SPITTING BULLETS - Green Pittman enlisted in the Confederate army on August 21, 1861 as a member of the “Wilkinson Guards,” which were designated as Co. I of the 3rd Georgia Volunteer Infantry. His first major wound came at the climatic battle of the Battles of the Seven Days at Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862 when his company suffered massive casualties in brutal fighting. Pittman survived the horrific battles of 2nd Manassas, Sharpsburg, Chancelorsville, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania virtually unscathed.
Green Pittman suffered a terrible wound in the Battle of Hatcher’s Run on February 6, 1865. The minie ball struck the upper part of his nose near his left eye. (Simulated injury -left) After the fighting subsided, Pittman was taken to a field hospital, where his wound was dressed and probed by an army surgeon. Leaving the bullet in his head was the most acceptable option because of the risks of surgery. He spent the rest of the war in a hospital. Though Pittman knew that the minie ball was still in his head he rarely thought of it during his daily routines. On a Sunday morning February 1869, Pittman was preparing to go to church when he felt something strange in his mouth.
As he was combing his hair, Pittman felt a large object which he almost swallowed. There was no pain, no bleeding when the one-ounce two-pennyweight ball popped out four years after it entered his nose. The grizzled veteran of many of the world’s most horrific battles cherished the iron ball as a reminder of his good fortune. Augusta Chronicle, July 1, 1875.
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