The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1870-12-08

| Colonel was dismissed
A day passed by without an answer
Another, and still no reply The third
some anxiety was manifested The
| fourth-the solicitude increased. On the
fifth day the old fear seized them The
lslxth-not word spoken to morrow,
6 between he hours of ten and twelve
O'clock" they lay in squads scattered
through the camps, talking until late in
to the night, not caring to sleep; and
the reoeiIle seemed to break in upon their
first nap.
The morning wore away in the midst
of is usual duties. R@4K w
Seven o'clock-Breakfast There was
the usual hum throughout the camps, the
neighing of the horses, and the voices of
the men calling back and forth as they
Struggled in, each to his own mess. Once
more, as they drank their coffee and ate
their hard bread and bacon, grumbliDgly
denouncing the shortcoming of the com
missariatsthey wondered if it were yet
possible for the General to speak
Eight O'clock Sick call The order
lies reported their latest candidates, the
surgeons prescribed, the hospital stewards
provided for them; and the. sick men. ~
ing on their cots in anguish, turned to
inquire OF their neighbors if the word had
yet been spoken.
Nine o'clock-Guard-m mounting. The
first sergeants hastily summoned their
"details = and reported to the adjntants
on the parade grounds. The ceremony
over, the corporas proceeded to post the
:, first relief" and each man, as he re-
signed his charge and fell in" at the
rear, asked eagerly for the news.
Nine and-a-half o'cfock-the bugle
sounded I" Boots and Spurs.'
There were no more questions. From
the mere force of habit. the men obeyed
the summons; and by ten O'clock, the
sulIenly, the troops moved away from
camp, down the main road; and, one
brigade after another, regiment by regi
ment, were formed in hollow-square
around large vacant sugar field, adjoin-
ing the town. The General and staff
passed through the line, moved forward
to the center of the square, and being
drawn up in a line, awaited the appear
ance Of the solemn cortegs.
Slowly down the road from the guard
house 1t came, entered the square, and
marched along the inward-facing lines
of troops, entirely around The open space
the guard, the firing party with arms
reversed, the Wagon drawn by four large
horses with their sad faced driver seated
above and in the wagon, with their
arms pinioned behind them, each on his
own coffin, facing the rear, rode two men,
and took their last leave of their COM
rades.
This second man was a private from
the Fourth Cavalry, and was tried and
condemned by the same court as the Ser.
geanG, for desertin n-the third or fourth
offence. He had been vagabond and
criminal before he became soldier; and
never having been patriot, he was de-
serter from the fl st, and he was paying
the just penalty of his crimes, without
even the pity and commiseratlon of his
own mesS-mateS.
The sunshine the cloudless sky; the
songs of birds; the graceful swaylng OF
the long iestoons Of Spanish moss in the
near woods; the shallow, murkv river
fastening away to the Gulf; the dreary
old tumble down village behind its di-
lapidated levee the long-haired, swarthy,
i'll. clad remnants ut the late Confeder-
ate army gathered at the street corners !;
the distrustful, impoverished citizens
moving about disconsoately the Debris
of two armies scattered in every direction;
the outlying, devastated sugar plantations
covered with camps, and this one the
scene of an imposing military execution !;
these were the obvious details ofa new
er-to -be-forgotten picture. Down into
the hearts of five thousand men it sank
photographed by the indelible and i'm
palpable chemicals Of the mind, there to
remain forever They felt the wheels of
that monstrous hearse tugging at all their
heart-strings, as if they sCrove to chain
them with their sympathles, and forever
hold them back from the end of that sor
rowful journey.
At asst the procession reached the
place of entering, filed out into the field,
and halted short distance in front of the
General and staff. The men were assist
ed down from the wagons and seated up
on their collins at the foot of their graves
Eight men with paid faces, halted in q
line few spaces before them, and ex
changed their carbines for those special
ly loaded for the occasion by the Provost
Marshal, who haG charge of all the ar
rangements. He had loaded seven of
them with ball, but the eighth with a
blank cartridge-leaving the men in mer-
ciful uncertainty, allowing each to think
that perhaps his was the harmless shot.
There was no more delay. Everything
was done quickly, and with the utmost
precision. The Provost Marshal read
his warrent for the execution, drew the
fatal caps over the eyes of the prisoners,
stepped back little, and, in the midst
of the most awful silence, commanded:
"Attention I Readu I !"