Reprinted from Confederate Veteran's Magazine; Vol. II, No. 11 (1903) The battle of Jonesboro, Georgia, occurred on the 1st of September, 1864, and the incident I wish to relate happened on that day. We arrived at Jonesboro early that morning and took position to the north of the railroad about three hundred yards, at the elbow, where we immediately commenced to throw up a breastwork for our artillery, four Armstrong ten pound rifles, the very best guns in the army. By one o'clock we had finished our works, brought up the ammunition wagons and caissons, and placed them under the hill immediately behind the guns. Our support consisted of a very thin line of the old Arkansas Brigade of Infantry. The troops on our left had been fighting for over two hours, and we had been looking out eagerly expecting every moment to see the Yankees come out of the woods in our front. It was about five o'clock when the first line made its appearance, then another and another, until five double lines were in full view, coming in double quick. Our guns opened on them at a distance of three quarters of a mile, and kept it up, the Yankees halting only at times to reline, then on again. Shortly our infantry commenced on them, and we began to use double charges of canister, but they kept coming. Their rear line caught up with the. front ones, and soon they were on our breastworks. Our infantry and artillery were still firing as rapidly as possible, but hundreds of them were climbing over the works. The first ones that came in found the gun already loaded and ready to fire. The embrasure was filled with howling Yankees. One of them called to the man who was firing the gun that if he fired again he would run his bayonet through him, but the gunner paid no attention and fired, clearing out the porthole. The Yank pulled down his gun and drove his bayonet through the gunner's breast, pinning him to the ground, and, putting his foot on the manes breast, jerked the bayonet out, leaving his man on the ground, as he thought, dead. There were others in the battery who distinguished themselves. Another, a gunner, took his ramrod and struck a Yankee on the head, crushing his skull. The battery and all of the Arkansas Brigade were captured at this point. That night they were all marched to Atlanta, among them the man who was run through with a bayonet. The next day some one told Gen. Jeff Davis, who was in command at Atlanta, that there had been a hand—to—hand fight at Jonesboro. He hooted at it, and asked his informer to show him some of the bayoneted men; and, when informed that there was one now dawn at the bull pen with the prisoners, he instantly gave orders to bring him up, as he was anxious to see him. The man was brought to headquarters and showed the wound, but Davis was not satisfied until the surgeon passed a probe through it from front to back, the surgeon pulling it through. Gen. Davis was satisfied. He gave the man a good suit of citizen's —clothes and a pass, giving him the freedom of Atlanta. The man walked out, looked around to get his bearings, turned south, and on the morning of the next day was at Gen. Hardee's. headquarters in Lovejoy Station in fine spirits. I suppose you would like to know this man's name and what became of him. Of course the Confederate government gave him a metal of honor, or recognized his gallantry in some way. No, such deeds were not uncommon with the Confederate soldier at that time, so no special attention was made of it. His name is Bob Stricker, and he now lives at Vicksburg, Miss. He was at the time a member of Swett's Battery, commanded by Capt. Harvey Shannon. Back to The Zouave Vol I No. 2 Table of Contents Back to The Zouave List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1987 The American Civil War Society This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com