He blinked his eyes and shook his head. He has just awoken again, after passing out several times from the bullet in his leg. His name is Elijah P. Gantry, a confederate soldier who has been wounded in the battle of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. He has been lying in the bushes for a couple of days since being shot.
Now, he watched as soldiers from both sides were gathering their dead and wounded; about 650 in all. The soldiers told him that General Lee had surrendered to General Grant two days ago, on April 9th, 1865. General Grant had Paroled all the Confederate soldiers from the “Army of North Virginia” and they were heading home. The soldiers bandaged Elijah’s leg but were unable to remove the bullet.
Still somewhat dazed, Elijah Gantry began to walk in a westerly direction toward his home in northwestern Kentucky. He was looking at the horses that were being rounded up, hoping to find an animal that could last him for the long journey home. He came upon a small grove of trees where he saw a union soldier trapped under a broken down wagon. He appeared to be dead. The wheel was broken in half and the soldier’s rifle was lying about 10 feet away. Elijah bent down to pick up the rifle when he heard someone cocking a pistol! The soldier said: “I wouldn’t touch that if I were you”!
Elijah stood up and faced his enemy: “Why didn’t you shoot me?” Soldier: “Because I need you alive”. “I need you to get this wagon off me”! Elijah: “Then put that gun down”. Soldier: “I can’t, you’ll leave”! Elijah: “No, I need you too”! “Have you ever shot a deer”? Soldier: “Who hasn’t shot a deer, why does that matter”? Elijah: “because I have a bullet in my leg and I need you to cut it out of me”. “Do you Yankees know what a “gentleman’s agreement” is”? Soldier: “Of Course I do, just get something to get this damn wagon off me and I’ll cut off your whole damn leg if you want me to”!
Elijah found a fairly solid branch and placed it under the wagon. He told the soldier to crawl out when he lifted the wagon. Soldier: “I’m not sure I can”! As Elijah lifted the wagon, he reached down locking arms with the soldier and pulled him out. Then, Elijah sat down by the wagon and asked the soldier his name. He replied: “My name’s Robert Gantry”. Elijah just stared at him for a moment, then he said: “The heck it is”! “How can that be”? Soldier: “That’s it”! “That’s what I was named”. “Robert Lee… aw Robert L. Gantry”! Elijah: “You say Robert Lee”? “You’re a Yankee”! Robert: “I can’t help what they named me”!
Elijah paused for a moment, then said: “You ain’t gonna believe this”! My name is Elijah P. Gantry… same last name as yours”! Robert: “Where are you from”? Elijah: “Kentucky… Morganfield”. Robert: “My daddy was born in Kentucky”. I grew up in Jeffersonville, Indiana, though”. Elijah: “Hell, we could be cousins or something like that”! Robert: “Yeah, that we could”. Elijah: “I got a good bottle of Kentucky bourbon in my sack to numb the pain, if you’re willing to play deer hunter on my leg”! “You can use my knife, it’s sharp”! “Yours was probably made in Boston or one of those places”! Robert: “Morganfield, huh”? “That’s a good hundred miles north of my home in Indiana”! “How come you’re a Confederate”? Elijah: “How come you’re a Yankee”?
After a less than textbook surgery, they scared up a couple of good looking horses and headed west. They rode across Virginia toward Kentucky, stopping as often as they could to rest their horses and Elijah’s carved up, but healing leg. Elijah told Robert that it’s a damn good thing he can farm, cause he ain’t never gonna be no doctor. Robert kidded Elijah about wasting all that good whiskey on one damn measly little bullet!
One warm spring Kentucky day, as they were riding along a quiet country road, someone began shooting at them! Immediately, they realized that it had to be a straggler or a deserter! Stragglers were soldiers from either side, who walked away from the battlefield after experiencing more killing than their souls could handle. Some would return to the war, but many became deserters and would hide out in the mountains hoping to avoid being caught. They knew that they never dared go back home. The Gantry boys decided to split up, knowing that the straggler could only go after one of them. He apparently chose to pursue Elijah! In the meantime, Robert circled around behind the straggler, disarming him and knocking him to the ground. “Shoot me”, he said! “I won’t let you hang me”!
The straggler was a rather rough looking, crazy old union soldier, who had deserted his post long ago. Elijah soon joined Robert, and they asked the man his name. “I’m Zackary Musgrave and I’m no good to you or anyone, you might as well just shoot me”! Once the man calmed down, however, they were able to convince him they were not a threat. They invited him to stay camped with them for the night. Wisely, however, they did not give him back his gun! For hours, they traded stories, but the old soldier never quite managed to take his eyes off Elijah and his grey uniform. As night began to settle in, he told them that he never sleeps anymore. He told them when he closes his eyes, he still sees the faces of the young soldiers he had killed. “They’re dead now, why can’t they just leave me alone” he yelled out, disturbingly!
