The National tribune., 1908-11-12

he being at the time Captain of Co. B,
10Th n. Y, and I the First Sergeant of
mis- company, having enlisted April 16,
1861. On our way home from the field,
under orders to recruit for the regf-
ment, Capt. Kennedy secured the order
in Washington to raise battery within
80 days, which we succeeded in doing,
assisted by several of the most infiuen-
tial men of Auburn. / went out with
the battery as its senior First Lieuten-
ant. Capt. Kennedy accepted COM
mission as Major of the Sd n. Y. Art,
when /, as the senior Lieutenant, be-
came commander of the battery. /
was promoted to Captain in front OF
Yorktown, in April, 1852, to date from
January, 1862, on recommendation of
Gen. VIM. +. Barry, Chief Of Artillery
of the Army OF the Potomac. From
that time until / was wounded in the
Shenandoah Valley / commanded the
battery in every engagement and on
every march. Lieut.. VIM. H. Johnson
commanded in my absence until he fell
mortally wounded at Winchester. when
Lieut.. o. K. Van Etten succeeded him.
Lieut.. Van Etten remained in COM
mand until I became fit for duty, but
soon after my return to the field he
again took command of the battery,
and held it until the end of the war,
winning the brevet of Captain for his
gallant services. I commanded the
Artillery Brigade Of the Sixth Corps
brevets of Major and Lieutenant-Col-
onel.
Samuel Wilkerson.
The great cannonade which preceded
the assault of July 3, also Pickctt's
| charge and rSpulSe, were described by
Samuel Will1erson, the war correspond
ent, in letters to his New York paper
written from the battlefield. 1 have
never seen his letters. but l found two
extracts from one of them in a guide
book to the battlefield, bought at Get
! tysburg more than 20 years later, which
reminded me of how he had appeared
| in my battery, after the fight was oveI
and while we were stripping the har-
ness from the dead horses and hasten.
ing to get the battery in good shape
before we could even look after the
wounded. ! was stripped to my shirt
| lbareheaded and black with the CRIME
I and sweat of the struggle, and busy
directing the work, when I heard thi:
citizen asking the name of the battery
| He was told that it was Cowan's, and
I was pointed out. when he came for
ward, saying, Captain, we met at Lees
Mills before Yorktown, where your sen.
| try arrested me when I stumbled into
lyour battery in the darkness, having
become lost on the battlefield, and you
took care of me" ] remembered the
incident, and how I had detained the
man until after daylight, until / wa!
| convinced that he was not a spy, a.
had been suspected. He now told me
that his son, Lieutenant in a battery
had been mortally wounded in the frs
days battle, on the right, and that hi
was pursuing his duty as correspond
ent with a heavy heart. We stood there
with the dead and the wounded cover
ing the ground before our eyes, anC
the blazing sun beating upon then
Imercilessly, while there was not a droI
OF drinking water to be had, the few
wells in the vicinity having beer
pumped dry long before. The cries O
the tortured men lying there, blue ant
gray mingled, We're pitiful and harrow
ing. Wiikerson asked me to step dowI
to the wall with nim. There and be
yond the dead and wounded covered rh,
ground. l never met Mr.. Wilkersol
afterwards. Perhaps some New Yorl
comrades will search the files of th'
New York paper of the time for VII
kerson's description of that great day
fighting, and send it to The Nationa
: Tribune for publication. / think tina
he represented the New York Times
ifiles of which should be found in tn,
New York City Library. 1 remembe
the scene and the man, and 1 feel tina
i he must have written under the inspira