only three men with the battery
that had been blazing away at us. All
of the three were swearing at their
comrades for running away. [ said
iocularly: Swearing is all right. but
1t cuts no ice. Why don't YOU turn
your guns and shoot the other way?
You have been shooting at us long
enough
Greatly to u surprise, the rebel
artillery men promptly turned one of
the guns the other way and fired sew
eral shots as rapidly as they could
load. The guns were brass twelve
Founders. and on one was inscribed
Lady Bragg, and on another Lady
Breckenridge. The battery was to the
left of General Bragg's headquarters.
looking from our side of the line, or
on the right from the rebel side of
the works. The battery was almost
directly in front of Fort Wood, and
l remember shells thrown from Fort
Wood burst over our heads when we
were quite e the rebel works. NV
regiment, the Ninety-second Ohio.
was in Turchin's brigade of Reynolds
division.
I am thus particular about local
ity, regiment, and brigade, because,
in the history of the battle, it is
stated that General Thomas mea
charged to the top of the ridge, cap
turing a rebel battery, and turned the
guns on the retreating foe Now, the
truth is that battery was captured by
Peter Miller, William Croy and John
McVey of Company G, Ninety-second
Ohio, and the guns were turned on
the %retreating foe by the enraged
rebel artillerymen captured by US. 1
do not tell this story in boastful spirit.
but as a remarkable incident in a re-
markable battle, and because 1 be-