new one two weeks later. The stretcher kept me from
the ground, and was an important factor in my recovery. A man was placed
beside me shot through the body. He was in an agony of pain, and it was
impossible for him to restrain his groans. When the ambulance started,
it went anywhere but in a good road, and as it bumped over logs and
boulders, my broken leg would thresh about like the mauler of a flail. I
found it necessary to keep it in place by putting the other one over it.
At last we stopped and were unloaded. It was still dark, but in due
time light broke in the East, and a little later I could roll my head
and take in some of the surroundings. Most of the wounded of the
regiment had been gathered at this place, and we made by far the largest
part of it. Many of the men were so hurt that they could move about, and
they all came and made me an early morning call. After a time two of our
regimental doctors appeared. They cut open my trousers leg, found where
the bullet went in, and, I think, put a strip of adhesive plaster over
the wound, and they did the same with the shoulder. It was clear to my
mind that the leg, at least, must come off. I expressed my opinion and
said, I thought it would be better to do it at once, than to wait till
inflammation set in. At my earnest request they promised me that they
would see to it that I should be among the first operated on.

While in this place my life long friend and companion, Lieut. Isaac
Plumb, came to me. We had been side by side since the organization of
the regiment, and, until now, neither of us had been badly hurt. He told
me that he saw me as I went down, and sang out "Uncle Fuller, that's
good for sixty days." He said I made up quite a face, as if it hurt.
Shortly afterward he said he had a remarkable experience. He was struck
and knocked down, and he supposed a bullet had gone through him, and he
was done for. He said he clapped his hands over the place of the
supposed wound and held on tight, with the thought that conscious
existence might be a little prolonged. He expected to feel life ebbing,
but he retained consciousness, and, after a while, lifted his hands,
expecting to see an eruption of blood, but he did not. He began to move
his body with no bad results, and, finally, got onto his feet, resumed
his place and left the field with his men. He did not discover what had
happened till he prepared to bunk down for the night, when he unbuckled
his sword belt he