Marion-Cobb County GaArchives News.....Memories of War Times October 1908 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Harris Hill http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00011.html#0002514 December 7, 2003, 5:33 pm Confederate Veteran Vol. XVI Oct. 1908 Confederate Veteran Vol. XVI Oct. 1908 MEMORIES OF WAR TIMES by Joe F. Williams, Walnut Grove, Miss. I joined the Confederate army in Company K (Joe Rodgers, captain), 5th Mississippi Regiment, at Chattanooga, Tenn. My first battle was that of Chickamauga, September 18-20, 1863. I was shot in the neck on the 19th. The bullet lodged in my body somewhere, and is still there. Jack Sanders saw me falling and caught me. The captain said, "let him alone," but he held on to me as if I had been his brother. He took me about two miles and made me a bed of straw. During the night the straw caught fire near me. Being paralyzed, I could not move; but I managed to wake him, and he kept me from burning. The next morning he returned to the command. I was taken to a field hospital, and thence Marietta, Ga. My father came and took me home. A few days after I got home, a paroled soldier, W.T. Edgeman, came to our home. He had been captured at Vicksburg. He stayed with us several months. His home was in Texas. He went back to the war with me and joined my company. We fought together in the "Rye Patch" battle, May 15, 1864. I should like to hear from him. He was a fine boy. The day I was eighteen, May 17, 1864, I rejoined the army. I did so just to be with my brothers. There were four of us in the same company. One was killed in that terrible battle at Franklin, Tenn. I lost my right arm near Atlanta July 22, 1864; then my fighting was over. But there came something worse; I was captured in thirty yards of the breastworks, and was hauled in a rough wagon about twenty miles to their field hospital, where my arm was amputated on the 26th. I suffered greatly. The wound became infested and they used turpentine as a disinfectant, which caused agony. On September 1, I was sent to the hospital at Marietta, Ga. A Yankee woman proposed to dress my arm every day if I would give her a ring that I was wearing. She got the ring. One day I was walking on the street when I met an old lady, "Grandma Calder." I went to her home every day. She gave me nice dinners and money. Two young ladies, the Misses White, lived near her. They were planning to get me out by dressing me in ladies' clothes, getting passes, and riding out of town, as they often did. Just then a Yankee called for me and said: "Johnnie, they sent for you to go back to the hospital." In two days I was sent to Atlanta, Ga., and put in prison, where I stayed about two weeks. They sent me to Chattanooga, Tenn., and there I was put in jail for three weeks. Then I went to Nashville, Tenn., and put in the penitentiary for three days. While we were on the train, a Yankee hung his haversack near me, and I was so hungry that I slipped a cracker just as easy and ate it as sly as a mouse. That was all the stealing I did during the war. They took me to Louisville, Ky., and after four days sent me to Camp Douglas, Ill. When we were inside the gate, we had to undress, even pull off our shoes and socks, in the snow, six inches deep, that they might know we had no arms. We were put in barracks. I was sick, and the doctor called to see me every morning. He would say: "Good morning, Mr. Williams. How do you feel this morning? Take one of these pills every two hours or take them all at once; it doesn't make any difference." I had mumps and smallpox, and did not want anything to eat; so I got along well on that line. We were sent from there March 15, 1865, to Baltimore, Md., and by boat on the Chesapeake Bay into the James River, twenty miles below Richmond. I took pneumonia and was sent to a hospital. I was so sick that I could not see, and could not get any medicine. Hamil McDonald told me that if we didn't get out soon, the Yankees would get us again. I didn't think I could walk, but I thought I would rather die on my way home than get in their hands again. So he got us a sixty days' furlough, and I walked a mile and a half to get a train. We went through North and South Carolina, and reached my old home where I was born, in Marion County, Ga. I weighed one hundred and thirteen pounds. I stayed with Uncle and Aunt Nancy Greene, who treated me as if I had been their own son. I was with them two months, until the surrender. I left for home June 1, and reached there the 10th. I went to school until I was twenty-two years old. I was married to Miss Fannie Hays, of Philadelphia, January 14, 1869. We had eight children, and six are living. Three daughters and one son are married, while one daughter and a son are unmarried. My wife died January 25, 1895. I was married to Miss Fannie Burnett, of Carthage, Miss., July 21, 1896. I was converted and joined Cumberland Presbyterian Church (where I expect to stay) in July, 1862. I have been an elder since 1866. I have attended five General Assemblies: at Evansville, Ind., Nashville, Tenn., Marshall, Mo., Springfield, Mo., and Dallas, Tex. I have been to four reunions of the old soldiers. At the first, in Atlanta, I visited the battle ground on which I lost my arm. I met some of Grandma Calder's family, but she was already numbered amongst the blessed. At the next, in Memphis, Tenn., I met Jackson Hudson, whom I hadn't seen in thirty- four years; then at New Orleans and next at Dallas. I hope all the veterans who read this are Christians, and that one day when we "pass over the river" we will rest beneath the shade of the trees. Additional Comments: There was a James Green mentioned the Marion History Book by Cobb as an early planter in the Brantley area. I don't know if that was in the Red Bone district or not. I have been unable to locate a Senator Green in my references, but I believe this is Uncle and Aunt Nancy Greene's household in the 1860 census. CENSUS YR: 1860 TERRITORY: GA COUNTY: Marion DIVISION: Redbone District REEL NO: M653-130 PAGE NO: 79 REFERENCE: 12 Sept 1860, L. W. Wall, Ass't Marshal 15 575 9999 Green Rebecca 70 F Domestic 400 1,015 N Carolina 16 575 9999 Green Morsey 73 F Domestic N Carolina X 17 576 9999 Green James, Sen. 63 M Farmer 1,500 4,390 N Carolina 18 576 9999 Green Nancy 57 F Domestic N Carolina 19 576 9999 Green Darcus 27 F Domestic N Carolina 20 576 9999 Green Thomas 20 M Farm Laborer Georgia X 21 576 9999 Green Mary A 20 F Domestic Georgia X James I. and Nancy Green of Marion County GA were my husband's 4th greatgrandparents. (James I. Green has been known as Sen. James Green, of Marion County, GA.)James I, son of Lott Green, of Duplin Co., NC, had a sister named AnnGreen, who married Stephen Williams. I have one son of theirs, Lott Williams. Isthere a possibility that Joe F. Williams was also their son?researcher: Diane Walls walls2381@aikenelectric.net This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 7.3 Kb