lelliott19
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Most people here have probably heard the story, told by John B. Gordon, about Ewell being shot in the [wooden] leg at Gettysburg? This exchange between Ewell and the infantrymen of Gordon's brigade is somewhat lesser known. Gordon tells it best.
...This same eccentric officer, General Ewell, at another time, was riding out in front of my line, on what he called an independent scout of his own, and he rode most too far. A squadron of Union cavalry got after him and chased him back. He was riding one of the most magnificent animals that ever stood on four feet; and as he came flying in, closely pursued by the Union cavalry, my line opened fire on him and his pursuers, but he came in safely and, reining up to my lines, he opened fire on them of a different kind.
He asked, in his peculiarly emphatic style: "What in the world are you shooting at me for? Why don't you shoot at the other fellows?" They answered: "General, we are shooting at the other fellows, and you, too; but we did not know who you were." He replied: "Boys that is a good excuse at this time, but you must be more careful; you might have killed the very finest mare in Lee's army."
Source: Lucian Lamar Knight, A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 3, page 1617.