Wilmington daily gazette., 1872-08-20
EATING CROW.
Amusing Account Of ths Origin o. the
"'"s Term.
.,,,xtou c.rsca,sp'naease" " TIE ' clne'innat' n
!" Comu erciAsJ tuE tfsnaa ~ -4J ~"
CHAPTER 4 g, i,'" ~ ro

- nfTf yFITfE NiitE
H.. ,.nn az tbe old Pennsylvania Buck.
Tes. .;,.,.nt in Virginia, early in the war. lis.
W. ssiJ ariAocratic, exclusive, pompou. Viz
G. W. !, ,r,,s baronial style. His mansion, Of
G".."i Ill noe. vss made Of imported brick, his
;~ev. ve;y w, we're tall and ms~ive, and the rooms
c.'u ". 80 ard pleasant. rhe chief attraction
sr.he old place, however, waa tire gf0u"as !i'a'
~ o..'...r,nnde the mansion. Large trees gave lux.
..;.nt .ha,le. and the underbrush IN portions ot
shs sround Afforded shelter for raboi's and othe,
:" ".i game. ,rheve we're walks and orcha' u.s. ana
.,hom and the whole bore such scene Of general
r..cefialness and relUss that 1t vas no wonoer
the Wild Bucktsil. were charmed win tne pros
vcA and anxious TO pene'sa'" 'n'o ~" ""'e"
80 .,,ch promise OF enjoyment.
H. h.,cttaiIs we're not the most tractable sol.
a,sr. They came from the stepingoif place -
TcKe.n. Porter, Forest and Tioga counlie'-.
Id thew obtained their name, which c'ung TO
,hsm during the entire war, through fancy OF
rolonel Kane. brsther Of the Arctic explorer,
sho h.r anne their commander. He recruited
ths regiment in ths early days Of 1861 begin
r;no on the arrival Of the new. of the fall OF
Sumter, from the hackw00lsmen who were ia
u,ons msrksmen. They we're all deer hunters,
and. "a designation. eacl, man was furnished
9Th , tail of buck by Colonel Kane, and when
,hsv marche,i IRON Camp Curtain with the
l.,ck,sls in their cap. it was novel sight
Colonel Charles j. Bildle, Of Philadelphi,,wa was
made the Colonel, and Colonel Kane the Lien.
tenant Colonel Of the Regimen, bath men ~.
ied for their short, aitsnIated forms. Neither
v,s scarcely more than five feet high, aud their
combined weight was less than two hundred and
Il NAV easily he guessed that these soldiers
had little re pect for Virginia aristocracy, and
the tent poles had hardly got .ettled in the
ground before noted rider rnamed-well Smith
@shouldered his deer killer end started ont on
little expedition. He was q sergesnt snd OF
immense size, and went by the name Of THE
Big Sergeant" He made straight march for
The old Virginian's manor. Now, the old gen.
,leman had mrny pets about the grounds and
among them tame crow VIII 'ch he valued very
highly. lie Also had tame rabbits, dovet etc
Tne Re yeant climbed the stone wall, and drop
psd hmsef and gun on the inside Of the
aronnd.. The irst thing his eye struck wasthe
f,me CROW, who uuc,ncel .,ed.y flew ne"r him
and alighted on limb and began to cav Of him
The Sergeant utit his rifle to his shoulder ant
banged away, and Mr.. Grow came hu.tering lt
the ground. The soldier reloaded his 60"
leaned it against the wall; '1d went TO g,t III
game. 49,.
Instantly there came lloring Il IN the ho'ls
in a high state Of exritement,th the old Virginiat
and whel he saw that his pet crowd had bee
killed, b's rage knew no l.ounds He reshe'
for the sargeant's gan, End swearing that Ii
wouldn't have given the crow for the who
Yankee e-my, vowed that he world blow th
soldie, bra ms out. With this he brought III
piece to cIck, and giarc d along the barrel
The sergean, begged for h;s life, and the Vii
g'nian swore he would take j.
The Virginirn f ,ally thought of compr'
mise, and wnh look ha'f between an,azemer
and rage told the sergeant that he mrst e'
that raw crow. In vein the other protested; II
Virynan Insisted on the price ofh's adversary
life So the sergeant pulled stf feathers an
began to gag and eat.
How 90 you like crow ?" r cd the Virgil
ian through his teeth.
The only answer the other gave wss to beg
bs let of. He WIZ .orlJ he had shot the GRO
didn't know it wss a tame one, and he woulGl
dosuch thing again. Finally the old M
took the gun from its aiu, end told the 81
geant he needn't eat no more. His hesrt "
full joy, the soldier threw the bird upon I
ground, and said: .. a."=
swell, kin eat crow, but don't like it..
The story might stop here fit was only
show the origin Of the pl se, but the re tot
10 the best.