The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-08-20

my ears as woke from heavy slum-
Der the morning after the fortieth Mas
sachusetts regiment had reached Nor
ris Island in Charleston harbor After
we had chased Lee down through Yir-
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, 1863, If l remember right
ly, 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 were not very agreeable
When we had reached q 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
~
asleep. Another man and myself had
aid rubber blanket first down on the
ground, oil which we stretched our
selves, putting out guns between US,
and then with another rubber blanket
over - we were soon dreaming Of home
and without any thought Of the discom-
forts Of army life. We were tired and
slept soundly. or at least 1 know 1 did.
Ing the expression have quoted above
found it was morning and the sun
was shining brightly. simultaneously
with the remark that l 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 q 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 AID terminate. who was ly
ing a few files distant from me, l re-
piled:
Not by large majority" and then
{ proceeded to get myself on end and
dig out the piece of shell, which l
found to be an ugly looking bit of iron
weighing, / should judge, about nine
pounds
A half inch variation liz the fall of
that piece of shell and the remark as
to my death would have been a truth,
and would probably have been left
10 enrich the soil of that almost bar
rem sand bar in Charleston harbor
OF course all this happened In a far
briefer period than It takes to tell the
story, but l mention 1t 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 a little cOmmotion In the regi-
nent, as we had been halted at place
which was supposed to be out Of range
from the rebel fire, and 1t was the only
piece Of shell that came i'm our direc-
tion while we were there. l was re-
90 >ded with considerable curiosity and
considered something Of hero, az
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 1 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 case might be,
and simply wait until we were relieved
and sent back to our camp farther
down the island, where we had a sea-
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
terles on Sullivan's Island, excepting
occasionally where shell would go
through one Of the splinter proofs and
play havoc with the men in its imme-
date vicinity. Our army was constant
ly 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 persisiency. We knew that
the capture of these works by the Union
forces or their evacuation by the enemy
WIS SIMPLY QueStlOn Vi tlllle. anu
as each new parallel was dug by Gen.
Gillmore's men and occupied by his
troops the settlement of that question
came nearer a conclusion. AS is well
known. both forts were abandoned by
the enemy and the UnioI forces took
possession of the entire island. The
night before the evacuation my COM
pany was assigned to picket duty, and
from after dark until nearly dawn
stood with three other men on post
on the beach. All night the rebels were
firing shells with unaccustomed ac-
tivity. endeavoring to conceal their
preparations for evacuation. We
would watch their shells as they went
up in the air, leaving a tail of fire be-
hind them, and then note the angle Of
their fad. You could hear the con-
tinual "where-is-yer, "where-is-yer,'
"where-is-yer," as the sound had be-
come to be Familiarity characterized,