Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1914-02-20

AND WAR -
HEROIC SPIRIT is DISPLAYED
members OF the Thirteenth Massachu-
setts Had to Be Forced Back In
Noted Fight at Gettysburg.

aU.NHM HEMNrFHG 49,"
George H. Lehman. employed as an
electrician at the Charlestown navy
yard, was a 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 failed to
get enough to eat.
aOn the night of June 80 we were
at Emmetsburg, camped at Marsh
creek, IA miles from Gettysburg" said
MI. 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 1t was the
toughest road I ever travelled. up n
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, a.
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-
sition they had been holding the able
bodied men OF the Twelfth staid with
a..
TT 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 a swarm of rebels stretching out
farther than we could see.
THE boys all knew that there were
fully five OF the Johnnies to every on.
OF US, but that only made our boys
fight harder. We were firing Just az
fast as we could reload and aim. Il
our men were falling fast.
The rebels aimed at the men near
est the colors, so the men who We're
about the colors were hit first. Our
company was stationed to the left OF
our colors and az rapidly as the men
near the colors were hit we moved up.
Our color bearer. brave Charlie Nor
ria. was killed. Our regimental monu-
ment at Gettysburg, by the way, is a
soldier in full uniform, and the figure
was modelled after Morris.
$50 many Of the color company had
been killed and wounded that our
company, the next one to the colors.
had moved up to the position about
the regimental flag. was close to
the colors when q bullet struck my
left leg. 1t was only q flesh wound
and l kept ON fighting.
About $3.50 or 8 p. m. was wound
I'd again, and this time the ball shat
tered Z bone in the right leg. That
put me out OF action and l was or
dered I the real to the field hospital.
I had been able to bandage my right
LEG with Z towel and stop the flow of
blood and I could Just barely walk.
Before l was hit and was ordered
% the rear / knew that we would have
70 retreat. But the boys did not want
70 retreat. When It was impossible to
hold the position longer n the OFF,
Gers ordered them to retreat the boys
had to be driven back before they
would stir. In all my experience II
never saw such heroic spirit "a the
men Of the First corps showed that
6rst day II Gettysburg.
"As soon as Stuart's cavalry rode
away I told Kelly to run up the road
and intercept Buford's cavalry and
toll the general which way the rebels
had gone. He did 80 and pretty o o
Ne heard the Union cavalry In pursuit.
attacking Stuart's rear"
Mr.. Lehman on returning to Massa-
ses::S..= applied sc- commission IN
the Fifty-ninth Massachusetts infRn-
Try, but the examining surgeon de-
clared that his wound made further
service impossible.