Ironton Register 14 June 1888 – Frank Fox was riding along Fourth Street and the Register reporter jumped into the vehicle and took a ride with him.
“I think Congressman Thompson is right in his effort to remove the restriction of time for pension arrears. An old soldier should have his pension from the date of disability,” said he.
“So, you were in the army, Mr. Frank Fox?” remarked the reporter.
“Yes, I was in it from the beginning to the end. I went out to the 59th Ohio. Do you remember the company or the part of the company Oliver McClure got up here? Well, I went with him. He was a smart fellow and soon after we entered active service, he was placed in the Engineer Corps. The retrenchments thrown up about Knoxville were done under the direction of O. L. McClure.”
“Did you have any ‘Narrow Escape’ in the war, Mr. Frank Fox?” queried the reporter.
“Of course, I did, several. About the closest that I now recall was down at Franklin, Tennessee, after our campaign in Georgia. My regiment was in the 23rd Corps. at Franklin, Tennessee. We made a stand and the rebs came on us in force.
Now I don’t recollect all about the movements of the army, but I do recollect the pickle our company got into. The left of our regiment touched a pike leading out of Franklin. Just where it touched the pike was a little barricade. Just ten of our regiment were ordered to charge the barricade and drive the rebels out.
Now that wasn’t an easy thing for there were lots of them. However, we made the charge and the rebs concluded they wouldn’t go, and really for a while, I thought they wouldn’t. But after some time under our well-directed assault and close firing, they began to get on the other side of the entrenchments and then our company charged right into the barricade and there is where the ‘Narrow Escape’ which I started to tell.
“The first thing I knew I was face to face with a big reb and he exclaimed, ‘You Yankee son-of-a-gun surrender.’ I saw his gun and no bayonet and mine had so I said, ‘No sir, you surrender’, but just then he jumped at me and grabbed my gun. As I said he was a pretty big fellow and I felt a little sorry I had tackled him, but I was in for it, so I struggled to get my gun from him.
We seesawed and wrestled up and down for some time. I was awful anxious that some of our boys would rush to help me, but it seems that every fellow had enough to do to take care of himself. At last, by a violent jerk, I managed to get my gun from him and as I did he turned and to scrambled over the barricade but quick as a flash I jumped at him and gave a thrust with my bayonet.
Whether it hurt him much or not I do not know but it hurried his getting over the barricade for he rather tumbled over than climbed. I felt a big sense of relief when the tussle was over for, I was about as near a goner then as ever in my life.
“We drove the rebs but, they made several more attacks and finally drove us back. We had fought them at that barricade from 3 o’clock in the afternoon till 1 o’clock at night. Our company had gone into the fight with 37 men and the next morning 7 were fit for duty. So, you see how narrow the escape was.”
“It was a very narrow one,” said the reporter, “but you never heard how bad you struck that fellow?”
“No,” replied Mr. Frank Fox, “and I am not anxious to.”
0 Comments