Dear Boone County, Indiana list members,
I was unable to sleep and decided to get up and type. I saw this story in the Argus
newspaper and decided to type
it up so others could read it. J.B. McPherson was born on November 14, 1828 in Ohio. He
attended the U.S Military
Academy and graduated Class of 1853 (1/52) engineers.
He commanded the Army of the Tennessee and was kill in action on July 22, 1864.
Rootsweb has a nice web page located at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~sdmcpher/general_mcpherson.htm
with photos of the General.
Surname: BUELL, DODGE, HEWITT, HOOD, LOGAN, Mc PHERSON, KNOX, SHERMAN & STRONG
The Argus
August 25 1881 page 4
Boone County, Indiana
HOW Mc PHERSON DIED
Gens. Mc PHERSON and LOGAN, who had been to Gen. SHERMANs headquarters (before) Atlanta),
rode up to the rear of
the Seventeenth corps and dismounted in a clump of trees in front of an open stretch,
which had probably been a
field at one time. This was about 10 oclock. Shortly after they had dismounted picket
firing began on the left and
apparently to the rear of the main line. After listening to it for few minutes, McPHERSON
said he would go out in
that direction and see what it meant. Calling to Capt. Kilburn KNOX, of his staff, to
follow, he mounted Blackie
his favorite horse, and galloped down the lane or narrow road, running in the rear of the
Seventeenth corps, at an
angle of 45 degrees from the main line, towards the point where the firing was heard. Gen.
DODGE, commanding the
Sixteenth corps, had been ordered to the left, with instruction to form at the right
angles with Gen. KNOXs line,
but he had not had the time to get into position, consequently the firing could not be on
his skirmish line, which
led to the conclusion that something unusual was going on. HOODs tactics being well known
Mc PHERSON, he was the
lookout for dashes, hence his anxiety. It was not more than fifteen minutes after Mc
PHERSON and KNOX, accompanied
by their orderlies, had dashed down the lane until Blackie the Generals horse, came
galloping back with a wound
in the shoulder, from which the blood was pouring in a perfect stream. The cry was
instantly made that the General
has been shot. Closely following the horse came Capt. KNOX and two orderlies. KNOX dashed
up in an excited manner
and exclaimed, He is dead. Get an ambulance quick. Gen. William E. STRONG, now of
Chicago, and Capt. D.H. BUELL,
ordnance officer, started at once with the headquarters ambulance down the lane, followed
by several of the mounted
men. BUENLL rode ahead and skirmished with the rebel pickets, keeping them back until Gen.
STRONG got the body into
the ambulance. They drove back with all speed to where Gen. LOGAN and the other officers
were. Dr. HEWITT hastily
opened his coat and discovered a bullet had passed directly through his heart, killing him
instantly. The body was
taken at once to Gen SHERMANs headquarters, from where it was sent, in charge of Gen. Mc
PHERSONs personal staff,
to Marietta, where it was embalmed and sent with the same escort to the home of his aged
mother at Clyde, Ohio.
Capt. KNOTT, who accompanied the General, said they had gone but a short distance down
the lane when a shot was
fired from an ambush, taking effect in the shoulder of the Generals horse. They reined
up, but had not time to
turn until another shot was fired and the General fell heavily to the ground. He neither
spoke or moved a muscle.
After the fatal shot, several skirmishes made their appearance, one of whom rushed up and
took the Generals waist
belt. As soon as he retired a member of the Union pioneer corps ran up and rifled the
Generals pockets, taking a
pocket book containing about $ $700.
Pittsburgh Tellegraph.
*Note from Janet ISLEY Price- I am posting this story for others I am not related to the
subjects. No other
information was given.