Phillip Riter Interesting War Experiences
Narrow Escape #36
Ironton Register – July 21, 1887
Submitted by Linda Adkins
Seeing Phillip Riter seated on a rustic bench puffing away at his favorite pipe and watching the blue curling wreaths as they ascended, seemingly contented with all the world now, I thought was a good time for a “narrow escape.” He met with a pleasant laugh and said he had several but could not just now recall them. A fellow workman spoke up and said, “Tell that one you gave us the other day. It’s a good one. Well, I’ll let you have that as nearly correct as I can give it.”
“I belonged to Co. G, 2nd VA Cavalry. It was August of ’63. We were stationed at Martinsburg. The main street in that place passed through the center of the town, meeting the river at right angles on one side and a creek running along the base of a hill on the other. This creek was full of the finest fish, and we spent much time seining and taking them by hand.
“A short distance above the creek was a fine spring of clear, cold water, and we frequently gathered around it for a talk and drink. We had been on picket duty and were gathered here one day when we received word that our regiment was leaving their position on the opposite side of the town.
“We were not relieved at the proper time but stayed till about 12 o’clock when the sergeant ordered us into line, and we moved off the knoll where we were down a slope to some level ground at a short distance from the spring. Here we all got ready for a rest. The boys suspected nothing wrong, and we all got ready for a jolly time. Horses were unsaddled and fed, lunch was washed with the cool spring water in our canteens, and all scattered themselves over the ground, laughing, chatting, and some sleeping.
“I could not rest easy as something had been troubling me all morning. I knew everything was not all right, and as soon as my horse was done eating, I started to saddle him. My saber, I had not taken off as the others had. Seeing what I was doing, Coon Waits said, “Jake, what are you doing that for; are you afraid the rebs will take you?”
“At this, I did not put the bits in the horse’s mouth but slipped the bridle over his head. A little while after this, I saw a big dust-up by the spring and heard the tramping of horses. I yelled, “Look out, boys, the rebs are coming.” I wish you might have seen them bouncing and yelling around, getting saddles and bridles on. Some left their blankets, arms, and everything but horse and bridle.
“August Warneke and I were the best of friends; as luck would have it, he could not get the “nose bag” off his horse’s head.
[A nose bag was a canvas sack with a leather bottom and straps to buckle over the horse’s nose. The grain was put into this bag strapped over the horse’s head. When he wanted to eat, he touched the sack on the ground, which brought the grain within the horse’s reach. On raising the head, the bag would drop far enough to give room for chewing-Reporter]
“There he was trembling, pulling and jerking away while I was holding the horse. The Johnnies opened fire, and the bullets began buzzing all around us.
“Hurry up; get on without any bridle. I can’t stand this any longer.” “For God’s sake, don’t leave me,” said he. I told him again to get on without a bridle, that I would rather have my neck broken than be shot or captured by a reb. He put his foot in the stirrup, and I let loose the reins. Away went the horse, Gus, with one foot in the stirrup and clinging to the saddle with both hands. I turned around and opened fire to check them up till Gus got started. They stopped for a little while and then came on like many devils.
“How the bullets whistled past my head. I was scared, but when I looked ahead and saw Wareke going down the road with that nose bag swinging from side to side on his horse’s head. He was trying to hold on without a bridle, his cap gone, his hair standing on end, and his coat tail sailing to the breeze. I forgot all about the hereafter and had a hearty laugh.
“Away on the left, we could see our boys going as if the rebel army were after them. As we rounded the corner by the hospital, I turned and fired a couple of shots at the leader, a powerful fellow on a very swift horse. Just then, some Union officers at the hospital yelled, “Run, yanks. They are going to cut you off at the ford.”
“Sure enough, about twenty rebels were coming down a road that struck the main street to cut us completely off. I wheeled my horse and dashed through the town with Gus far ahead of me, clinging to the horse’s mane with both hands. We dashed across the ford and up the hill on the upper side. When the Johnnies saw the rest of our boys, they gave up on the chase.
“I have had many a good laugh over this when I think of it. I would have enjoyed it much better if the rebs had shot less.”
We thanked him for his kindness and left him thinking of the old friends and comrades of the war.
0 Comments