“Tell my mother I died trusting in the Lord.” Written in pencil by Confederate John Burton (probably Private John Burton, Company E, 56th Virginia) on an envelope given to him by Lt. John E. Burton, Company K, 1st U.S.; July 3, at the Angle. The latter wrote a letter of sympathy to John’s mother, as soon as the campaign was over, and got it through by flag of truce. Her address was Mrs. John Burton, White Plains, Virginia. In a few weeks he received a reply thanking him. [Lieutenant John E. Burton, 11th New York Battery (K/1 U.S.), New York at Gettysburg, III:1308]
“Boys, I have played out; go on to victory.” Also rendered as “Press on to victory; I have played out.” Adjutant Henderson C. Lucas, 11th North Carolina; mortally wounded July 1, died July 24 in Martinsburg, West Virginia. [Lucas Family Papers, Duke University Libraries, Durham, NC]
“I am dreaming; I know my gallant men will do their duty nobly; where is my sword?” Also, “Tell General Hill I can lead my regiment no farther. My men have behaved well, and still behave well.” Also, “The Lord’s will be done.” Colonel Henry K. Burgwyn, Jr., 26th North Carolina; mortally wounded July 1. [Confederate Casualties at Gettysburg, by John W. and Travis W. Busey; Obituary published in Raleigh newspaper, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Fred A. Olds, Southern Historical Society Papers, vol. 35, 1907, p. 322]
“There, now, Vicksburg has fallen, General Lee is retreating, and the South is whipped.” Unidentified Georgia officer, as recorded by Lt. Col. John R. Lane, 26th North Carolina; mortally wounded and probably died on July 2 just after uttering these words, but certainly prior to Lee’s assault on July 3 and the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4. [The Pinehurst Lookout, December 20, 1913, p. 5]
“Jesus has taken all the fear of death away.” Lieutenant Wesley Lewis Battle, Company D, 37th North Carolina; mortally wounded July 3, died August 22 at Camp Letterman General Hospital near Gettysburg. [Battle Family Papers #3223, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]
“Oh, Jack, if I had a canteen full of hydrant water.” Sergeant Algernon C. Porter, Third Richmond Howitzers; mortally wounded. [A Sketch of the Boyhood Days of Andrew J. Andrews, Richmond, VA: The Hermitage Press, Inc., 1905, p. 31]
The brave dying man … after intense suffering, passed away, speaking with last breath the name of his wife. Captain Ephraim Wood, Company H, 125th New York. [Gregory A. Coco, Killed in Action]
Late in the Confederate charge on the afternoon of July 3, Lieutenant George A. Woodruff, commanding Battery I, 1st U.S. was shot in the back while facing his men. He was eventually taken to the little stone school house on the crossroad leading from the Taneytown road to the Baltimore Pike, where he died, regretting to the last that it should have been his fate to be shot in the back, and asking of his friends that it should be no reflection upon his reputation. [Bachelder Papers, 3:1977]