The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-06-02
PRENTICE.
The bravery of George ID. Prentice.

'rom ri 30 NM IA, ~ ,-i1i .-.il.
The Bravery of George d. Prentice.
A Washington correspondent pays
q beautiful tribute to the memory OF
the late poet-editor, George d. Prem
tice. Inithe article the writer says:
ttMr. Prentice was q brave man.
= Except his terrible brain-shafts,
which had world wide range, he carried
no concealed weapons. He never
fought duel. He had many street
and office rencounters, in which he
was never the aggressor; always victo-
rious; but this generous man never
pushed victory beyond present safety.
An aggrieved person travelled many
miles to kill Mr.. Prentice. After a
moments struggle the knee of Mr..
Prentice was upon the breast of his
armed assailant. An eager.edged knife
was thrust into his hand, and one OF
Kentueky's chivalric gentlemen cried,
cut the scoundrel's' throatp Mr..
Prentice cast the knife aside; ewould
not strike prostrate foe" 's7il -,
That Mr.. Prentice was a truly brave
manfthere is no shadow of doubt; and
physically he was strong. We are not
aware that in his many personal en-.
counters he employed any weapon
aside from his stout arms; but We dc
know that in his old days it would
have been dangerous to have attacked
him in his sanctum. The room where
he mused and wrote at times presented
something of the appearance Of a small
arsenal. In the years of the war his
chief delight was Henry rifle. He
examined it carefully every few days,
and kept it in good repair. Every
month he took the precaution to dis
charge the chambers, usually firing
through the open window at a solid
object in the back yard. After dis
charging the rifle, he would then clean
it and carefully reload it. He kept
other fire arms, but the Henry rife
was bis favorite. Mr.. Prentice was no
coward, but in those troubled times he
deemed itprudentt to obeprepared for any
emergency. The Jo,0nCl was Prentice,
and Prentice was the Journal The
editor was shining mark; he stood
in the way of scheming men; desper-
ate characters thronged the city, and it
was well for him to he prudent. When
danger was ever present, he would
have been lacking in wisdom had he
not united caution to bravery.
a. An INCIDENT. ID .
We will record q single incident IL
Illustrating the resolute character of
Mr.. Prent: g. 1t was in the last year
of the wa An Indiana regiment was
passing through the city of Louisville
on their way to the front. The officers
exercised little restraint over their
men. The soldiers struggled from the
ranks and pillaged some Cf the stores
on the line of march. The writer of
this article witnessed the unmilitary.
like display with surprise and indigna-
tiOn.l We went at once to the Journal
office, and wrote an article comment
ing severly upon the regiment, closing
by inviting the attention of Gen. Pal
mer to the lack of dicipline in the or
ganization, as was demonstrated by the
struggling pilfcring march. Before 10
o'clock the next dav the Major of the
regiment, accompanied by six Of his
Captains, presented himself at the
Journal building. The officers wore
their side arms, and strobe menacing-
ly into the room Of the. editor-in- chief,
angr1ly demanding the name Of the
writer of the Objectionable articiC, and
pompously insisting on full and imme-
date retraction. Without showing
any signs of temper, Mr.. Prentice re-
marked: "Be seated, gentlemen; the
writer of the article is not in just now,
but L am expecting him every moment.
We will then investigate the case" I"
and he coolly went on with his ex-
change reading. When We entered
the office the situation looked stormy.
CHANGING up from his table, the Chief
remarked: Mr.. B., it seems that
you have stirred up a hornets nest.
These gentlemen called to say that the
article in the Journal, this morning,
in regard to their regiment, is untruth-
full and unjust, and they are pleased to
add that if we do not retract they will
march their regiment into the city and
pull down the Journal Office. Be good
enough to EXPLAIN Heeding neither
the angry looks nor the angry words
Of the redoubtable Major and his Cap
tains, we said "Mr. Prentice, there
is nothing to retract. The article dealt
with facts and can be proven by the
shOp-keepers themselves, to say moth
ing Of hundreds of well-knOwn citizens
upon the street at the time.p The irate
officers became more boisterous, end
talked of pitching us out of the win
dow. "Be calm, gentlemen" said
Mr.. P, rising, and his brow was firm;
ly knit, and his eyes full of resolution
"be calm, gentlemen; bluster will
not do here; soldiers should not blus-
ter; go back to your camp; return
here at the head of your companies; /
believe that the Journal has spoken
truly, and having spoken the truth,
tie journal has nothing to retract." I"
The old man looked really grand as he
thus rose and confronted the stalwart
tndianians. The odds were against
him, but there was no hesitation, no
show of fear. The officers quailed be-
fore his resOlute bearing. But they
went away loudly protesting that un-
less the Journal retracted, they would
pull the office down next day. Mr..
Prentice turned to his table again, and
wrote with his palsied Thand,p as he
wrote nearly all his strongest things,
not depending on his amanuensis at
such times, one Of his bitterest articles.
He arraigned the Indiana regiment for
its lack Of dicipline; commented saw
agely upon its outrageous proceedings,
and urged that the officers and men
be sent to the front in disgrace. Itwas
a telling, bitter article, such an article
as only Prentice could write. We have
nothing to add but that the Journal
office was rot pulled down, while the
Indianians were, sent to the front, as
Mr.. P. suggest sted, in disgrace. Clear
ly, George ID. Prentice was no part Of
a coward. He was physically and