Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1915-07-09

One thing that pleased me very much
, was the respect and love shown my un-
form. A great many people, both
ladies and gentlemen, expressed their
, pleasure in once more seeing the uni
form, and their love for it. Every at
tention in the world was shown Us, and
think my uniform was the cause Of
| it.
i, | was like my good friend, Tom
Pierce. when he went to Mardi- Gras
once, and newsboy kept trying to sell
him paper while the parade was pass
ing by, and finally Tom said, young
man, am seeing more now than can
possibly digest, don't bother me any
more" That was our condition. and
we agreed that we had better get back
to Richmond, as it was costing us about
Sic. 90 day. When got back to the
college. DR.. Robert said that he was
very sorry that didn't know that bis
brother Will lived in Washington. a
high naval officer. and on the staff of
the officer commanding that district.
said, "No. if had known that Will
was keeping house there, I would have
stayed two weeks. for it costs a good
deal to visit city, and put up at one
of those fashionable hotels"
So we returned to Richmond, and
that evening when our good friend,
Mr.. Tuck, found that l had never had
the opportunity to visit the battlefield
Ct Gaines Mills, he said shouldn't
leave Richmond without going out
there, so in spite of our protests, in
short time he had US in an auto, and
out we went to this historic battlefield.
| was very anxious to go once more
to Gaines Mills, and to try to locate
this battlefield, for had beloved un-
Gle, Van Conner, killed in this bat
tie and buried there. | had marked
his grave at the time of his death in
1862, and then when we fought the bat
tie of Cold Harbour, | had remarked
the grave, and thought there might
be some signs of Identification, but l
could not find them.
found the site of the old mill; it had
been replaced by new one; saw the
old ravine we charged over. but could
not tell much about it. just before
-slis battle, for the first and only tioo u
whiske, v,e.os iossscl to cur Dfie1 ADJ. ny
messmate. Robert Wilbofn, proposed
to me that as we didn't drink, We would |
put both drinks in his canteen, and If |
either got shot, we would have the
whiskey. agreed to this, and as we
charged the last line of the Federals
and drove them out; one of them re-
mained after the Yankee line had gone,
and fired his gun and shot Bob down.
| was only few steps away when he
came running up to surrender, and
when he reached our line-infuriated
by his shooting Bob-l pushed my gun
against his breast, and pulled the trig-
ger. | shall never forget the express
sion of his eyes, as he fell backward,
thinking, of course, that he would be
killed. but to my surprise and his great
delight for the first and only time that
day, my gun snapped, and he scrambled
up, and went to the rear. recapped
my gun and it didn't miss firing any
more. | have been glad a thousand
times since then that my gun missed
firing, for would dislike to know posi-
lively that had ever killed man.
Unlike a good many other soldiers,
there was always so much smoke in a
battle that | never knew positively
whether killed one or not. and am
glad of it, and glad that l am like old
Bill Arp. He said, 81 killed as many
of them as they did OF ME"
Cold Harbor was so much bigger a
battle than Gaines Mills that most peo-
ple have lost sight of this battle. Cold
Harbor was almost on the same field
we fought in in 1864 and is noted for
being the last time General Grant tried
to break through the lines of General
Lee by direct charge, as he lost some
l3. 600 men there in about three hours.
He concluded that Lees men were not
to be driven from their trenches, and
he commenced his plan of extending
his left line until Lees line would be so
thin that it would break of itself.
They have Federal cemetery there,
and some of the old forts and lines are
still to be seen. One monument states
that New York brigade lost l,05O men
at this place. When | think how hard
it was to capture line OF trenches, de-
Tended by brave men with the arms
and artillery of that dav. | can very
well see how impossible it is to take a
line of trenches defended b. machine
guns of the present day. | read the
other day where man could be shot in
the head by machine gun and then
shot ten times more before he would
reach the ground.
Returning to Richmond, Mr., Tuck
would have us visit the old st. Johns