Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1867-09-05
A Heart of Gold.


makes q man cold and hard. l have
seen those who in private life seemed
all gentleness and warmth, change,
when on military duty, to very heart
less machines. Don't talk to me OF
your tender hearted soldiers, I've
seen too much of the army for
that"
"No doubt you have. Doctor" l
said quietly. "But I've seen more
than you; for / served the whole four
years in the Army Of the Potomac,
and have seen a soldiers nature in
all its phases. I've seen the men
you speak of; cold, hard fellows they
we're, too, when on duty; but at the
same time, doctor, I've known some
of those very men to have hearts of
gold. I'm not much of a hand at a
story; but if you'll listen, I'll tell
you of an incident that will prove the
shallowness OF your theory"
DR.. Hall was an old friend, and l
was spending a short time at his
house just after the close of the war.
We were sitting in his library, en-
joying our cigars by way of giving
an additional relish to the excellent
dinner of which we had just par
taken.
Certainly" replied the doctor
"Fell your story, Truesdale. If you
can upset my theory, I'll not object;
for l prefer to believe in the good
ness, rather than in the evil of hu-
man nature; only my experience gen
orally forces the latter creed upon
me-"
"Well," said I, "when the war
broke out, l enlisted in the-th New
York Cavalry. 1t was a crack regi
ment, and our Colonel was As brave
a man and as fine an officer as ever
marched under the old flag. Well,
Colonel H., in course of time, came
to be Brigadier General; and when
the last campaign against Richmond
began, he was Major General H =,
and had command of the cavalry di
vision to which my regiment was as
signed.
"There was, in one of the ccmpa-
MES of my regiment, 8 private sol
dier who had often been noted for
conspicuous gallantry in battle. He
had on several occasions been offered
a commission, but, for some reason
best known to himself, he always re-
fused it, saying he did not care to
be an officer. He was prompt and
punctual in the discharge of his du-
ty; and no complaint was ever
brought against him by any one,
either officer or private.
seen. H. had often noticed him,
but it was in cold, distant manner.
He knew Farley to be good soldier,
but it seemed that he was hard on
him for this very reason. If any
difficulty was TO be performed, Far
ley was assigned to it; and often he
was given more drudgery to do. We
all wondered why it was that Gen.
II. was so severe on Farley. The
man had never done anything to
merit the Generals displeasure; but
though the latter had given no open
instance of his feelings, every man
in the regiment was convinced that
Gen. H. had no love for our model |
private.
GAS for Farley himself, he never
1t was plain he saw
through the Generals motives, what
ever they light be. But no COM
ment of any kind ever passed his
lips. He performed, In silence and
with fidelity, whatever task was as
signed him.
"One day 1 chanced 10 be at the
Generals quarters. Quite num-
Der of officers were in the ante room,
to see him. Suddenly we
heard loud voices in the Generals |
room, and then the door opened, and
Gen. Fl. came out dragging Farley
by the collar AS he saw us, he
paused, and then, raising his hand.
he struck Farley and bade him leave
the room. Farley turned on him
fiercely, and lifted his arm to return
the blow, but in another instant his
hand fell, and he walked slowly from
the room.
General H. vouchsafed US no ex.
and Farley was equally
reticent as to the cause of the trouble.
We did not doubt his courage; for,
though he had submitted in silence
to the blow, we knew he was no
coward. There was some mystery
about the affair, which we could not
penetrate.
"The General seemed to be salts
lied with the blow he had given Far
ley; and from that time until the last
winter before Petersburg, we heard
no more of the matter. During the
winter our division was frequently
engaged in skirmishes with the reb-
els; and in some of these affairs we
dismounted, and fought as infantry.
Once the gray coats were too many
for US, and we were forced to retreat
1t was about dusk when we began to
fall back, and then, to our alarm, we
found that Gen. H. was missing
We fell back only few hundred
yards, to the cover of a piece of
woods. intending to renew the fight
The neYt mornin0
"About daylight our pickets were
alarmed by the approach of some
one from the enemy's lines. The
was given, and the answer
Friends! For Gods sake, don't
IRE, boys |