The following story appeared in the book Camp-Fire Chats of the Civil War: Being the Incident, Adventure and Wayside Exploit of the Bivouac and Battle Field, as Related by Members of the Grand Army of the Republic, edited by Washington Davis. It was published in 1884, and is a collection of anecdotes told by Union veterans.
I was able to verify some of the individuals mentioned. According to the 10th Indiana (3-months) muster roll, there was a Private Martin McCoy from Boone County, Indiana in Company I. Silas Milton Witt was also a private in their initial 90-day term, but in 1864 he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in Company H, 135th Indiana Infantry (his headstone says he was in Company F).
William Coalbaugh Kise was captain of Company I, 10th Indiana (3-months). He was later promoted to colonel in the regiment’s 3-year incarnation. The “General R——” mentioned is obviously William S. Rosecrans.
Did this incident at Rich Mountain happen exactly the way Witt describes? It’s hard to say without corroborating accounts, but it does demonstrate how soldiers sometimes remember odd or minor but humorous events in the heat of battle.
As the merriment subsided somewhat, Lieut. S. M. Witt, of the 10th Indiana, followed with these remarks:
“We had a droll kind of a character in our regiment by the name of Mart McCoy, who had formed the habit of saying, on all occasions, both appropriate and inappropriate, ‘Halt! d—n you, halt!’
“We had just been mustered in at Camp Morton, Indianapolis, Ind., and were about as green a set of recruits as any rendezvous had the fortune, or misfortune, to see during the war. Our captain had been an old Mexican soldier, and we thought that he was the only one in camp who knew anything about tactics, and it was currently believed that we were not obliged to obey any officer but our leader, Captain Kice.
“We were sent to Rich Mountain, and soon were marched to where we had work to perform, and were treated to our first experience under fire.
“We had been ordered to lie down, and in order to escape the bullets, we had taken shelter behind the brow of a hill.
“While lying upon the ground, General R—— happened to pass along the line, and ordered firing to cease. Mart McCoy was lying upon his back holding his gun in a perpendicular position, muzzle upward, and was inadvertently playing with the lock of the weapon. Just as the general was passing by, McCoy’s piece was accidentally discharged, and so near the general that the report startled him.
“As soon as the general recovered himself, he clutched McCoy by the collar, administered a forcible reproof for the apparent violation of orders, in the way of shaking him and asking, in a severe manner, if he meant to obey the commands of his officers. As the shaking process was going on, McCoy was ever and anon the recipient of several not very gentle applications of boot leather. Yet, notwithstanding the rough handling he was receiving, McCoy managed to gasp out:
“Halt! d—n you, halt!”
“The general loosened his hold and looked at McCoy in astonishment. McCoy, realizing that, for his manner of addressing a superior officer, he was liable to punishment, immediately vanished down the hill, followed by the guffaws of his comrades.”
Spirit of '61 