The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1909-06-17

/ carried that thing in m! body four
teen years. / got it skirmshing near
Newmarket, Va, in September. 1854.
After the battle OF Fishers Hill
there was a long pursuit Of Early's
army which continued up IS far as
Harrisonburg. The enemy kept a
strong line of skirmishers thrown out,
behind which the fragments Of the
beaten army retreated at a good pace.
We made it very lively for this Skin
mish line, our advance being thrown
out in the same form, and we pressed
them day and night while they kept
any show of opposition before us; but
still they made time for Early, and
succeeded in delaying us considerably.
AS is the privilege of skirnishers.
we took advantage Of the shelter of
every tree, fence, and bush that We
met. The pursuit was so close that
the thing had got to be exciting.
had reached the protection of board
fence, breast-high, and saw along TO
the right and left of me pufis Of smoke
Though the men were mostly con-
the rifles. On the other side they were
retiring before us from cover to cover.
and at this time these long, irregular
lines were not more than hundred
and fifty yards apart.
saw a puff starting out from be-
hind large-bodied oak tree nearly op-
posite my position, and a bullet went
singing overheard | had so far ex-
posed only my head to the eyes above
the fence, but | had evidently been
seen. Watching closely, i saw a face
peering out from behind the tree, as
the Confederate skirmisher tried to OBJ
serve the effect Of his shot l raised
my rifle instantly and fired. / shall
never know whether my bullet hit the
man or not; before the smoke of my
gun cleared l felt as though | was be-
ing lifted off the ground by 2 stun
ming blow that turned me half about
and then threw me over. / was sense
less at once. and the shock and loss
of blood kept me so for hours. | was
told that after the army had got by
some OF the abulance men saw me ly-
ing there, near the road, and went
over TO look at me. The front of my
blouse and shirt was soaked with
blood, and upon tearing them away
they discovered an ugly round hole in
my breast, made by the ball. They
saw also that it had passed through
one of the half-inch boards of the fence
before striking me.
THE poor chap is a goner," one of
them said.
Il don't know about that; wait a
minute" said the other
He put his ear down to my mouth
and nose, and detected a faint breath
ing. They put me in the ambulance.
and / was taken along in the rear of
the army.
A surgeon examined me that night,
probed the wound, but could not find
the ball; saw that | was very weak
lad still unconscious, and said that
y ,uld die before morning.
When morning came I was still
alive. A train was to be sent back for
supplies. and l was put into one of the
wagons. All the long journey to Win
chester l was not conscious enough to
know what had happened to me; but
there is recollection lingering In my
mind OF hard bumps and thumps as
the springless wagon rolled over the
stone road
AT Winchester / was put into the
general hospital. There, as | was told.
was carefully examined, the wound
probed again without any discovery of
the ball, and the surgeon said 10 the
attendants:
There Is no hope for him, as some
Of the vital organs must have been
pierced. Make him as comfortable as
possible; he won't trouble you long.
1t is one of those cases where very
strong vitality resists and struggles
against a mortal wound; but the strug-
gle won't be long in this case"
That the good doctor was wrong is
proved by my attendance tonight at
this campfire. A week after passing
his opinion on me, he was visiting the
ward where / lay, and stopped at my
cot. ] was conscious, but so weak that
! could hardly keep my eyes open.
We'll, l declare." he exclaimed.
You alive yet? You are a most aston
fishing man. Do you feel pain?"
/ was unable to speak. but the nurse
told him that / had made her under
stand that there was no pain; only
great exhaustion and heaviness.
II should think there would be-" /
heard him mutter, with an ounce ball
In his chest"
He found that / was kept alive by
some simple nourishment and directed
II to be continued
1T is all anybody can do for him, .
he said.
Well. not to make my story too
long, remained at the Winchester
hospital till spring. | ought to have
died. as they expected. and predicted
that | would, but | did not. IL would
be hardly true to say that / got much
better. By slow degrees | was able
to sit up, stand, and then hobble with
crutches. But my strength was all
gone: to myself seemed about as
much dead as alive.
Along in May / was discharged, and
went home Everybody was glad to
see me, but all regarded me as a dying
man, just on my looks. The local doc
tors heard my story of the case, looked
at the wound, which was now pretty
well healed and said that, while it was
3 most extraordinary case, they
thought that, because ] had lived SO
long with the bullet in my body, there