The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.

Friday, February 4, 2022

Joseph Ricketts and 1st Lt. William M. McKeen

"Joseph Ricketts was a strong man.    His energies were untiring, his sense of duty supreme.  He had had a military training; he was skillful as a tactician.  What he knew, he knew thoroughly.  He had fully  grasped the principles of his teachings and was apt and ready in their application.

"His generous sympathy was evidenced  by his readiness to relieve the suffering of horses, and his heroic death attested  his eminent courage.  Fitted for an advancement which the casualties of war would soon have brought him, he was destined thus early in his career for the most honorable of all soldier's epitaphs:
"killed in action."

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"First Lieutenant William M. McKeen was about this time  in the action also most seriously wounded.  A shot passed through his body involving a vital organ.  His life was for a long time despaired of.

"He recovered subsequently, however, to again take a prominent place in the business community."

--Old Secesh


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