The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Confederate Soldier Honored-- Part 3

Lt. Colonel Benjamin Carter was wounded by a shell fragment in the face at Devil's Den July 2, 1863. I came across a write up in the Find-a-Grave site that had Carter dying at New Franklin and then taken to Chambersburg where he was buried, then reinterred at the church.

His wife and three daughters had died earlier in the war, so there was no one left to retrieve the body. The site also had photos of the April 10, 2010, ceremony.

At Gettysburg, the 4th Texas was in General Hood's Divison and were in Robertson's Brigade, also called the Texas Brigade. The 4th's Colonel John C. G. Key was wounded and Carter briefly took command before he too was wounded. The 5th Texas had its colonel wounded and captured and lt. col also wounded so they were in the thick of the fighting on the western slope of the Big Round Top.

The night before the July 2nd action, members of the regiment might have witnessed the historical meeting of Generals Lee, Longstreet, Hood and A. P. Hill as they planned out the battle as it took place nearby.

While waiting to go into battle on the 2nd, the Texas Brigade came under heavy Union artillery fire. One shell killed or wounded 15 men. Another one decapitated a man and another cut one in half, splattering all those around with blood.

Then, as the 4th advanced up the slope, they came under fire from the 2nd US Sharpshooters.

Definitely Not a Safe Place to Be with the Texans. --Old B-Runner

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