Narrow Escape 40 - Jas. Brammer

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NARROW ESCAPES
SOME EXCITING WAR EXPERIENCES NO. 40

Submitted by: Sharon M. Kouns

Ironton Register, Thursday, August 18, 1887

We met Jas. Brammer, of the firm of Brammer Bros., who own a mill near the mouth of Symmes Creek. The subject of narrow escapes, as appearing in the Register, came up. He said his brother, Frank E. Brammer, member of Battery L., 1st O., was the man who built the fire between McGee and Jone, to keep them from freezing to death after their wounds of Cedar Creek. At our request he gave full particulars of his brother’s part in this action:

"After Early’s charge at Cedar Creek, he undertook to save his gun. While harnessing, the infantry were fast getting ground between themselves and the rebels. No regulation method of mounting or starting was observed. Accoutrements and other traps were left scattered over the ground. When he got started there were no other Union boys in sight. On reaching the top of a slight hill, he came in full view of five armed rebels who halted him. He turned his horse as quick as a flash and started off at full gallop. All fired. The quick change of position undoubtedly saved his life, as the bullets whistled directly over where they had been. One struck his horse. He sprung behind the saddle upon another and galloped toward the re-formed Union lines. The driver of the lead horse to his piece had been shot; he being on the wheel horse, lost all control of the team of six horses hitched to the piece. The animals, frightened by the shots and yells, soon became unmanageable, but he pluckily retained his seat. But it was about as dangerous to jump as to stay on the horse, for he would, if not killed by the team, be either shot or captured by the rebels. A bursting shell made them wheel in a circle right broadside to the rebel line, when they poured a deadly volley into them. Bullets whistled in all directions. Five horses in the team were shot. The one that escaped was the near wheel horse upon which he was riding. The off one fell against his leg, pinning him against the tongue in such a manner that he could not escape. A piece of shell struck the horse upon which he was seated, on the neck. Although it had received a death wound, it reared and plunged fearfully, allowing him to free himself from his perilous position. In the struggle, the strong tongue of the calason (?) was broken in two. He sprang up and amid a storm of shots ran for the Union ranks. He could see no one belonging to his battery, so he, on regaining the lines, joined another battery and re-entered the fight which was now raging fiercely on all sides. After the battle, the result of which is known to all, he proceeded to hunt up his own boys, who had given him up for dead.

"You remember," said his brother, "the narrow escapes of Jones and McGee spoken of at length in the Register some time ago? Both had had a leg taken off by a cannon shot in this fight. Well, my brother found them and built a fire between them to keep them from freezing to death. One incident that occurred made him feel worse than anything happening during the whole day. He took an axe and started out to get wood. Seeing what he supposed to be a log of wood, he raised his axe and put his foot on the supposed log, as one naturally would in chopping. Imagine his horror on finding it a human body, stark and stiff in death.

"During the night, Jones, who was suffering terribly, kept up a noise by groaning. In order to ease him, Brammer went to the surgeon for medicine. ‘Give him this,’ said he, handing him a bottle, and he’ll not bother you anymore tonight.’ I took the bottle, but before giving it to him I held it before the light of our fire and found it was laudanum. Verily, had he administered the required dose he would have had no further trouble from poor Jones.

"One thing more about this battle," said Mr. Brammer, "and I will close. A few nights before the battle my brother had a very strange dream, in which he saw the scene of the fight and went through the whole battle. So accurate was his vision of the place that on reaching it, a place he had never seen before, he told his companions they would fight there and get a terrible whipping, and in the language of Chatham, ‘so it proved."

Mr. Brammer was sorry that we could not see Frank, as he would have given us a much better description.