Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1908-08-07

my ears as | woke from heavy slum-
Der the morning after the fortieth Mas
sachusetts regiment had reached Nor
rls Island in Charleston karbor. After
We had chased Lee down through Ntr-
glnia 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
We're going, but we finally learned that
we We're TO join the forces Of Gen. Gil.
more, who was ia charge Of the siege
of Charleston. We reached Morris
Island oh the evening of the 18th of
September, 1863, if remember right
~, and disembarked on the low. SANDY
beach, glad To get upon dry land once
more after having been crowded rather
uneomfortably on the transports The
scene was lot particularly Inviting. es-
peeially as Il 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 a 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 Ola the
ground without any shelter over MS, SO
we didn't care much for the heavy mist
that was falling, and soon all the com
yFAn md 81.
asleep. Another man and myself had
laid rubber blanket first down on the
ground. OH which we stretched our
selves, putting out guns between us,
over us we We're soon dreaming of home
and without any thought of the discom-
forts of army life. We were tired and
slept soundly, or at least know | did.
and when / 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
felt an uncomfortable sensation along
my left leg and the impression. con
yeyed TO my mind was that the man
who was lying beside me had got up
and drawn my bayonet across my limb
AS | opened my eyes, however, | 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 ly-
ing few files distant from me, re-
piled
Not by a large ma orlty," and then
! proceeded TO get myself on end and
dig out the piece Of shell. which
found TO be an ugly looking bit OF iron
weighing, should judge. about nine
pounds.
A half inch variation ii. 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
TO enrich the soil Of that almost bar
rem sand bar in Charleston harbor.
OF course all this happened In far
briefer period than 1t takes to tell the
story, but l mention Ii 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 little commotion in the regi-
ment, as we had been halted at a place
which was supposed TO be- out Of range
from the rebel fire. and Il was the only
piece Of shell that came In our direc-
ton while we were there was re
garded with considerable curiosity and
considered something Of hero, al
though as q matter Of fact was
simply passive agent. had no knowl-
edge OF my danger and couldn't have
run away If ! had wanted TO. because
| was fast asleep.
That was our first Introduction 10
siege duty on Morris Island. which aft
eFward became quite mOnoton0us 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 ~ our camp farther
down the island, where We had sea-
son OF rest and the regular routine 81
camp duty only 10 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
occasionally where II she'll would 20
through one OF the splinter proofs and
play havoc with the men In it's 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 persistency. We knew that
the capture Of these works by the Union
forces or their evacuation by the enemy