Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-08-14

L ndk WAS tue uISl SOtlLlSl tHdl SlCCISh
my ears as | woke from q heavy slum-
Der the morning after the fortieth Mas
sachuSetts regiment had reached Nor
rs Island in Charleston harbor After
we had chased Lee down through Nir
ginia with the Army of the Potomac,
Immediately following the battle of
Gettysburg, my regiment was detached
at Warrenton junction and sent south.
At first we did not know where we
were going but we finally learned that
we were to join the forces of Gen. Gil
more. who was in charge Of the siege
of Charleston. We reached Norris
Island Oh the evening of the 18th of
September 1868, if | remember right
~. and disembarked on the low, sandy
beach, glad to get upon dry land once
more after having been crowded rather
uncomfortably on the transports. The
scene was lot particularly inviting, es-
pecially as a dull driZzling rain had
commenced to fall, and as we marched
up the beach our first impressions of
Morris Island We're not very agreeable.
When we had reached Il spot nearly
opposite to what was known as the
Beacon House we were ordered to halt
and directed to bivouac for the night.
We had been used TO lying oil the
ground without any shelter over us, so
we didn't care much for the heavy mist
that was falling, and soon all the COM
mand, except the sentries, were fast
asleep. Another man and myself had
laid a rubber blanket first down on the
ground OH which we stretched our
selves, putting out guns between us,
and then with another rubber blanket
over us we were soon dreaming Of home
and without any thought of the discom-
forts Of army life. We were tired and
slept soundly. or al least / know l did,
and when l opened my eyes on hear
ing the expression | have quoted above
| found it was morning and the sun
was shining brightly. simultaneously
with the remark that | was killed l
felt an uncomfortable sensation along
my left leg and the impression con-
veyed to my mind was that the man
| who was lying beside me had got up
and drawn my bayonet across my limb.
| AS l opened my eyes, however, l dis
| covered that the feeling had been
| caused by the wind from a piece of
shell, which buried itself in the sand
Just between my feet. In response to
| the remark, which had been uttered by
| my friend ard terminate, who was ~
ing few files distant from me, | re-
| piled:
Not by a large ma ority," and then
I proceeded to get myself on end and
dig out the piece Of shell, which
found to be an ugly looking bit OF iron
weighing, l should judge, about nine
J pounds
half inch variation ii the fall of
to my death would have been a truth,
and | would probably have been left
| to enrich the soil of that almost bar
rem sand bar in Charlest0 harbor.
OF course all this happened in a far
| briefer period than it takes to tell the
| story, but | mention it as one of the
remarkable escapes from death during
my personal experience and as the only
/ time in which | think a missile was
sent by the rebels which was labeled
with my name. The incident caused
! quite q little cOmmotiOn in the regi-
ment. as we had been halted at place
| which was supposed to be out OF range
from the rebel fire, and it was the only
! piece of shell that came in our direc
| ton while we were there. l was re
garded with considerable curiosity and
considered something Of a hero, al
| though as a matter of fact ! was
simply a passive agent, had no knowl-
edge of my danger and couldn't have
run away if l had wanted to, because
| | was fast asleep.
! That was our first introduction to
siege duty on Morris Island, which aft
| erward became quite monotonOus and
wearisome. 1t was anything but agree
| able to lie in the trenches, or rather
under splinter proofs, for three or five
| days at a time, as the ease might be,
| and simply wait until we were relieved
| and sent back TO our camp farther
| son of rest and the regular routine Of
camp duty only to go back in the
| trenches again when our turn came.
There was comparatively little danger
| while in the trenches, although the
| rebels were constantly Smelling us from
| Forts Johnson, Sumter and the bat
| teries ON Sullivan's Island. excepting
F., occasionally where a shell would go
| through one of the splinter proofs and
| play havoc with the men In its im1ne-
! date vicinity. Our army was constant
| " making new parallels and steadily
| approaching the works which surround
: ed Fort Gregg and Battery Wagner,
! which were on the northern end Of the
! island, which the enemy had held with
| determined persistency. We knew that
| the capture of these works by the Union
| forces or their evacuation by the enemy