was pierced in the forehead by a rebel bullet and fell dead upon the
ill-fated field.

Before going into action Capt. Acker was advised by his comrades not
to wear his full uniform, as he was sure to be a target for rebel
bullets, but the captain is said to have replied that if he had to die
he would die with his harness on. Soon after forming his command into
line, and when they had advanced only a few yards, he was singled out
by a rebel sharpshooter and instantly killed--the only man in the.
company to receive fatal injuries. "Loved, almost adored, by the
company," says one of them, writing of the sad event, "Capt. Acker's
fall cast a deep shadow of gloom over his command." It was but for
a moment. With a last look at their dead commander, and with the
watchword 'this for our captain,' volley after volley from their guns
carried death into the ranks of his murderers. From that moment but
one feeling seemed to possess his still living comrades--that of
revenge for the death of their captain. How terribly they carried out
that purpose the number of rebel slain piled around the vicinity of
his body fearfully attest.

The announcement of the death of Capt. Acker was a very severe blow to
his relatives and many friends in this city. No event thus far in the
history of the Rebellion had brought to our doors such a realizing
sense of the sad realities of the terrible havoc wrought upon the
battlefield. A noble life had been sacrificed in the cause of
freedom--one more name had been added to the long death roll of the
nation's heroes.

Capt. Acker was born a soldier--brave, able, popular and
courteous--and had he lived would undoubtedly been placed high in rank