He was simply arrogant and very insulting. I felt that he deserved
to die. He said he would show the rebels how a Union man could die.
I do not know what all he did say. When the shooting detail came up,
he went of his own accord and knelt down at the post. The Captain
commanding the squad gave the command, "Ready, aim, fire!" and Rowland
tumbled over on his side. It was the last of Rowland.
KILLING A YANKEE SHARPSHOOTER
In our immediate front, at Corinth, Mississippi, our men were being
picked off by sharpshooters, and a great many were killed, but no one
could tell where the shots came from. At one particular post it was
sure death. Every detail that had been sent to this post for a week had
been killed. In distributing the detail this post fell to Tom Webb and
myself. They were bringing off a dead boy just as we went on duty.
Colonel George C. Porter, of the 6th Tennessee, warned us to keep a good
lookout. We took our stands. A minnie ball whistled right by my head.
I don't think it missed me an eighth of an inch. Tom had sat down on an
old chunk of wood, and just as he took his seat, zip! a ball took the
chunk of wood. Tom picked it up and began laughing at our tight place.
Happening to glance up towards the tree tops, I saw a smoke rising above
a tree, and about the same time I saw a Yankee peep from behind the tree,
up among the bushes.
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