M r D. T. Miles saw the
war, fighting in the old 6th Ohio. He belonged to Co. B, not
the company the Lawrence county boys were in, but he knew
several of the Lawrence squad, during those days of fighting
and fasting. Mr. Miles was in all the big fights, and upon our
pressing invitation, he related some of his personal
experiences, in the way of a narrow escape. He said
substantially:
"At last, the flush of the gray morning began to reveal the
outlines of Mission Ridge above, and peering into the woods in
front of me, I saw dimly a reb picket in his dug-out, as
intent on looking for me as I was for him. He was about 60
yards distant, but neither of us fired, for there was a sort
of law or honor between the pickets, that neither should shoot
at the other, unless these was an aggressive movement on hand;
that while we were simply watching each other, there should be
no shootin...[hard to read]
"When the reb fired, he skipped, and when I landed safely, I
skipped after him, and I shot |
at him when he wasn't twenty feet away, and plague me, if I
didn't miss hi and he seemed as big as a barn door. And from
that on, there must have been twenty of our boys shot at him,
and not one hit him. That reb go into the rebel entrenchments
at the foot of the Mission ridge, which was but a short
distance ahead.
"But we were ordered back, across the creek, again, to make
ready to attach the breastworks in front of us. And right here
I met with another 'narrow escape,' and quite similar to the
one, just narrated. While recrossing the creek, a shell came
from the rebel batteries, a big round fuse shell, and struck
the water right at my feet, but the fuse was extinguished
before the shell exploded, for if it had burst, I wouldn't be
here to tell you know the big Georgian and I failed to kill
each other."
"Well, Mr. Miles," answered the reporter, "I am exceedingly
glad it didn't explode on your own account, and, also, on mine
for I would have been sorry to have missed such a very
interesting reminiscence."
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