Fisher’s Luck

[NH Civil War Gal]

Lieutenant Rolandes E. Fisher, Company K, 5th Ohio Infantry, was running on a streak of good fortune. A thirty-one-old cabinetmaker from Cincinnati, Ohio, he had enlisted as a sergeant in the 5th Ohio in April of 1861, just ten days after Fort Sumter was fired upon by Confederate forces. By 1863, he had risen to the rank of first lieutenant and had been in Company K since October of 1862. Fisher had even been captured in June of 1862, but luckily was not held long; he was paroled soon afterward. By the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, Lieutenant Fisher had seen action in at least five battles including Antietam and Chancellorsville. And in the early morning of July 33, 1863, Fisher's luck was still holding out.

While checking the position of his company on that fateful day, a Rebel sharpshooter saw him standing quietly among his men in the hazy light of dawn. A shot was fired; Fisher felt the blow which knocked him to the ground. But he was not dead. Surgeon Edward Mead explained: "The Ball entered [the] left forearm, at outer side of elbow joint passing through and making its exit at inner side at a corresponding point."

Miraculouosly, as the Mini' ball made "its exit at the inner side" it cut through Fisher's uniform coat and struck his pocket watch, which stopped the flight of the deadly Kissel. After his recuperation, Fisher became captain of his company, and fought in the Chattanooga, Tennessee campaign, but was forced to resign in December of 1863, due to this wound.

Until his death in 1880, Captain Fisher kept the damaged watch and the smashed Confederate bullet as a reminder of a very close call at Gettysburg on a day his luck held out.

(I know that the descendants of Captain Fisher kept the watch and bullet until 1977 when they sold them to Gregory Coco. Does anyone know where they are now?)

 

[JOHN42768]

Kind of disproves the old saying "Time stops for no one"

 

[Sheltowee]

Descendants actually sold those treasures? Can't understand it….

 

[UCVRelics]

Great Story and finding that watch will be a chore.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

That's a well told and gripping account.

Think that any descendants, especially those with direct lineage, would want to keep such priceless (to them) relics of historical relevance and familial significance.

It's interesting that the descendants chose to keep possession of both items for so long (until 1977) before deciding to sell. Suppose financial circumstances could have become desperate or there were no direct descendants remaining to inherit this property.

 

[ColonelKlink1942]

Descendants actually sold those treasures? Can't understand it….

Unfortunately it reaches a point in the lineage where a generation of descendants either doesn't know what to do with them, or wants nothing to do with them. Sometimes it's a case of Grandpa holding onto these treasures for a long time, then passing away and the estate gets divied up, the children or grandchildren are approached and asked if they'd like them, and all parties refuse, and then they're sold off. (just one example, but I hope this makes sense)

A handful of antiques we've acquired so far have been because of this. Someone passed away, and these were passed down, but eventually nobody had an interest in them or didn't know what to do with them, and so they sold them off, and they eventually found their way into our hands. Strangely enough, I've amassed a growing collection of old family photographs, and even that boggles my mind as to why someone would just dump these still-image memories.

Semi-unrelated, but my Great-Aunt's husband was in the Canadian army in WWII, and his medals and discharge papers were found in a box in my grandparents' attic. My grandparents asked my relatives if anyone would like them, and they all refused, but mom piped up and happily took them because she knew I'd appreciate them.

Also as @Nathan Stuart just mentioned, financial troubles or no heirs to inherit what's left is indeed another possibility.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Great Story and finding that watch will be a chore.

It also needs the bullet to go with it - they were both sold together. I've seen a picture of them but I didn't dare post it here because I didn't have permission of the publisher.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Don't we have a Civil War Watch Collector here in the forum? I've been trying to call up his aviator name but am not having any luck.

 

[UCVRelics]

paging @CW Watch Collector

 

[Tom Elmore]

Lieutenant Rolandes E. Fisher, Company K, 5th Ohio Infantry, was running on a streak of good fortune. A thirty-one-old cabinetmaker from Cincinnati, Ohio, he had enlisted as a sergeant in the 5th Ohio in April of 1861, just ten days after Fort Sumter was fired upon by Confederate forces. By 1863, he had risen to the rank of first lieutenant and had been in Company K since October of 1862. Fisher had even been captured in June of 1862, but luckily was not held long; he was paroled soon afterward. By the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, Lieutenant Fisher had seen action in at least five battles including Antietam and Chancellorsville. And in the early morning of July 33, 1863, Fisher's luck was still holding out.

