Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1916-06-16
INDIANAPOLIS VETERAN
HAS FLAG MADE BY
BETTY ROSS DAUGHTER
Indianapolis News.l

The approach of Flag day has caused q
veteran of the Civil War, c. V. Chandler,
2945 kenwood avenue, to bring forth a
flag long in his possession, that was made
by Mrs. Wilson, the daughter of Betsy
Ross, who made the first American flag.
Betsy Ross was authorized by congress
to make flags, and her daughter Mrs.
Wilson. succeeded her in this business.
She died before the end of the civil war
Mr.. Chambers flag is hand made and
each of the 81 stars which represented
the number of states at the time it was
made, was cut out by hand and sewed on
each side of the flag.
Il thought that Flag day" said Mr.
Chandler. Ought to cause some patriotic
emotions and so l got out this banner 70
remind me that in my 70-odd years have
seen great changes. Our flag means the
same now as it did when this old one was
made, though there are more stars than
there used to be-"
Served in War.
Mr.. Chandler served two years during
the war. He went home from Lake For
est college a freshman and enlisted in
the 18th Illinois Infantry. His regiment
was with Gordon Granger at the battle
of Chickamauga. The 18th Illinois in this
battle in two hours lost 40 per cent. of its
effective men. Mr.. Chandler was the last
man in the regiment to fall. This was Oh
sunday evening, the second day of the
battle. The heavy lighting was over. and
he was congratulating himself on his I'M
expected escape when a mimic ball bored
it's way through one leg. Almost imme-
diately another bullet plowed into the
other leg. His escape from injuries would
have been unexpected, because he had
had a dream that he was going to be
shot
II am not a believer in dream S and their
significance" he said in discussing the
battle. "A soldiers life is lived among
dangers and alarms and it is only natural
that he should dream of disaster My
dream at Chickamauga was that our
major would be killed and that my chum
and l would be wounded.
Dream Came True.
"All these things came true. We were
supporting Thomas when l received my
wounds. There is nothing novel in a SOL
dier's receiving gunshot wounds, but 1t
MAY seem lllll6 curious IN CneSe Gays
of antseptics that l should have gone
from Sunday evening till Friday without
attention from a surgeon, and yet suffer
TO blood poisoning. This was before the
discovery of blood poison.
MY dream had seemed so real to me
that had gone to the hospital before the
battle, obtained some bandages and sewed
them lightly in my pocket. When l was
shot / Immediately used these bandages,
comrades helping to bind me up. With
their help l mounted a wounded artillery
horse and rode from shutdown to mid
night, until we reached Rossville. One
of the bullets had passed through the
feshy part of my leg; but the other had
lodged. 1t was SO painful that | con-
Guided. in the absence of surgeons, to ex-
tract it myself. With a penknife I fol-
lowed the bullet hole, found the bullet
and finally took it out 1t was several
days after this before 1 reached the hos
pital and was treated by a surgeon. It
was many weeks before I was able to
walk without clutches. But l had no
blood poisoning.
Battles Not More Fierce.
"They are having bloodier battles in
these modern times than ours, perhaps,
but they are no more fiercely contested;
and l doubt if battles will ever be fought
again as we fought them. men facing one
another in the open and fighting to ex-
haustion.''
Mr. Chandler lived until recent years In
Illinois He was several times delegate
to national conventions. He had heard
Abraham Lincoln debate with Douglass
at Galesburg in October, 1858, and followed
his career with unhagging interest there
after. Still a youth. he had gone to Chi
cago and been present at the convention
when Lincoln was nominated for the
presidency. Afterward he helped nomi-
nate two old soldiers for national Offices