Norwich bulletin., 1913-06-27

1 Fifty years ago PoStmaster William I Caruthers, then a second lieutenant in l the 18th Connecticut regiment, was l rnourned by relatives and many friends i as dead the report having been recely- : l ed that he had been killed at the battle of Winchester, June IA, 1862, and it was 1 not until three months later, when a | telegram was received by Governor 1 Buckingham from MT. Caruthers at 1 Harper's Ferry. that the first report 1 was corrected. MT. Caruthers was serl- l ously wounded in the battle and during | the long time in which no word was l heard from him he was lowering be- 1 tween life and death, a prisoner of the 1 Confederates at Winchester.
 Dr. Charles M. Carleton and H. H. 1 Starkweather went soIth Tn an attempt to recover MT. Caruthers' body, and Captain Porter but were unable to get through the Confederate lines.
 Carries Porion of Bullet Yet.
 MT. Caruthers never fully recovered from the wound which he received In his right side he still carries a DOT tion of the mimic ball which tore through him, and above his right eye there is a scar of a piece of bullet received at he battle oI Newmarket in 1864 when 4.e was three times Wound- ed. All through the war MT. Caruth- CTS record was one of loyalty and bravery. and his worth was recogniz- ed by his comrade and superior off, cers He was a first lieutenant at the close of the war
 In Third and Eighteenth Connecticut.
 MT. Caruthers enlisted at the first call for troops April 25. 1861, in the Third Connecticut Volunteers, and served through his term of enlistment, being mustered out August 12, 1861. His regiment saw more service and suffered greater losses at the first bat tie of Bull Run than all the other Con- necticut regiments. July IA, 1862, he re-enlisted, this time in the Eighteenth Connecticut, and was made quarter master sergeant November she was made orderly sergeant, and June 12, 1863, he was made second lieutenant. Owing to the capture of mail by the Confederates he served 19 months without receiving his commission, and during Il months Lieut.. Caruthers was in sole command.
 Fearful Wound at Winchester.
 The day following his promotion opened the battle of Winchester, in which the Eighteenth was engaged. The battle lasted three days, and June IA, the second day of the battle, was memorable one for MT. Caruthers, as the thread of his existence was nearly broken. Late in the day the company was ordered to charge a brick house in OO1l1SQ6FdLo -SlSlTpSHOOl0f5 WOlO located. The house was stormed and 17 prisoners taken. Returning from the charge and just before reaching the Union lines the lieutenant receiv- ed a terrible wound from a mimic ball which broke two short ribs, pierced the liver and went through his stomach.
 Left at Old Farm House.
 Surgeons considered his case hope less, but he was taken in an ambulance. and when the Union forces were driv- en back he was left at an old farm house.
 Prisoner and Recaptured.
 For three days the little Union army of 6,100 had held back General EWell's corps of 40,000 men, and on the ad- vance of the Confederates, Caruthers was made a prisoner and was placed under guard at Taylor's hotel, at Win chester, where he remained until one Sunday in August, when the Union troops again took the town. Oaruthers and Dick Ripley, the hospital steward of the Eighth Connecticut, accempan- jed the troops to the Union lines. Ca ruthers' wound healed slowly, and when