Summit County OHGenWeb Project - The Hero of Corinth - Private Orrin B. Gould, Co. G, 27th OVI


The Hero of Corinth - Private Orrin B. Gould, Co. G, 27th Ohio 	
From Civil War in Song and Story: 1861-1865; collected and arranged by
Frank Moore; Published in New York; 1882. Submitted by Stephanie Ebel

p. 463
Private Orrin B. Gould, of company G, Twenty-seventh Ohio, was the hero
 the battle of Corinth.  The following letter to Governor Tod, from
Col. John W. Fuller, commanding the Ohio Brigade, embodies a history of young
Gould's resplendent conduct.
  Headquarters, First Brigade, Second Division, Army of the Mississippi, Near
  Ripley, Miss., Oct. 9, 1862
To the Governor of Ohio:
Sir: I have the honor of forwarding to your Excellency the "Battle Flag"
of the Ninth Texas regiment, which was captured by a private of the
Twenty-Seventh Ohio infantry, at the battle of Corinth, Oct. 4, 1862.

The rebels, in four close columns, were pressing with gallantry, amounting
to recklessness, upon the Ohio brigade, with the evident intention of breaking
our lines, when the terrible and incessant fire of our men drove them back
in the utmost confusion.

The Sixth Texas bore down upon the left centre for the 27th Ohio, with
this flag at the head of their column, and advanced to within six or eight
yards of our lines, when Orrin B. Gould, a private of company G, shot down
the color-bearer, and rushed forward for the rebel flag.  A rebel officer
shouted to his men to "save the colors", and at the same moment put a bullet
into the breast of Gould; but the young hero was not to be intimidated. 
With the flagstaff in his hand and the bullet in his breast, he returned
to his regiment, waving the former defiantly in the faces of the enemy.

After the battle, when visiting the hospitals, found young Gould
stretched upon a cot, evidently in great pain. Upon seeing me, his
pale face was instantly radiant with smiles, and pointing to his wound, he
said,"Colonel, I don't care for this, since I got their flag."
I have the honor to be, your Excellency's obedient servant.
John W. Fuller
Colonel Twenty-Seventh Ohio, commanding First Brigade, Second Division

Summit County OHGenWeb Page
Established November 20, 1996

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