42nd Mississippi Infantry
Col. Bond.
My Dear Sir,
I have just received your letter of 19th Jan., and will comply with your request.
I fully appreciate the high compliment you have paid me which could come from none but a brave, generous spirit. I will commence, by answering your questions to the best of my knowledge & c--. You ask 1st �give the names, rank & regt. of the men who composed your party.� Answer. There was no party or commander of a party in the matter.-2nd �state if you were (as I suppose) the only one who got back�-A. no; Private Johnson I believe of Co. H. 42nd Miss. received a severe wound in the shoulder, living in Calhoun Co. Miss., last I heard of him. If any others I dont know of them. 3rd �was the flag with its guard in front of the regt., or on the flank as stated by the members of the 149th Pa.� A.-It was with its guard in front of the 42nd Miss. I do not know whether it was in front or flank of the 149th Pa. 4th �How far was it from it�s regt.-and how far was the regiment from the house.� A.About 100 yds from the regiment, 150 from the house, I believe. I dont differ very far from your good guesses of the distance, not knowing in what direction from the 42nd you were standing.------
Now I will endeavor to give you a short accurate and unbiased statement of the flag capture; and to do it seems necessary to start you with the 42nd Miss. from the opening of the bayonet charge at or near the point from whence you were afterwards standing, when you opened fire on the men that was making off with the colors. It seems to me the space of ground allotted to the 42nd to carry in order to enter the town, lay between a R.R. cut and a turnpike, with a rail fence on each side the T.P. The enemy was driven from his position (which the 42nd pursuing with yells of victory, when it was discovered we were being flanked by a body of the enemy, proceeding from or near the notable 2 story house, and to our right flank. Our Col. H{ugh} R. Miller immediately gave the enemy an enfilading fire-but in the confusion we were precipitated into a deep R.R. cut, and in extricating ourselves from the unfortunate occurrence, lost heavily and very nearly all of Co. B was captured. However, we soon got out of the trouble with a few braves left, and were in position for a second charge, as the first. But the enemy had retired over the brow of the hill leaving their colors planted on the hill and it�s guard protected by the rail pile. As there was now no enemy seen we were wrdered to rest. While at rest the flags in front of us became an interesting topic of conversation. Among the many remarks made in regar to capturing them, fool-hardy was somewhat often used, by the boys. I was lying very near Col. M. Being somewhat rested, without permission or orders, I rose upon my feet, waved my hat, and made directly for the flags. When about halfway I discovered I was about to be reinforced by 2 or 3 men from the 42nd and if not mistaken 1 or 2 from the 2nd Miss. I did not know Lt. R. of the 2nd, who hastened up and joined me in arms length of the flags. Poor fellow, in the very act of grasping the flag staff he fell, yes, fell, covered with glory fame and honor. Yes.
�Fame is there to tell who bleeds
And honor�s eye on daring deeds.�
But to return, when in a few feet of the rail pile, with 4 bright muskets with bayonets leveled at me I did not look back, but with a super human effort I cleared the points of the bayonets and with the P.A.flag staff in my left hand, and an Enfield rifle in the right, landed in a pile of 4 live Yankees. Now comes the tug of war in earnest. My herculean antagonist bore one flag & all several yds. down the slope toward his line of battle: finally the staff was wrested from his grasp and away I fled back across the brow of the hill passing the rail pile, pressed hard by my heroic enemy. I became entangled in it�s long silken folds and fell! In an instant my pursuer is in five feet of me with the same bright bayonet at a charge. In a moment the bright musket lay upon the ground close by my side, he grasped the proud old flag and was making way with it across the ridge: as soon as I could recover myself, I pursued, when within about ten steps of him he stopped, dropped upon his knees, then slowly reclining, lay beside the flag. He was shot! I did not shoot him, nor do I believe anyone knows who did, as there was constant firing from both sides. At this time, I noticed some of our men coming near him and knowing he was disabled I paid no more attention to the flag. As I believed they would carry it to my Co., which they did and awarded it to me.
This is a correct statement as near as I now remember of the part I took in the capture of the flag. I enclose you a clipping from the Richmond Daily Enquirer, July 23rd, 1863 by Capt. P.F.Young after the battle. As it is the only paper of that date I have, I wish to keep it for a relic; please return it. My mother has a piece of the flag sent her by Capt. Jones. Cap.J. is a good friend of mine. He was Company Capt. of our reg�t. and had been promoted to Major, but was in the battle 1st day July and I remember well our Col. ordering him to the rear that day, but he would not leave the field nor shun danger.
It seems that no two men in heat of battle can see alike the same thing or if so, their stories must differ. I remember passing far beyond the 2 story house into the suburbs of the town, the enemy giving ground only inch by inch and near the turnpike road, I saw a wounded Confederate staff officer standing or reclining against his horse-a bay-I believe. I remember, also, standing at the door of a house while Sergt. Holman, Priv. Eubanks & some others of our Co. were clearing it of Yankees. Never was a house so full of live men. I stood at the door and saw them drop their arms, and strike out for Libby Prison Richmond, Va. I think between 3 or 5 hundred came out of the house, a great many officers or high rank. One Genl. refused to give me his sword-I apologized-he passed on. I remember seeing other regts. of the enemy besides the 149th P.A. It seems the 2nd N.H. Vols was the first line we charged over in the morning. They ought to know if there was one left to tell the tale. I have heard we lost a Tenn. brigade, entire capture, on our right before we made our first charge, which was early after sunrise. We covered a wide space of ground with our regiment to prevent being flanked. Have heard the 55th Va. Vol. joined to our right in the evening. I went with them, near the town driving the Yankees and then returned to my regiment which I found at rest in rear of the 2 story house some 100 yds. There were many prisoners & flags captured that 1st day. I have your first letter written to Capt. Jones, also a copy of the Advance in which your letter was published, together with your photograph which I intend to preserve as family relic. I will send you my photo as soon as I can have one taken, I live some distance from an artist. I shall forward you all information I can collect about the battle. I hope you will receive this as a letter from a friend. Cull it as suits your necessities with kind wishes for yourfuture, I will close.
Respectfully Yours,
Fank D. Price
The Bachelder Papers
Volume I, Page 524
Complied by Daivd and Audrey Ladd