The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1906-03-29

"I wonder" said the major, "if
any Of the Seventy-Sixth Ohio men
men can tell what become of the boys
of Company B struck by lightning at
or near Young's Point, La, in Febru-
airy, 1868. The story was told me
thirty or more years ago, and 1 have
forgotten the "details. l remember,
however, that a member of Company
B said that on the night Of February
IA, 1863, the tent of the ~non-commis-
stoned officers was struck by light
ming.
Two of the men in the tent were
killed by the bolt and four others were
disabled. The lightning, In fact, caus-
ed as much commotion In camp as an
attack by the enemy, and there were
all sorts of rumors as to the sensa-
tons of those who recovered from the
shock. The question of interest now
Is, were any of those struck by light
ming permanently disabled, and If SO,
did they have as many queer expert
ences as men disabled by wounds?
The records show that a good many
soldiers were injured by lightning dur
ing the war. What became of them?
Twenty years ago a Twenty-Third
Illinois man told me the story Of a
man severely wounded at the battle
Of Lexington, No., which that story of
the 'Checkess battery reminded me Of.
This comraGs of the Twenty-Third
Illinois was severely wounded early
in the day. He remained in the woods,
however, and fired as he had strength
and opportunity. In the afternoon the
rebels opened a furious fire on the
ing line were ordered to move out of
the way so that the little six-pounder
on the advance line could open on the
enemy.
All got out of the way except the
wounded man, who was not able to
move far enough to escape the sue
ton of the wind after each discharge.
The result was that before the other
men realized what was going on the
muscles were shredded from the
WOuilutQ uldn dlIn abOfC AC NiOOW-
The poor fellow made no protest or
complaint and was not rescued from
his trying situation until the gun had
been discharged several times. Now
! would Ike to know what became of
that man."
Zone Of the regiments In that battle
of Lexington" said the captain, "had
been in service not more than a hun
dred days, but the men fought like
veterans. 1t is true they were infor-
NAL and irregular at times, but they
stood by their guns. For example, there
was a little Dutchman Of Company
A, First Illinois Cavalry, who on the
third day, after all the men who had
manned the s~ix-pounder had been shot,
swabbed, loaded, n fired he gun
himself. He was precision itself and
as unexcited as IL ON drill.
after the white flag had been or
dered up for the third time by the
commander of the home guards, and
had been taken down as often by in
dignant men, most of the boys in our
part Of the works in front OF the his
pital cut out for the main works
around the college. E. A. Jellison,
however, remained with the little
Dutchman and his ~six-pounder, firing
his old musket as rapidly as clrcum-
stances would permit. After firing all
his own cartridges and all that he
could find In the cartridge boxes Of
the dead within his reach, Jellison
tied a handkerchief to his ramrod and
went oyer to the movable hemp bale
breastworks of General Rains, rebel
commander of the investing force.
"Jellison was received by General
Rains himself, who asked eagerly if
Colonel Mulligan had surrendered or
was ready to surrender. Jellison re-
piled that he didn't know, be didn't
come from Colonel Mulligan, and
couldn't speak for him. He represent
ed only himself. and as he was out of
ammunition and was occupying an ex-
posed position he was ready to sur
render Scarcely noticing the explain
alton, Rains wrote out a formal de-
mand for the surrender Of the Union
forces n sent it to Colonel Multi
gan by Jelllson.
1.-The latter delivered the message
to Mulligan, secured another gun and
more ammunition, and again opened
on the rebs. In later days Jellison ad-
mitted that this was very irregular.
but he contended that General Rains
did not formally accept his surrender,
did not take his parole, did not even
ask him to return. So he felt free.
after he had delivered Rains mes
sage to Muliigan, to business at
the old stand. He always insisted
hat Rains didn't known any more
about the etiquette Of the occasion
than the little Dutchman did, or than
Jellison himself did.
Those movable breastworks of
hemp bales used by the rebels at Lex
ington seemed very formidable to most
of our men. The rebels pushed them
forward, throwing water on them to
prevent them taking fire when struck
by shells. and there was a belief in
the ranks that nothing could stop such
an advance. Mulllgan himself was
depressed by the wet hemp bales more
than he was by the enemy's guns.
Therefore the GOODNESS of the thirty or
forty men who had charge over the
hemp bales and had been driven back,
was the more remarkable. / have Of
ten asked for the name Of the little
Dutchman who stuck to the six-pound-
er to the last. Can n of the surviv-
ors of Colonel Marshalls regiment OF
1861 give it?"-Chicago Inter Ocean.
A Stirring Adventure.