News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1914-04-15
STORIES 32fAq
CANfpTk ~D1BA
AND WARf -
HEROIC SPIRIT is DISPLAYED
Members Of the Thirteenth Massachu.
sets Had to Be Forced Back In
Noted Fight at Gettysburg.

George H. Lehman, employed as an
electrician at the Charlestown navy
yard, was sturdy young man OF
twenty-one years, so years ago. Al
! though he had seen hard service as a
| private in Company E, Thirteenth
Massachusetts infantry, Mr. Lehman
! weighed 1870 pounds when he went
into the battle of Gettysburg. Mr.,
Lehman had the advantage of knowl-
edge of how to take care of himself,
and, as he says, he never failed to
get enough to eat.
"On the night of June 80 we were
at Emmetsburg, camped at Marsh
creek, IA miles from Gettysburg" said
Mr.. Lehman. About 8 a, m. on July
1 we got orders to start for Gettys-
burg at double quick We covered the
IA miles at a dog-trot and it was the
toughest road l ever travelled, up and
down hill, with dust up to our ankles.
my recollection is that we reached
the line of battle at Gettysburg about
noon. The Twelfth Massachusetts had
been ahead of us and they had been
through some hard fighting before we
arrived. They had lost many of their
men and when we lined up in the po-
s1tion they had been holding the able
bodied men of the Twelfth staid with
us.
1T was hot work from the first min
ute. The rebels were coming up the
road in column of tours just as fast as
they could come. There seemed to
be swarm of rebels stretching out
farther than we could see.
"The boys all knew that there were
fully five of the Johnnies to every one
of us, but that only made our boys
fight harder. We were firing just as
fast as we could reload and aim, and
our men were falling fast.
THE rebels aimed at the men near
est the colors, so the men who were
about the colors were hit first. Our
company was stationed to the left Of
our colors and as rapidly as the men
near the colors were hit we moved up.
Our color bearer, brave Charlie Nor
ris, was killed. Our regimental monu-
ment at Gettysburg, by the way, is a
soldier in full uniform, and the figure
was modelled after Morris.
so many of the color company had
been killed and wounded that our
the next one to the colors,
had moved up to the position about
the regimental flag. l was close to
the colors when a bullet struck my
left leg. 1t was only flesh wound
and kept on fighting.
About 2:30 or 8 p. m. was wound |
ed again, and this time the ball shat |
tered bone in the right leg. That |
put me out of action and | was or !
dered to the rear to the field hospital. ;
had been able to bandage my right /
leg with a towel and stop the flow of I
blood and | could just barely walk.
Before I was hit and was ordered
o the rear knew that we would have
o retreat. But the boys did not want
o retreat. When it was impossible to
lold the position longer and the Off
,ers ordered them to retreat the boys
lad to be driven back before they
would stir. In all my experience
lever saw such heroic spirit as the
men of the First corps showed that
lrst day at Gettysburg
"As soon as Stuart's cavalry rode
way told Kelly to run up the road
nd intercept Buford's cavalry and
ell the general which way the rebels
lad gone He did so and pretty soon
7e heard the Union cavalry in pursuit
ttacking Stuart's rear"
Mr.. Lehman on returning to Massa-
husetts applied for a commission in
he Fifty-ninth Massachusetts infan-
ry, but the examining surgeon de- {
Jared that his wound made further t
ervice impossible.