A Soldier’s Script | Nat Geo Live

to make the nation one in whole northern
and southern soldiers fault one of the
most destructive wars in history a new
nation built from the smoldering ashes
of mind and body yet amid such turmoil
in there were human dramas that elevated
stout hardness one such incidents
occurred in 1866 when a periodical the
soldiers friend staged to contest Union
veterans who had lost their right arm
during the war were invited to submit
samples of their penmanship using their
left hand the magazine received hundreds
of scribbled interests first prize went
to young Jesse Pendergast he was a
25-year old cabinet maker we in here
listed in a Massachusetts regiment
Pendergrass submitted a 10-page memoir
look at that lighting I challenge any of
you to try and imagine he’s doing it
with this other hand and in this memoir
he talks about his army service and in
the fight near petersburg pinned the
glass was standing in an earthwork when
he wrote an enemy shell exploded and
wounded me so badly that it was
necessary to amputate my right arm I
also lost he said two fingers and the
thumb of my left hand look at it he
hasn’t got a writing arm he got a stump
for a farm a stop for forefinger and
Ling finger and then he’s got his
another thing thing is okay the middle
fingers gone too and yet he submitted
that beautiful work of penmanship to win
this award is a incredible story
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