Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 27.djvu/45

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re sponsible position at hea(l<iu;irtt TS. Several acts of personal brav- ery attracted the attention of General A. P. Hill, and during the remainder of his service he was one of that able officer's confidential messengers, and was often entrusted with special duty regarded as particularly delicate and dangerous.

At the close of the war Tucker returned to Baltimore and for a number of years was a salesman for the large wholesale house of William T. Walters & Co. Of late years he has resided, for the most part, in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At present he is living in the little village of Pearl, Frederick county, Maryland. It is under- stood that his health has become greatly impaired.

GENERAL SEDGWICK's SUDDEN TAKING OFF.

It is a fact worthy of being noted that Corporal Mauk was an eye witness to the killing of General Sedgwick, commander of the Sixth army corps, whose taking off was as sudden, as unexpected, and almost as tragic as that of General A. P. Hill. The Sixth corps had made a long march on the 8th of May, 1864, and on the Qth was getting into position -in front of Spotsylvania. No general engage- ment was expected for some hours, and Sedgwick and several offi- cers of his staff were leisurely inspecting the lines, walking from one point to another, and stopping occasionally to speak encouraging words to the men. The Confederate line was apparently a mile away, but every now and then the whirr of a minie ball showed that the sharpshooters were plying their deadly work from such vantage points as the natural features of the battle ground afforded. Sedg- wick had been told by his chief of staff, earlier in the day, that there was one place on the line which he should avoid, for the reason that the fire of the sharpshooters seemed to converge upon it, as if it had been selected for a target.

Strangely enough, the officer who had given the warning accom- panied General Sedgwick to the very spot which he regarded as specially dangerous. They stopped, and Sedgwick passed some jokes with the men who were inclined to drop to the ground when- ever they heard the singing of a bullet. To reassure one poor fellow whose dodging interrupted his work, Sedgwick said to him, " They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." These were the last words of the amiable, good-natured, gallant Sedgwick. A ball struck him fair in the face, and went through his head. General McMahon, who was standing close beside him, in attempting to sup-