Capt. Maddoe letter*
The 7th Ga. Inf. was the regiment that took the first battery of the enemy on position in the field – capturing the battery of Capt., since Mag. Gen’l., Rickett, U.S.A. It was stationed near the Henry house. Gen’l. Bartow was leading the regiment at that time, and was shot through the heart while he had the colors of the 7th Ga. in his hand.
We (illegible word) found Capt. Rickett in the rear, shot through the leg & very much frightened, thinking that we would kill him, as he had reportedly told his men we serve them, if we captured any of them.
He immediately denounced his own cause & justified ours by saying he was an honest man, because he belonged to the Regular army and was honor-bound to obey orders, no matter what the cause.
“Have you had any water, sir?”
“Yes thank you, I am an honest man.”
Others came up
“Gentlemen, I am an honest man.”
An old comrade came up, dressed in Confederate uniform.
“Why Cap’t. Rickett! How do you do, sir?”
“You know I am an honest man.”
The Capt. Was nearly frightened to death & in momentary expectation of being bayoneted.
From South Carolina Department of Archives & History, Columbia SC.
Misc. Records
1864-1903 Box 9
[Contributed by Dr. Thomas Clemens, Keedysville, Md]
[*The writer may be 3rd Sgt. Charles K. Maddox of the 7th Georgia]
Harry Smeltzer
Bull Runnings 
[…] James Ricketts (Report, JCCW […]
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Capt. Ricketts’s adversary might well have considered his comments a denunciation of the Union cause and justification of the Confederates’, but it can also be read, instead, as an appeal to his captors’ honor. One thing that is beyond question, though, is the devotion of Capt. Ricketts’s wife, Fanny Livingston Lawrence Ricketts, to caring for her wounded husband. You can read about Mrs. Ricketts here, on CivilWarTalk.com:
https://www.civilwartalk.com/threads/fanny-and-her-captain-a-thousand-words-worth-one-photograph.140442/#post-1692307
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