Shot Twice and Left for Dead at Fort Donelson

Shot through both hips at the Battle of Fort Donelson on Feb. 15, 1862, 2nd Lt. James Oliver Churchill of the 11th Illinois Infantry spent an uncomfortable, frigid night on the battlefield strewn with dead and dying. As he lay among a heap of dead men, tangled in a tree branch, he took solace in reflecting on European military campaigns, his spirits buoyed by a frozen canteen of coffee. Here's the first half of a vivid letter he wrote to his parents.
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Image: John Walsh Collection
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