We will next look at the Official Reports bearing on the subject. (See
Vol. XIX, Part I, Official Record, War of the Rebellion, U. S. Gov't
printing office.)
I. In Lt.-Col. Fillebrown's[17] report (10th Maine) there is no mention
of the event, nor is there anything else that has the merit of being both
true and worth recording. (See page 489.)
Ordinarily he was one of the most genial and accommodating of men; but
when sick and vexed, as plainly he was when he made that report, he could
dash off just such a jumble, and send it in to head quarters before the
ink was dry.
It is due to him to say that he was run over and kicked in the bowels by
Col. Beal's horse just at the moment Col. Beal himself was wounded; and
when, but for the untimely kick, "Jim" might have led us on to victory and
covered himself with glory.