The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-01-27
A WAR EXPERIENCE

Il was rather young, mere boy,
in Texas when the war broke like
storm. Naturally, with my geog-
raphy, l went with the Confederacy.
l was in the artillery. One day we
captured battery of three brass
guns. It was given to me to COM
mand, and the day l got that bat
terry was the proudest day in my
life.
"Such was my anxiety to get into
trouble with those guns that L drag
ged couple over to the Mississippi
we were in Louisiana at the time
and pulled on fight with q stray
gunboat belonging to the Yankees
which l found prowling around.
We had sharp, spitfire time Of it
for q few moments, when lucky
shot from one Of my guns tore
hole in her in such fashion that it
let the river in, and she filled and
sank.
"Butler had New Orleans ct the
time, and, among other things, was
running the papers Later I read
an account of my brush with the
gunboat in one of Buffers journals.
1t could not be called an unbiased
statement. It reviled me as most
abandoned and bloodthirsty char
acter and declared that even after
the gunboat surrendered kept on
pouring shot into her as if nv one
purpose in life was wholesale mur-
der Of course this was not SO. I
wouldn't have fired on anybody aft
er he had hauled his flag down, and
besides that I didn't have the am
munition to waste.
"After rejoined the rest of my
battery following the exploit of the
gunboat [ hunted trouble with the
Yankees more zealously than ever.
One day I was fully gratifed. We
were still in Louisiana. The sun
came up one morning and found
some 10000 of us facing a largely
superior force of Yankees. We
couldn't have crawled out of a fight
even were we SO disposed, but no
one suggested any retreat. The fact
was we felt quite cocky and were
full of belief that we could whip
the invaders. The fight began, and
[ soon had my hearts wish. I was
in peck Of trouble with the Yam
KEGS, l and my battery. I had sue
ceeded in attracting the attention
and getting hearing, as it were,
from three Yankee batteries all at
once. They were reasonably brisk
outfit, and it didn't take them
minute to get my range. Then it
began to rain sorrow and hail de-
spair for my battery.
"To show you how hot those Yam
KEGS made it one only need to say
that they wounded or killed forty
of my sixty-six men and dismountcd
two of my brass beauties in thirty
minutes. You might have planted
corn where my battery stood when
they got through, it was so plowed
and narrowed by the Yankee fire.
81 was in the thick of the battle.
I was standing near the No. 1 gun.
A man of the name of Thompson
was stepping forward with shot in
his hands to load Without a word
or cry he suddenly fell forward on
the gun and then slipped to the
ground, limp as wet towel. A can
non ball had torn through his chest.
81 ordered a man to his place.
Before he was there q moment
fragment of shell from out the sky
struck him on top of his head, and
he fell dead by the side of Thomp-
son. 1t was such a whirl of smoke
and roar that I couldn't tell what
was going on at the other guns,
much less in other parts of the
field. / had been ordered to hold
my position and had made up my
mind to hold it while a gun and a
man of my battery held together. I
ordered another to take the place
of the second lying dead under the
gun. This man got there just in
time to receive a rifle bullet in his
mouth. 1t came out under his ear.
This man, however, didn't die. I
met him years after the war.
"Three men were all that were
available for this especial duty.
They were dead and wounded and
gone, and I took the post myself.
1 don't know how long it was,
whether one minute or ten, when,
without the slightest feeling of pain
or warning, I was hurt, my legs gave
way, and sank to the ground. At
the same instant an explosion like
forty batteries all uniting in one
discharge broke loose just to the
rear of me. A column of fire and
smoke shot toward the sky as il .
volcano had been looscd by the gen
eral jar and din of battle. 1t was
my ammunition wagon. had 1000
rounds of ammunition in big army
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