The National tribune., 1910-06-30

was one of us boys at Spotsyivania.
Capt Ed. Heffner, of the Metropolitan
Police. Washington. d. G., was a Ser
geant in the company"
First Shot at the Wilderness.
| Frank Olmsted Co. f, 5th n. Y. Cav,
Belmont. n. Y, writes:
| II have been reading the Wilderness
| Campaign l claim the honor of hav-
ing fired the first shot in the battle of
the Wilderness. The 5th n. Y. Cav. TO
which l belonged. commenced that bat
| tie under orders of Gen. Meade / was
one of two videtS to ride ahead of the
advance, and l fired at the rebel infan-
jtry. We met in the road between Par
lker's Store and Orange Court House
road about daylight on the morning of
May 5. The officer in command of the
rebels was mounted and carried a field
glass in his hand. The videt who rode
on my left Of. J. Ehman, Co. E) shot
the first horse. We engaged the enemy
until about noon before any of our in
| fantry came up, and the history of my
regiment says that we lost in killed,
wounded and captured 70 men,"
In the Raid to Richmond.
| A. V. Cole, Co. G, 9Th Mich. Cav.
Past Department Commander of Ne
braska, Sulphur, Okla, writes:
II was with Sheridan in his ride to
the rear of Richmond in May, 1864. l
was wounded at Haw's Shop, May 2S,
which knocked me off the firing line
for all time. There were but 10 MEM
| bers of my company go that went on
the firing line, and out of the 10 three
were killed and three wounded. 1 new
er read anything more interesting than
your Wilderness Campaign so far. On
the 18th we met Stuart's Cavalry at
Yellow Tavern, where he was killed.
and on the 18th we again came in con-
tact with his forces at Meadow Bridge,
where they not only came at us in
front, but also in the rear. AT Meadow
Bridge the railroad and wagon road
ran parallel, and the Johnnies had TAX
en- the trouble to destroy the wagon
bridge. To add to our discomfort they
had planted a battery on the nights
! beyond. That made us cross on the
railroad bridge. Something had to be
done and quickly. Gen. Custer was as
signed to getting us over. We were
ordered to dismount and pass in single
| file on the ties of the railroad bridge,
then deploy to the right and left IN the
swamp and advance thru the swamp to
the open field, where the battery and
its support were stationed. We pushed
them out of there. Gen. Gregg, with
his command, took care of the rebels
of the south side of the river. We
| moved down over the battlefield of
Gaines's Mills thru White Oak Swamp
to Malvern Hill, where / had fought in
the ranks of the 4th Mich. July 1. 1862.
On May 25 we rejoined the main army,
| having been gone 6 days"
How Stuart Was Killed.
o. H. earns, Co. H, 5th Mich. Cav,
Troy, o., writes:
AT Yellow Tavern, on May II, Co.
| II, 5th Mich Cav, to which 1 belonged,
was in line in the rear of a brick house.
A squad of rebels came out into an
| open field in front. Stuart was on big
gray horse. A boy CHuff, of Co. E, I
think) had a long-range rifle. He
stepped to the fence and took good
aim, and after two or three trials the
man On the big gray horse was struck.
He would have fallen to the ground
had he not been prevented by those
| near by. Co. III was dismOunted. Gen.
Alger led US up road, and we jumped
a bush fence into sandy field. We
charged double-quick, and the rebel
bullets swept the field. Some of the
boys who were struck went head first
into the sandy soil up to their ears.
was shot at a fence on the opposite
| side, and 1 was helped back to the
| brick house AS l was being carried
into the front room cannon ball went
thru the house, and bricks fell all about
the dead and dying"
flTSI 10 SrOSS tflc Edpludn.
Thomas P. Nooman, Co. M, 1st N. J.
Cav, Soldiers Home, Los Angeles, Cal,
| writes:
II am following the Wilderness Cam
| paign. / believe I was the first man
| in the Army of the Potomac to cross
the Rapidan on that trip the night of
May a. There were about 100 picked
men of my company under Capt Crage,
detailed to find a crossing. We Gis-
mounted above Ely Ford, and came
in behind the pickets and captured the
ford. We were piloted by a scout
When we got there they wanted some
one to go over and see If it could be
| forded. They went up and down the
line, asking for some one to go across.
Everything was said in very low
voice. / consented to go over. 1 un-
dressed and swan across in the cold
| water, and got back after q terrific
struggle in the swift current. / report
ed no crossing The scout threw a
blanket over me, and we went up high
er, where / tried it again and found
where we could wade. We were late to
get to the ford, and we cleared it by
daylight"
Attended to the Wounded.
Charles J. Lane. Surgeon. U. s. Army,
Marshall, Mich, writes:
II am much interested in the Wilder
ness Campaign. l was in Michigan with
Col. Dorsey M. Fox, of the 9th Mich,
who was on detached duty as recruit
ing officer for Burnside Corps, when
we received news that the fight was on.
We, with several hundred recruits
started for the front, reaching Wash
ington May Z, 1864. On the 9th 1 re-
ported at the War Department, and
was assigned to duty at the Columbia.
College Hospital. In a day or two the
wounded from the Wilderness began
to arrive, and 1t was not long before
all the hospitals in the city were filled
to their utmost capacity. About 1000
were received in one day at the CO.
lumbia alone. The Wilderness cam
paign was unquestionably the greatest
and the most stubbornly contested of
any during the civil war"
That Dark Night of May II.
d. c. Law, Co. E, 148th Pa, Lyons
Iowa, writes:
Il was thru the Wilderness campaign
with the Fourth Brigade, First Division,
Second Corps. The account of the
night of May II is good l don't think
that anyone that marched in those
woods in the dark in the mud and rain
that night will ever forget it. There
were three brothers of us in the same
company. Charley was Sergeant and
with the cOlors that morning, and was
wounded just at the works. Harry was
brigade bugler, and had his horse killed
there, He CAPTURED an old rebel hat.