 As the Union line began to give way and they fell back to the Seminary, Burns received wounds in the arm, the leg, and several minor ones in the breast; the Union soldiers were forced to leave him behind on the field.Injured and exhausted, the old man was able to crawl away from his rifle and to hastily bury his ammunition.He convinced the Confederates that he was a noncombatant, wandering the battlefield seeking aid for his invalid wife, and his wounds were dressed by their surgeons.