Chapter VII
Civil War
Page 2
Dr. William E. Buie of Union Church, Mississippi, served the Confederate Army of Mississippi as a surgeon attached to the 7th Mississippi Infantry Regiment. Despite poor health, he participated in some of the fiercest battles and hardest campaigns of the war and he was one of the most beloved men in the Army of Mississippi. During the Battle of Shiloh his horse broke loose and ran off. Dr. Buie knew that because of his feebleness he would not be able to leave the battle-field on foot and in despair he cried "I am gone up." A young soldier heard his shout, recognized him, and replied "not while I'm living" and retrieved the horse despite heavy enemy fire and thus saved William's life. One of Dr. Buie's friends described the physician's actions during and after Shiloh. "The wounded were taken to a log church where for three days he was constantly engaged in performing surgical operations. The fatigue and exposure caused him sickness. General Bragg offered him a higher position in the Medical Department, but the exposure of the Kentucky campaign brought on an attack of pneumonia which compelled him to resign and return home. In consequence of his exposure, his hair, which had been black, had turned prematurely gray." After the fall of Port Hudson in 1863, Dr, Buie joined his brother Isaac Newton Buie and his family in their journey from war-torn Mississippi to Texas.During the final months of the Civil War, the Confederacy suffered a chaotic disintegration. Its once-proud armies melted away. The youthful Aaron Hinsdale Buie described his last days in a gray uniform. "Our last battle was at Selma, Alabama, and we marched for three days and nights without anything to eat. We had to retreat, and on my way I stopped at a farmer's house and the good lady put sixteen biscuits in my haversack, and I had to run for my life, as the Yankees were upon us. Having lost our horses, we had to tramp through sand over our shoes all that day. The following morning we were unable to walk."After their surrender, the defeated veterans returned home to their homes and to their families and began to rebuild their shattered lives. Their inborn Scottish will allowed them to prevail. After a time, the Buie men and women were able to turn their thoughts to the future; their minds dwelled upon the challenges of new frontiers and the betterment of life for themselves, their children, and generations yet unborn.
