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Funny story at New Madrid

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  • #1

    Funny story at New Madrid

    I'm attempting to read all of Pvt. Charles Wills' (8th IL) letters in his book, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier and last night, came across this entertaining tidbit about the fighting around New Madrid, MO in '62:

    While they were firing the hottest our boys would jump on their little dirt piles in front of the rifle pits and trenches and swing their hats and cheer and drop back into their ditches very rapidly. A shell 18 pounds fell about 20 feet in front of the ditches, and a boy of 12 or 14 years jumped out and grabbed it up while the fuse was still burning. A soldier saw it and hollered at him to drop it and scoot, but he hadn't time to get away, so he dropped it and threw himself flat with his feet toward it and almost then it burst, but harmlessly.
    Ok ... well at least I thought it was funny.
    [SIZE="4"][B][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Eric Michael Burke[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE]
    [B][I][SIZE="2"][COLOR="SlateGray"]"BLACKJACK!"[/COLOR][/SIZE][/I][/B]
    [I][URL="http://www.saltriverrifles.com"]Salt River Rifles[/URL][/I]

    [URL="http://xvcorps.blogspot.com/"]Forty Rounds: Fifteenth Army Corps, 1862-1865[/URL], Blog Owner.

    [SIZE="1"][i][U][B][COLOR="DimGray"]In Proud Memorium:[/COLOR][/B][/U]
    [B]Pvt. James Swingler Chandler (3x Great Grandfather)
    [/B]Co. H, 111th Illinois Volunteer Infantry
    [B]Pvt. John D. Linthicum (4x Great Grandfather)
    [/B]Co. F, 118th Illinois Volunteer Infantry
    [B]Pvt. Martin Van Buren Straight (3x Great Grandfather)
    [/B]Co. E, 23rd Missouri Volunteer Infantry
    [B]Cpl. Andreas Schoen (3x Great Grandfather)
    [/B]Co. A, 30th Missouri Volunteer Infantry
    [B]Pvt. Madison Burke (3x Great Grandfather)
    [/B]Battery B, 1st Ohio Volunteer Heavy Artillery
    [B]Pvt. Eli Bell (4x Great Grandfather)
    [/B]Co. C, 31st Alabama Infantry[/i][/SIZE]
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Funny story at New Madrid

    Being a citizen of New Madrid, I would be most interested in anything else your Illinois soldier had to say about his time here. Please post if there is anything else about the action around here or email me at huntdaw@sheltonbbs.com

    Much obliged,
    Michael Comer
    one of the moderator guys

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Funny story at New Madrid

      Mike,

      You can pick up the book at Amazon for only $12 ...

      http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0809320460/qid=1076022002//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0575837-3981462?v=glance&s=books&n=507846


      He was at New Madrid for at least a week, and is in the habit of writing a letter almost every day. I've learned tremendous amounts from him already, and he's only been in the army a year!

      I highly reccommend this one!
      [SIZE="4"][B][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Eric Michael Burke[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE]
      [B][I][SIZE="2"][COLOR="SlateGray"]"BLACKJACK!"[/COLOR][/SIZE][/I][/B]
      [I][URL="http://www.saltriverrifles.com"]Salt River Rifles[/URL][/I]

      [URL="http://xvcorps.blogspot.com/"]Forty Rounds: Fifteenth Army Corps, 1862-1865[/URL], Blog Owner.

      [SIZE="1"][i][U][B][COLOR="DimGray"]In Proud Memorium:[/COLOR][/B][/U]
      [B]Pvt. James Swingler Chandler (3x Great Grandfather)
      [/B]Co. H, 111th Illinois Volunteer Infantry
      [B]Pvt. John D. Linthicum (4x Great Grandfather)
      [/B]Co. F, 118th Illinois Volunteer Infantry
      [B]Pvt. Martin Van Buren Straight (3x Great Grandfather)
      [/B]Co. E, 23rd Missouri Volunteer Infantry
      [B]Cpl. Andreas Schoen (3x Great Grandfather)
      [/B]Co. A, 30th Missouri Volunteer Infantry
      [B]Pvt. Madison Burke (3x Great Grandfather)
      [/B]Battery B, 1st Ohio Volunteer Heavy Artillery
      [B]Pvt. Eli Bell (4x Great Grandfather)
      [/B]Co. C, 31st Alabama Infantry[/i][/SIZE]

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Funny story at New Madrid

        During his time at New Madrid, Wills had switched from the 8th to the 7th Ill. Cav.

        The book was reprinted by SIU (Carbondale) Press a few years ago.



        John Pillers
        TSM
        John Pillers
        Looking for images/accounts of 7th through 12th Ill. Inf. regiments from April 1861 - April 1862

        'We're putting the band back together'

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Funny story at New Madrid

          Yeah, John you're right, I forgot to mention that. :(
          [SIZE="4"][B][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Eric Michael Burke[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE]
          [B][I][SIZE="2"][COLOR="SlateGray"]"BLACKJACK!"[/COLOR][/SIZE][/I][/B]
          [I][URL="http://www.saltriverrifles.com"]Salt River Rifles[/URL][/I]

          [URL="http://xvcorps.blogspot.com/"]Forty Rounds: Fifteenth Army Corps, 1862-1865[/URL], Blog Owner.

          [SIZE="1"][i][U][B][COLOR="DimGray"]In Proud Memorium:[/COLOR][/B][/U]
          [B]Pvt. James Swingler Chandler (3x Great Grandfather)
          [/B]Co. H, 111th Illinois Volunteer Infantry
          [B]Pvt. John D. Linthicum (4x Great Grandfather)
          [/B]Co. F, 118th Illinois Volunteer Infantry
          [B]Pvt. Martin Van Buren Straight (3x Great Grandfather)
          [/B]Co. E, 23rd Missouri Volunteer Infantry
          [B]Cpl. Andreas Schoen (3x Great Grandfather)
          [/B]Co. A, 30th Missouri Volunteer Infantry
          [B]Pvt. Madison Burke (3x Great Grandfather)
          [/B]Battery B, 1st Ohio Volunteer Heavy Artillery
          [B]Pvt. Eli Bell (4x Great Grandfather)
          [/B]Co. C, 31st Alabama Infantry[/i][/SIZE]

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Funny story at New Madrid

            Good to hear. I will pick up a copy of that book.

            Thanks,
            Michael Comer
            one of the moderator guys

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Funny story at New Madrid

              Originally posted by huntdaw
              Good to hear. I will pick up a copy of that book.

              Thanks,

              Mike,

              Shoot, I might even sell you my spare. Signed by John Y. Simon, history guru at SIU.

              Hey that rhymes.....


              No prob Eric,

              For those not keeping score, Wills started in the 8th Ill. Inf., went to 7th Ill. Cav. before winding up in the 103rd Ill. Inf. Whew.

              As an 8th Ill. fan, I got the book for his early service, mainly. What rocked my world was he mentioned two separate issues of state gray uniforms.

              His cav tenure with emphasis on New Madrid/Island No. 10 is interesting.

              John Pillers
              skulkerjohn@yahoo.com
              John Pillers
              Looking for images/accounts of 7th through 12th Ill. Inf. regiments from April 1861 - April 1862

              'We're putting the band back together'

              Comment

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