Experiences of Martin Brett from 12th Georgia
A booklet titled, Experiences of a Georgia Boy in the Army of Northern Virginia 1861-1865 by Martin W. Brett, which the Bulloch County Historical Society published in 1988, appears identical to Brett's Reminiscences, which were published by the Georgia Division of the UDC in 1999. Brett was a member of Company F, 12th Georgia regiment. He was wounded in the arm at McDowell on 8 May 1862 and recovered at the hospital in Staunton, Virginia. At Gettysburg, he took a minie ball in the right leg on 2 July 1863, was captured, and eventually sent to the Federal hospital on David's Island, New York where he received kind treatment. The journey to David's Island took him by train through Pennsylvania to Elizabethtown, NJ, where the wounded Confederates were transported on a steamer past New York City. Brett was exchanged on 24 August 1863 and recovered in time to be shot in the right arm by a minie ball at the Wilderness battle. Recuperating once again, he was shot by a minie ball through the left thigh at Cedar Creek on 19 October 1864. Although still weak, Brett returned to his regiment in time to be captured on 29 March 1865 in the assault near Fort Stedman and "Red Fort." He ended the war as a prisoner. Of particular interest is Brett's description of the 12th being sent for a time to round up marauding bands of criminals terrorizing locals in the Shenandoah Valley. Here Brett encountered poor but friendly residents, along with some other inhabitants who were decidedly less friendly toward the Confederate cause. Several of these criminals were captured or shot in and around their mountain and cave hideouts, while the 12th also sustained a few casualties during this police action. It seems the home front in both the North and South had pockets where discontent and lawlessness existed.