|
Back
| |
William Lilly
Color Sergeant, Co. D
 William
Lilly enlisted August 21, 1862 at the age of 33. Promoted from corporal to
sergeant March 18, 1863. He was wounded slightly at Chancellorsville, VA.,
May 3, 1863, and in the shoulder slightly at Gettysburg, PA., July 3,
1863. He was wounded severely in the thigh at Wauhatchie, TN., October 28,
1863, and died of wounds at Bridgeport, Alabama, November 1, 1863.
As an example of the courage of Sgt. Lilly and his valor on the
field of battle, reference is made to the picture
of Forbes, in the Gettysburg chapter, where he is depicted in the act of
mending the flag under fire after the staff had been cut in twain by Confederate
bullet, and it is fitting that such an incident should be cast in bronze, which
has been done, and placed on the memorial
monument at Culp's Hill where the incident occurred.
But that the pre-eminent goodness of the man may be known, as
well as his great courage and valor, the following, contributed by Major O. L.
F. Browne, an eye-witness of the incident, is related:
Just after the battle of Wauhatchie, where Lilly was
mortally wounded, he was transferred, in a cold driving rain-storm, from an
open field hospital to an ambulance for transportation to the rear. In
the same vehicle was a desperately wounded Confederate soldier, half naked
and shivering cold. Poor Lilly, although suffering from pain and
chilled from loss of blood, observed his fellow traveler, and being moved
with compassion, remarked, "My friend, I guess I will have to share my
blanket with you," and suiting the action to the word, withdrew a part
of the covering his friend had tenderly placed about him and wrapped it
around his pristine foe.
Color Sergeant William Lilly was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross
May 2, 1999 by the State of New York and was the first Civil War veteran to be
so honored.
|
