Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1869-06-17
4 sad story.
a UNION REBEL SOLDIER AND HIS
DEAD WIFE.


\ correspondent of the b.. On
Traveller, writing from Vicksburgh,
met strange character wandering
over the old battle-felds. The wri-
ter tells the story as follows:
We told him that we were anxious
to gee where the Federal lines were
located, as we were from Massachu-
sets.
ooh, yes, from Massachusetts,"
said he, Strengthening up. 81 have
been in Massachusetts,, and was born
in Vermont" Then, after a pause,
he clenched his hand, and said sadly,
II wish / was dead now"
why SOP" said we, feeling a pity
for such a wretched creature as he
appeared to be.
"If you are going out toward the
bayou, l will show you,' said he,
leading the way.
We began to think the man insane,
and after following him nearly Il
mile, we halted, and asked him how
far he intended to go. He stated
that we were almost there; and SO
we kept on. He soon turned off
from the main road into an open
field, surrounded by growth of
young timber; and after passing the
barren spot which appeared to have
been at some time the site Of build
ing, he suddenly stopped, and point
ing to 4 bunch Of rose trees, said, in
u low tone:
''There! In that grave lies the rea-
son why wish l was dead. She
was my wife, SIR"
Chow long has she been dead?"
asked we, as sympatheticalIy rs we
could.
"Well, seeing you have taken in
terest enough in me to come along SO
far, I'll tell you the whole story"
said he, taking out his knife to trim
the rose bush.
HIS STORY.
"She was twenty-ninc years old,
sir, and she was a Southern lady, too.
/ came down here long before the
war, and had nice bit of land here.
/ fell in with this lady at the city up
river, and we were married in 1862.
l kept out Of the war as long as !
could, because / didn't like fighting
anyhow, as / was happy at home;
and because I felt more like fighting,
if fought at all, among my native
Vcrmonters. / hated the Confedera-
cy, and said SO; and it got them down
on me. So one day a company Of
infantry came along and said they
would shoot me on my own thresh-
old if ! didn't enlist at once in the
Confederate army. lived right
there then, where you see the weeds.
l couldn't get away from them; and
finally, with gun at my breast, l
said ! would enlist, and went of,
leaving my wife crying at the door.
can see just how she stood, with
her handkerchief up to her face, this
way, and left her waving like this.
But no use; l had to enlist with the
Missourians, and SO l did, with men,
tai reservation that would run away
the first opportunity. But l didn't
get any chance, for they watched me
as close as a bloodhound does a mig
ger. Finally, when Grants army
came down here, our brigade was
sent out to kind o'hold them in check.
l hadn't been home since l went
away, and my wife wrote me trying
to cheer me up.
"The second day we moved up in
plain sight of my house, our lines
being along where that fence is yon-
der. Then the Yankees, they came
out of the woods over there and be-
gan firing. l wondered what had
become of my wife, for the bullets
from both sides began to knock the
shingles off the house. One side
there, where you see the cellar like!
Well, that's where she went to get
away from the shot, she and her
waiter girl. All night I stood out
there by that tree, wishing might
60 and see my wife. But she didn't
know that was there at all. But ]
determined to desert to the Union
lines the next night. So ! arranged
1t to be on picket, and was sent out
there in the corner of the field. Just
as it was coming dark, l lay down
on the ground, SO that the other
pickets might not see me, and
crawled along slowly toward the
house, and when I got within few
rods jumped and ran for the house.
when came round the corner a
AY