The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 22, July 1918 - April, 1919 Page: 75
521 p. : ill. (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Reminiscences of the Terry Rangers
mounted our horses to meet some Yankee cavalry that came in
on our left. We charged them, drove them, and scattered them.
As we returned from pursuing them my horse slipped and fell,
throwing me on the horn of my saddle and producing a case of
nearly strangulated hernia from a slight rupture I had had be-
fore. This fall laid me up for several days and took me off the
battlefield until the battle ended and longer. Whatever else I
relate of this battle or as to what happened in or to the regiment
must be from hearsay and not from personal observation. The
regiment was engaged all the time, sometimes in the flank, some-
times in the rear of the enemy; sometimes fighting infantry,
sometimes cavalry; capturing many of the enemy and destroying
much of his supplies.
One or two incidents I wish to relate happened during that
conflict. A Yankee General fell into the hands of the Rangers.
They asked him his name and rank. H-e said, "General Willich."
"The same who commanded the 32nd Indiana Infantry as Col-
onel?" he was asked. "Yes the same, and who are you," de-
maded the General. "Terry Texas Rangers" was the reply. "MIein
Gott," said General Willich, "I had rather be a private in that
regiment than to be a Brigadier General in the Federal army."
Willich had met the. boys at Woodsonville, Ky., as Colonel of
the 32nd Indiana regiment and had met them at Murfreesboro as
Brigadier General and had lost out both times and was qualified
to judge of their military prowess. General Willich was Dutch
or German, with a foreign accent.
Colonel Harrison by this time had so long escaped personal in-
jury from shot and shell, his men dubbed him "Old Iron Sides,"
because as they said he was sheathed with iron and no bullet
could penetrate his body. On the second day of this battle, Billy
Sayers, his Adjutant, sat on his horse beside him under a heavy
fire. Colonel Harrison leaned over to Sayers and whispered, "I
am wounded, but don't say anything about it on account of the
men." Billy wanted him off the field, but he refused to go. It
proved to be a flesh wound in the hip, not very serious, and he
stayed with and commanded the regiment throughout the battle.
On another occasion the Colonel, while standing in front of his
line ready to make or receive a charge as it might happen, was
looking through his field glass at a body of cavalry some distance
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 22, July 1918 - April, 1919, periodical, 1919; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117156/m1/83/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.