From the Rapidan to Richmond and the Spottsylvania Campaign: A Sketch in Personal Narration of the Scenes a Soldier SawDame, William Meade
History
From the Rapidan to Richmond and the Spottsylvania Campaign: A Sketch in Personal Narration of the Scenes a Soldier Saw
Dame, William Meade
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate
No! I forgot! There was one other casualty,--Robert Fulton Moore was
mortally wounded, _in the hat brim_. And this gave rise to a most
amusing scene. Robert Fulton was a driver to the limber of the third
gun. He was a large, soft, man, and was, by no means, characterized by
soldierly bearing, or warlike sentiments. On the contrary, he was
something of a "butt," and was always desperately unhappy under fire. He
could dodge lower off the back of a horse at sound of a shell, than any
man living. His miraculous feats, in this performance, afforded much
diversion, whenever the guns went under fire, to us all, except his
Sergeant, Moncure, who was very much ashamed of it. Still, in a
general, feeble sort of way Robert Fulton had managed to keep up without
any flagrant act of flinching from his post. On this occasion he had
stood up better than usual. He stood holding his horses, and we noticed,
with pleasure, that he was behaving very well under fire. But, it seems,
his courage was only "hanging by the eyelids" so to speak.
Presently a piece of shell came whizzing very close to his head. It cut
away part of his hat brim, and alas! this was too much! Poor Robert
Fulton went all to pieces, instantly. Completely demoralized,
panic-stricken and frantic with terror, he dropped his reins, and struck
out wildly. It seems, he had seen Ellis, our lead driver, scooping out
the hole that has been referred to, and as this was the only hole of any
kind in reach, he instinctively struck for it. Ellis was lying down in
it, flat on his back, with his arms stretched upward, holding his
horses. Robert Fulton rounded the limber, and threw himself down with
all his weight, right upon, and completely covering up, Ellis, and stuck
his face in the dirt over Ellis' shoulder, effectually pinning him down.
Ellis was a fiery, ugly-tempered fellow, but as brave as Julius Caesar,
and of all men in the battery he had the greatest contempt for Moore,
and especially for his present conduct. Ellis, upon finding Moore on top
of him, was in a perfect blaze of fury. The breath was nearly knocked
out of him by Moore's weight, and he was mashed into the narrow hole,
and embarrassed by the reins of his horses. He tried to throw Moore off,
and couldn't. Then he broke loose! He yelled, and swore, and bit, and
pulled Moore's hair, and socked his spurs into him, with both feet. He
would have broken a blood vessel if McCarthy, assisted by Moncure, who
had come to look after his driver, had not pulled Moore off, and taken
him back to his post.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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