"Last Friday our regt had two very hard fights in which it lost most of its men. In the evening Will Parker came to the regt & went into action against the advice of friends & officers. He knew as well as we did that if we had to give back, he being crippled would be captured which was the case & came very near being the cause of my going to yankeedom. While we were engaging the enemy they flanked us on the left and caused us to fall back. The regt made a stand about forty steps from Will but the balance of the brigade giving away again, I had to go too. I remained behind to see if Will would be wounded (?till) the enemy got near him. Fortunately he was not. I had about two hundred yards to run before I got to where the boys had rallied again. On my way I lost my hat, the balls were coming too thick to stop then. When I got to the breastworks I was nearly exhausted with the yanks but a short distance behind our boys ran again. I had to remain from exhaustion & the yanks got me and skirted me off to the rear. While going back I got my hat. One brave & a cowardly yank guarded me. The 9th Ala that was on our right wheeled around and & was cornering in the enemys rear. That was a moment of great joy to me. I remarked to the cowardly yank that we had better get behind trees or our men would kill us. he agreed to this readily so each got him a tree. When our men came in sight I waved my hat. The brave yank discovered it & told me if I did it again he would shoot me, quicker than I can tell it I had it back on my head. By that time our boys had advanced within about forty-steps. Firing all the time. The cowardly yank broke & run. The other threw up his gun to fire but I struck his bayonet with my hand & knocked it up before he fired, he pointed it at me & told me he would blow my brains out if I done it again. I was a little braver than before as our boys was near at hand I told him to fire away. I knew our men would kill him if he killed me. I suppose he did too as he started to try to fire a second time one of our men let him have it in the arm. He threw down his gun and ran for his life. I could have taken up his gun and killed him but I was in too big a hurry to get to our men. Thus ended my second capture. The poor fellow that recued me from the enemy at Gettysburg was killed Friday evening. He had never missed even a skirmish up to that time that the regt had been engaged in & had never been scratched."
The person that rescued Thomas at Gettysburg is not named in that particular letter, unfortunately. Another person mentioned in the letter was Sgt. Benjamin Steele. Does anyone else have any information on an episode at Gettysburg where members of Co. D, 4th AL were captured and then escaped? Is there any information that 2nd Lt. Christian was rescued at Gettysburg, or did he go on to Union Prison camps (perhaps Johnson's Island).