Things got pretty quiet for a while, but all that would change. Right out of the blue, Zackary jumped up, pulled a knife from his boot and charged at Elijah yelling “you damn greycoats”! But, before he could make it to Elijah, Robert put a bullet in his chest, dropping him to the ground like a 10 point buck in late fall! Zackarys’ last words were: “Take me home Lord, I’ve been in this hellhole too long”! Elijah just shook his head and said: “It’s a shame, but I don’t think the Lord’s taking many of his kind these days”! Robert said: “Yeah, I reckon he’ll be plenty choosy after this war’s done”!
Well, they buried old Zackary right there on the mountain where he’d been hiding, so that he could never be found. They left his grave unmarked, the way he would have wanted it. Then, they saddled up and rode further west into the beautiful state of Kentucky. They were closer to home now and springtime in Kentucky felt like freedom.
After several days had passed, they began talking about what they’d do when they finally parted ways. They talked about farming and knew that neither one would miss the war. They both admitted having the same fears and reverence that they had seen in old Zachary and wondered if they could ever really forget what they’d been a part of. They kept riding westward, as their longing to be home grew stronger by the day.
One pleasant day, just a few miles from Campbellsville, they ran into three union soldiers. The one in charge was a burly old sergeant, toughened from his years of fighting. They said they were on official business to track down deserters and traders. The sergeant carried a rare, shiny Silver-plated Pistol, serial number 0001, that he had taken off a confederate officer in an earlier battle.
After showing off his magnificent pistol, the sergeant asked Robert Gantry to see his papers. He showed them what he had, but what they wanted to see was his discharge papers. They asked him where he was coming from? Robert: “I’m a member of The Army of The Potomac and I fought for General Grant at Appomattox”. “General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Grant on April 9th”. Sergeant: “When were you discharged”? Robert: “Well, I wasn’t officially”. Elijah broke in saying: “We were pardoned and the war is ending”! Sergeant: “That’s only confederate soldiers… I have no interest in you”! “But this man is a deserter and he must stand trial”!
He ordered one of the soldiers to take Roberts’ weapon and tie him up. They arrested him and placed him in their wagon. Elijah was told to move on, while he was still able! Both Robert and Elijah knew, however, that most prisoners were lynched-up or shot long before making it to trial. They had learned that from Zackary and had seen proof for themselves a couple of days back, when they came upon two soldiers hanging from a large tree near the trail.
The three union soldiers and Robert, their new prisoner, finally camped for the night just a few miles up the road. In the morning the sergeant asked the soldier, who’d been standing sentry that night, if he’d seen any sign of that greycoat from the day before? “I have a strange feeling, like we’re being watched,” he said. The soldier replied that there was no sign of him, and told the sergeant: “He’s probably halfway to Texas by now”! “Don’t worry sarge, we’ve the last of that one”!
A couple of hours later, they were well on their way, when they came to a heavily wooded area and found the road blocked by a large fallen tree branch. The sergeant exclaimed: “We can’t get by that, we’ll need to try to move it”! At that very moment, a second huge branch fell from a tree behind them, creating a trap! And they were caught right in the middle! The horses were startled and the sergeant blurted out a very appropriate question: “What the hell”? Just seconds later, his hat was shot off his head and a voice from somewhere in the trees said: “The next one will split your hair”! “Now, throw your guns on the ground and cut my friend free”!
They did as they were told. “You’ll never get away with this,” said the sergeant! Next, they were made to dismount and remove their boots. Robert gathered their weapons including that Silver-plated Pistol and put their boots in one of the saddle bags. When Robert was back on his horse, Elijah raised up that second branch with a rope he had tied to his horse. Robert rode underneath it, along with all the soldier’s horses, boots and guns. Elijah then cut the rope and as the branch quickly dropped back down, he yelled out: “It’s a beautiful day boys, have a nice walk home”!
Well, that run in with the union soldiers definitely altered their plans a bit. So, Elijah invited Robert to go to Morganfield, where they wouldn’t be looking for him. Robert was a bit nervous at first, but he fit in quite well with the rest of the Gantrys. In fact, he even married Elijah’s sister Jane, whom he was very sure was not one of his cousins! In time, he would also be reunited with most of his family. Soon the Gantrys of Indiana and the ones from Kentucky had formed a pretty strong family bond. In fact, the next few generations of Gantrys settled in the Frankort, Kentucky area where they would use their bourbon making skills to establish the Buffalo Trace Distillery.
The story of the Gantry boys was finally made public in 1965, when the two middle-age granddaughters of Elijah and Robert Gantry, brought their Civil War uniforms, weapons and other memorabilia to the TV program “Antiques Roadshow.” By far, however, most of the interest centered around that shiny Silver-plated Confederate Officers Pistol, serial number 0001.
Well, that concludes another addition of the “Antiques Roadshow”! Please join us next week when we’ll be coming to you from the Wilmington Convention Center in sunny Wilmington, North Carolina! Thank you! □