While checking the position of his company on that fateful day, a Rebel sharpshooter saw him standing quietly among his men in the hazy light of dawn. A shot was fired; Fisher felt the blow which knocked him to the ground. But he was not dead. Surgeon Edward Mead explained: "The Ball entered [the] left forearm, at outer side of elbow joint passing through and making its exit at inner side at a corresponding point."

Miraculouosly, as the Mini' ball made "its exit at the inner side" it cut through Fisher's uniform coat and struck his pocket watch, which stopped the flight of the deadly Kissel. After his recuperation, Fisher became captain of his company, and fought in the Chattanooga, Tennessee campaign, but was forced to resign in December of 1863, due to this wound.

Until his death in 1880, Captain Fisher kept the damaged watch and the smashed Confederate bullet as a reminder of a very close call at Gettysburg on a day his luck held out.

(I know that the descendants of Captain Fisher kept the watch and bullet until 1977 when they sold them to Gregory Coco. Does anyone know where they are now?)

Greg Coco's extensive collection of written materials went to Gettysburg National Military Park.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Greg Coco's extensive collection of written materials went to Gettysburg National Military Park.

Box B-19 Misc., Civil War. Gregory A. Coco Collection
General Robert E. Lee- 1862 letters, correspondence, general information
Colonel Van H. Manning, 3rd Arkansas Infantry- biographical information and letters
Captain George Hillyer, 9th Georgia Infantry- biographical information and letters
Captain George Hillyer, 9th Georgia Infantry- photographs
Chaplain Peter Tinsley, 28th VA Infantry- diary (restricted use)
Sgt. Bernard A. Seay, 14th VA Infantry- parole, information
Col. David E. Winn, 4th GA Infantry- letters, 1861-63 (Emory University)
Lt. James Kincheloe, Co. C, 49th VA Infantry- diary, 1863-64

Paging @John Winn is this Col. David E. Winn any relation?

Why would Chaplain Peter Tinsley's diary by on restricted use?

 

[Tom Elmore]

Box B-19 Misc., Civil War. Gregory A. Coco Collection
General Robert E. Lee- 1862 letters, correspondence, general information
Colonel Van H. Manning, 3rd Arkansas Infantry- biographical information and letters
Captain George Hillyer, 9th Georgia Infantry- biographical information and letters
Captain George Hillyer, 9th Georgia Infantry- photographs
Chaplain Peter Tinsley, 28th VA Infantry- diary (restricted use)
Sgt. Bernard A. Seay, 14th VA Infantry- parole, information
Col. David E. Winn, 4th GA Infantry- letters, 1861-63 (Emory University)
Lt. James Kincheloe, Co. C, 49th VA Infantry- diary, 1863-64

Why would Chaplain Peter Tinsley's diary by on restricted use?

I suppose because the Tinsley diary is held by the Wheaton College Archives and Special Collections. It was available online and makes for fascinating reading.

 

[lupaglupa]

I do hope the watch and bullet are together somewhere, preferably on display.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

I do hope the watch and bullet are together somewhere, preferably on display.

@Tom Elmore do you know if they are on display at Gettysburg? I tried to search last night on the internet but couldn't find anything useful out.

 

[CW Watch & Sword Guy]

Don't we have a Civil War Watch Collector here in the forum? I've been trying to call up his aviator name but am not having any luck.

Yes, we do. Sorry for the slow response. I doubt that the bullet-struck watch is at Gettysburg as I have spoken with the curator of collections there, a Mr. Greg Goodell who is an absolutely terrific person, about watches when I was designing my 2019 Civil War watch exhibit at the NAWCC HQ Museum in Columbia PA. Mr. Goodell showed me all the watches in the Gettysburg Military Park's collection and no bullet-struck watch was among them. There is, however, a bullet-struck Civil War watch in the Civil War Musem of Philadelphia, which had belonged to Sgt. John O. Foering of the 28th PA Infantry.

I have to say that while the sight of an authentic bullet-struck watch may delight many a Civil War artifact collector's heart, it makes a dedicated horologist like me cringe. To me, it would have been far better if the watch had been preserved in something like good running order.

 

[CW Watch & Sword Guy]

Speaking of bullet-struck watches, during the Battle of Cedar Mountain in Virginia on August 9, 1862, Lt. Robert Gould Shaw of the 2nd MA Infantry and the future colonel of the celebrated 54th MA Infantry, narrowly avoided serious injury and possible death when his pocket watch absorbed the impact of a Confederate musket ball. After Colonel Shaw's subsequent death during the assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina on July 18, 1863, outrage erupted over the theft of Shaw's gold watch. Of course, plundering corpses of enemy combatants of valuables was much more the rule than the exception on both sides. Presumably, the watch stolen at Fort Wagner was a different timepiece entirely than the watch struck by a bullet at Cedar Montain.