This story has been passed down through the generations. There may be a written record of it somewhere, but for now it's just the verbal story that was frequently told by James Arthur Stewart, grandson of John McGee, as well as James R. Stewart, great-grandson.

At some point in the civil war, Private McGee was with his infantry in the trenches during a lengthy stalemate with no action on either side. Days and weeks passed by with nothing happening, and Private McGee was getting stir-crazy. In a moment of what could likely be called insanity, he jumped up on top of the trench and shouted to the confederate side something to the effect of "I'll give you something to shoot at!" With the opposition provoked, John ran along the top of the trench with bullets flying around him.

After reaching the other end of his trench, he jumped back in, miraculously uninjured. But upon examination, he found a bullet hole in his coat between his arm and chest, another in his hat, and another bullet knocked the heel off one of his boots. He succeeded in stirring up some action on the battlefront, but surely came closer to death than he wished.

John Arthur McGee