The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-10-16
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In the Attack on Fort Fisher.

AhN AphANNNAhbS c-"-S
standing out on the parapet and calling
On his men to get up and shoot the
Yankees. considered him within
range of revolver, so / took deliberate
shot at him. As fred, bullet ripped
through the front of my coat across my
breast, turning me completely around.
] felt burning sensation, like hot
iron, over my heart, and saw something
red coming out of the hole in my coat
which l took for blood. / knew, of
course, that if a bullet had gone
through this portion of my body ] was
done for; but there was no place to
stop, so / went on at the head of my
company. As we approached the re-
mains of the stockade j was aware
that one particular sharpshooter was
Shooting at me, and when we were a
hundred yards away he hit me in the
left leg, about three inches below the
knee. The force of the blow was so
great that l landed on my face in the
sand. / got silk handkerchief out of
my pocket, and with the kind assist.
ance of my classmate, Hoban Sands,
soon stopped the blood, and again went
TO the front as fast as l could.
In the meantime my sharpshooter
friend, about thirty-fve yards away,
continued to shoot at me, at the same
time addressing me in very forcibIe
but uncomplimentary language. AT the
fifth shot, think it was, he hit me
again, taking off the end of one of my
toes, tearing off the sole of my shoe,
and wrenching my ankle dreadfully. l
thought the bullet had gone through
my ankle, the pain was so intense. For
some reason, / don't know why, this
shot made me unreasonably angry, and,
Nolling over in the sand so as to face
my antagonist, addressed few brief
remarks to him; and then, just ms some
one handed him freshly loaded mus
ket, fred, aiming at his breast l
hIltW bHc llHlt Ludb L hlil
him if l shot at him, but had not in
tended to do so until he shot me in the
toe. My bullet went little high,
striking the poor chap in the throat and
passing out at the back of his neck.
He staggered around, after dropping his
gun, and finally pitched over the para
pet and rolled down near me, where he
lay dead l could see his feet as they
projected over pile of sand, and from
their position knew that he had fought
his last fight. Near me was lying the
coxwain of my boat, Campbell by name,
who had a canister ball through his
lungs, and was evidently bleeding to
death. When he saw the result of my
shot, he said, "Mr. Evans, let me crawl
over and give that -- -- another
shot.' He was dead almost before L
could tell him that the poor fellow did
not require any further attention from
us.
An Exciting Convalescence.
After very comfortable trip, all
things considered, we arrived at Nor
folk at daylight in the morning, and
hauled alongside the wharf at Naval
Hospital. We were landed without de-
lay, and found myself on comfort
able bed in large, clean-loolSing ward.
l slipped my revolver under the pillow,
and pulling the blankets up to my chin,
went to sleep and did not awaken UNI
til 10 O'Clock that night. The surgeon
in charge and his principal assistant
were standing by the bedside, and after
a careful examination of my wounds
they retired to the end of the room for
consultation, when / distinctly heard
the senior one say, "Take both legs off
in the morning. | did not get much
sleep that night, but did do some very
serious thinking.
The following morning the assistant,
who was a personal friend of mine,
came in, and after a few words of
greeting, began to tell me how seriously
] was wounded, and how dangerous
wounds about the kee were. ] saw at
once that he hated to tell me what he
was going to do to me, so to relieve
the situation j told him | had overheard
the conversation the night before;
that had thought very seriously of the
matter, and that | preferred to die
with both my legs on; that ] was only
eighteen years old, and the thought of
living my life without my legs was
more than cared to face; that as the
legs belonged to me, thought / had a
right to say what was to become of
them; and that asked the doctors to
do what they could for me with my legs
on, and if died it was no matter. He
heard me very quietly, and l thought
with sympathy, but when had finished
he said: "You know, Evans, orders
have to be obeyedl" Thinking that he
had misunderstood me, went over mat.
tiers again, and wound up by asking
that they put me out on the lawn on q