The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1904-11-03

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Ny regiment brought up In front of
Petersburg June 16. 1854. The next
day we charged the rebel lines and
carried a strong line Of earthworks;
but, from lack of ammunition we were
compelled to abandon the works, and
fan back. Undoubtedly we would have
held the works had not our captain
Jumped upon the works and yell
I'VE are out Of ammunition" T.
rebels heard this and charged rs from
the works; and, had not supply Of
ammunition arrived just as 1t did, we
would have suffered great defeat.
June Is and 10 were spent In picketing
the field. June 20, with a good supply
of ammunition, we again advanced our
lines. and not only took possession OF
their works, but advanced through the
outer edge at strip Of woods. where
we built strong line Of earthworks.
The major part Of our regiment &C.
cupied these works while the remain
der advanced and established our pick
ct line along the railroad. Our pits
were made in the embankments.. l
made my first pit on the left of an iron
bridge. There my experience at sharp
shooting began. / was detailed as a
sharpshooter because the rebels had a
good many Of them at this point who
kept picking OF our men day by day,
while we had none. The first man who
occupied that pit with me was limo
thy Shaughnessy. He was seriously
wounded, while in the pit with
After Tim got wounded he called
water, and there was none in either
his or my canteen. 1t meant almost
certain death to go for water there in
the daytime. / called for help, but
could not get a man who would come
and stay with Tim, or go for water,
either. So I was compelled to leave
Tim alone while I went for water.
went for the water, expecting never to
reach my PIT again. as / was wholly
exposed to the deadly fire Of sharp
shooters. But, thanks be to God,
did my duty to Tim. 1 met Tim at
Tenleytown after the war, and he pass
ed his only remaining arm about my
neck and wept like a child. He said
that the water that risked my life to
get for him was wnat saved his life.
he was then stopping at the Soldiers
Home in Washington. He invited me
down to Lne Home, and / stayed one
night with him. He told the officers
at the Home what had done for him
at the time he was wounded, and
was treated very kindly both bv OFF,
GERS and soldiers. While write this
I don't want it understood that was
the only pebble on the beach, for we
had heroes there, Marshall was one
Houghton, Randall, Cieary, Cogian,
Foote-oh, well, your space would not
hold all of their names! These VIII
suffice for the present.
Ny regiment occupied a position in
and ON the right and left Of Fort Sted-
man. The day before I built my pit
I examined the ground thoroughly and
picked my location. discovered a
little knoll, about ten feet long at the
base. 1 knew that 1 could build on
the knoll with half the labor that
would be required had there been no
knoll entered the pit about 4 o'clock
In the morning and held 1t until 1t was
utterly destroyed by the terrific fire
Of infantry sharpshocters and artil-
sery-the artillery finished the Job at
o'clock in the afternoon. As 1 was
between the lines at that time. and
had whole division to face, you can
Imagine somewhat in regard to my ex-
perience. 1t was about 9 clock when
the rebels began to man their guns for
their usual days entertainment, firing
on the regiment opened fire on the
Tort with such success that for two
hours the rebels were unable to man
their guns The artillery seemed par
alyzed- In the meantime my position
became desperate. From 'front.' night
and Isft the rebel infantry and sharp
shooters were pouring lead upo1 my
sand pit. which melted 1t away Ike a
drift Of snow under the heat Of q ubon-
day sun. I was compelled to y.urpl my
attention from the battery to the ~ ~p-
shooters, and artillery-still, he1 :
position until 8 o'clock In ~
noon, when the rebels opened 8
my pit with three pieces CT
and utterly wiped my sand
leaving nothing but q trench
get the dirt for my pit. / was Stunned
by the conclusion which took place in
my pit and was covered with sand
and dust that nearly blinded me, and
thousands OF stars came before my Wis
lon rubbed the dirt and sand from
my eyes as best could and got up In
q dazed condition. / then heard q
sebel say to his comrade: "See that
little Yank? Do you suppose he did
oil that shooting just himselfY' An
other rebel called out: Say, you Yank.
what kind O. gun you got? You load
hit a Sunday and shoot we un's all
week with hitr' I told him to come
over and see.
heard the rebels laugh; one Of them
proposed three cheers for the little
fank. swung my cap and gave three
cheers; the whole rebel line Joined me
Under ordinary circumstances soldiers
were compelled to keep under cover t.
protect their t0pknots from rebel bull
lets; but on this occasion both armies
had become 90 interested that the mer
stood upon the breastworks facing
Zach other. picked up the box which