Hillsborough (NC) Recorder

July 31, 1861

Page 3

One of the most interesting incidents of the battle is presented in the case of Lieut. W. P. Magnum, son of ex-Senator Magnum, of N. C. This young man was attached to Company B of Col. Fisher’s Regiment, I believe, and owes the preservation of his life to a copy of a Bible presented him by his sister. He had the good book in his left coat pocket. It was struck by a ball near the edge, but the book changed the direction of the bullet, and it glanced off, inflicting a severe, but not dangerous flesh wound. The book was saturated with blood, but the advice written on a fly leaf by the sister who gave it, was perfectly legible. It read thus: “To my brother. He will read a portion of this blessed word every day, and remember his sister.”

--Raleigh Register—

[Transcribed by Sharon Strout]