Portrayal of Private William Webb, Civil War Soldier of the 29^th Connecticut Volunteers

Now I remember, when we were there with the soldiers of the 18th Corps, a group of white soldiers were getting ready to go in, and they asked the men to dig this tunnel.

Now, the tunnel was 500 yards long and 75 feet across so they could plant explosives in the tunnel.  So, the soldiers were digging…and they were digging…and they were digging.

But, the General wanted to do a surprise attack. So, our soldiers were in the tunnel digging when the Confederate Army began to wonder what is the Union Army up to?

So they took formation and all of sudden “BOOM” - a big explosion-parts everywhere - 1000 men gone!

At the same time the Confederate Army is standing there, our other soldiers were coming through, “Fire- Load, Fire-Load, Fire-Load, Fire-Load.”  Nearly 2,000 men were gone in a matter of moments. Gone in a matter of seconds; gone…gone…. I take my hat off and I honor those soldiers who gave their lives to freedom. [Pause.]

We knew that those men just didn’t give or lose their lives but they gave for a price, that price is freedom and I say it to you again; that price is freedom. Then, the next week, we overtook Fort Harrison.

Freedom! Said it sounds good and it sounds nice. Got to be free!