Jacob Miller: A War-Scarred Survivor

The Battle of Chickamauga was fought in northwest Georgia, near Missionary Ridge, on September 19–20, 1863. The Union Army of the Cumberland was making an offensive maneuver and was attacked by the Confederate Army of Tennessee. The battle resulted in Union defeat and involved the second highest number of casualties in the Civil War following the Battle of Gettysburg.

During the conflict, Jacob Miller, a private in the Union army, sustained a bullet wound to the forehead. He survived and carried the bullet in his head for many years afterward. The following is adapted from an interview Jacob gave to his local newspaper in 1911:

“After being shot,” Jacob says, “I was left for dead when my company fell back from that position. When I came to my senses some time after, I found I was in the rear of the Confederate line.”

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