Civil war

CHARLIE COULSON

The Drummer Boy

A Christian Hero of the American War

by the late Dr. M. L. Rossvally,
Surgeon in the United States Army

The following story is a true account, taken from an old, out-of-print book called “Touching Incidents And Remarkable Answers To Prayer.” It was compiled by S.B. Shaw and published in 1894. Grab a cup of hot chocolate, gather the family together, and read this one out loud to everyone. We believe it will touch your hearts as much as it has touched ours. We serve a truly faithful God!

During the American Civil War, I was a surgeon in the Army. Following the battle at Gettysburg, there were hundreds of wounded soldiers needing immediate medical attention. Many were wounded so severely that a leg or an arm, or sometimes both, needed to be amputated.

One of the wounded was a boy, who had only been in the service for three months. Being too young to be a soldier, he enlisted as a drummer. My steward tried to give him chloroform before the amputation, but he turned his head away and refused it. He was told it was my order. He said, “Let me talk with the doctor.”

He laid his hand on mine, looked me in the face and said, “Doctor, one Sunday afternoon, when I was nine and a half years old, I gave my heart to Christ. I learned to trust Him then, and I've been trusting Him ever since. Iknow I can trust Him now. He is my strength. He will support me while you amputate my arm and leg.” I asked him if he would at least let me give him a little brandy. Again he looked at me and said, “Doctor, when I was about five years old, my mother knelt by my side with her arms around me and said: `Charlie, I am praying to Jesus that you will never take even one drink of alcohol. Your father died a drunkard, and I've asked God to use you to warn people against the dangers of drinking, and to encourage them to love and serve the Lord.' I am now 17 years old, and I have never had anything stronger than tea or coffee. There is a very good chance that I am about to die and to go into the presence of my God. Would you send me there with brandy on my breath?”

I will never forget the look that boy gave me. At that time I hated Jesus, but I respected that boy's loyalty to his Savior. And when I saw how he loved and trusted Him to the very end, something deeply touched my heart. I did for that boy what I had never done for any other soldier - I asked him if he wanted to see his chaplain.

A favorite book of mine!