Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 99, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 April 1914 — WAR REMINISCENCES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WAR REMINISCENCES

UNDER FEET OF GENERAL LEG George Kimball of Lexington, Mass* Lay Wounded In Hallway During Last Day’s Fight. *T had Just arrived from my horn* in Maine,” said George Kimball of 31; Forest street, Lexington, Mass., “when the war broke out I was twenty-one years of age and Just ripe for fight Inf. I enlisted in Company A, Twelfth (Webster) regiment “I was wounded at Fredericksburg and got back to my regiment two weeks before the march to Gettysburg. Never have I seen such enthusiasm as was shown when the boys were told that we were to march to Gettysburg, the thought of the army getting out of Virginia into free country being a very bright one. “As we came nearer we could hearthe firing and as we marched on we met A. P. Hill, who had just come up with troops to Seminary Ridge and had had a lively fight for four hours. "My regiment stood against the enemy until we had:fired all our ammunition and then fought with clubbed muskets and bayonets. “We were then ordered to charge on Iverson’s North Carolina brigade and as we went forward many of the rebels shook their handkerchiefs in the air as a signal that they would quit and came toward us. “In the excitement, somehow, my comrades bad gotten away from me and suddenly I discovered that I waa alone in the bunch of Confederates who had given up. We had been talking for some little time and the rest of my comrades had evidently fallen back. “I started to get away, but the Confederates, seeing that I was alone, ordered me to halt I started to run and they fired. At this time a cross fire was coming In from the Union soldiers and as I ran I was struck in the groin, the ball passing through to my hip. “I lay there and saw the armies sway back and forth and after a time was carried into the home of Rev. Mr. Baugher, near by, by the Confederates. I was there during the battle and for five days afterward. I was placed on the floor of the front hall and received good care from the Confederate surgeon, Doctor Fraser, who used to remark, ‘We’re all human, don’t be afraid.’ “I remember one incident as I lay on the floor. General Lee came Into the house to watch the progress of the battle from the upper floor of the house and In passing through the house he stepped over me very carefully. “As I got a little strength I could shift myself about and look out onto the field of battle. I saw Pickett come out of the forest into the open and make that famous charge. Out of the din of battle I beard a mighty cheer go np from the Union soldiers and I knew what that meant Then I saw Pickett’s men come straggling back carrying their wounded with them.” Mr. Kimball visited Miss Baugher in 1883 when a member of a committee sent to mark out various spots on the battlefield. Again in 1885 he visited the place and paid a visit.