Wilkeson, 1st Lieutenant Bayard

[kholland]

Lt. Bayard Wilkeson commanded Battery G, 4th US Artillery, on Barlow Knoll on the afternoon of July 1, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. When the Confederates routed the Union infantry, the cannoneers were forced to withdraw. Wilkeson, age 19, was mortally wounded when a cannonball nearly severed his leg. Carried to a nearby almshouse, he amputated the leg with a pocket knife. As his dying act, he gave his last canteen of water to a dying comrade.

 

[LoyaltyOfDogs]

Today in response to a current New York Times article about Samuel Wilkeson's reporting on the battle and his son's death, an author of a book about the Wilkesons said Bayard "almost certainly" didn't amputate his own leg. The author is Charles Raasch and the book, "Imperfect Union: A Father's Search for His Son in the Aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg." Has anyone here read it?

Edited to add: I see that thanks to a thread started earlier this afternoon by @MaryDee, we have the link to today's NYT article. Here's MaryDee's thread, which will then take you to the NYT article about a remarkable feat of newspaper reporting and one of the great human interest stories of the Battle of Gettysburg.

 

[mofederal]

Thanks for the link to the story. It is one I was familiar with, and it is very interesting and one of those heart rending stories of the war.

 

[Yankeedave]