Reminiscences of the Old Fire Laddies and Volunteer Fire Departments of New York and Brooklyn; Together with a Complete History of the Paid Departments of Both Cities General Books, Mar 6, 2012 - 318 pages This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1885 Excerpt: ...chivalrous man can only be at this time noted. He was born in New York in 1832, and learned the trade of gilder. In 1852 he entered the United States Army as a private in Battery B, Third Artillery, then in California. In 1853 ne volunteered to carry the mail from " Eagle Pass " to Loredo, a distance of 135 miles. This was during the Comanche war, and this duty was extremely hazardous, Nash being obliged, alone, to traverse a tract of country infested with the fiercest of red savages. For this he was made a sergeant, and volunteered with a detachment, some time later, in a movement against the Indians in Oregon, and in an engagement with them received a bullet in his spine, and was carried by a few comrades through a wilderness at night, pursued by a tribe of shrieking Comanches, and was finally about to be left for dead, his wound being pronounced fatal. But Captain Ord (afterward General Ord) refused to abandon the hope that Nash would recover, which he did, and lived to show himself one of the most daring of the Union officers in our late civil war. He was promoted captain in Berdan's Sharp-shooters for gallantry in the Seven Days' battles, and led the regiment at the crossing at Kelley's Ford (when the commanding officer was killed), and being the first to cross the river under a murderous musketry fire from a concealed enemy. His bravery on another occasion called from the commanding general, D. B. Birney, a letter expressive of his admiration. On the 5th of May, 1863, he was taken prisoner in Birney's memorable charge at the Wilderness, and for a year afterward endured the horrors of the Confederate prisons, from which he made repeated and thrilling escapes. His brilliant career in the Fire Department, and rapid promotion, his long chapter o... |
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Reminiscences of the Old Fire Laddies and Volunteer Fire Departments of New ... J. Frank Kernan No preview available - 2014 |