Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1875-08-14
And That's the Way he Felt.

And That's the Way he Felt.
He had a wooden leg, (says the
| Vicksburg Herald, J three fingers
were gone from the left hand, and
| he had TO use a crutcn. In the dusk
of the evening he sat down on a
dry goods box on the street cor
ner, and striking the ground with
his crutch, he exclaimed:
We'll, old pard, the wars over .
Gimme your hand--shake hard !!
He shook the crutch with hearty
good will and continued:
There's no more Reb-no more
Yank. We're all mericans, and
standing shoulder to shoulder
South Carolina alongside of Mas
sachusetts we can lick the boots
off'n any nation under the sum-
He waited awhile and then went
on:
mo more skirmishes-no more
fouis Uncle Robert is dead; Gen.
Grant wants peace, and they are
meltin' up swords and baynots to
make cotton-mill machinery. We
are about through camping out,
old pard, and we hain't sorry-not
a bit !!
He leaned the crutch against the
box, lifted his wooden leg, and re-
marked:
Lost a good leg up at Freder-
icksburg when / was under Barks-
dale,and Burnside thought that he
could whip old Uncle Robert and
Stonewall Jackson together! Good
Lord but wasn't it hot that day.
when the Yanks laid their pom
toons and got up and got for us?-
And when we got up and got for
| them, wasn't it red hot?
He stopped to ponder for awhile,
and his voice was softer as he said:
But / forgive him | took the
chances-and lost. I'm reaching
out now to shake hands with the
Yank who shot me, and I'll di-
vide my tobacco half and half with
him. 1t was big war. Yank and
Reb stood right up and showed
pluck, but it's time TO forgive and
forget
He cut chew off his plug, took
off his battered hat and looked at
it, and continued:
Didn't we all come of one blood?
Hain't we the big American ma
ton ? Isn't this here United States
the biggest plantation on the riv-
err, and is there nation in the
world that dares knock the chip
off our shoulder
maryland, my Maryland,
Michigan, my Michigan"
He put down his leg, looked at
his crippled hand, and soliloquiz-
ed:
Three fingers gone-hand used
up, but I'm satisfied. Folks who
go to war expect to feel bullets
We stood up to the Yanks ;--they
stood up to us;-it was fair fout,
and we got licked. Two fingers
hain't as good as five, but they're
good enough. to shake hands with!
Come up here, you Yanks, an grip
me! We raise cotton down here
yon raise cotton up there, less
trader
He lifted up his crutch, struck it
down hard, and went on:
'Durn family who'll fight each
other! We've got the biggest and
best country that ever laid out o.
doors, and if any foreign despot
throws club at the American ca
gle, we'll shoulder arms and shoot
him into the middle of next week,
we will 7
He sat and pondered while the
shadows grew deeper, and by-and-
by he said:
There's lots of graves down here;
there's heaps o. war orphans up at
the North Pm crippled up and a
little sick. but Pm going to git up
and hit the ornery cusS who dares
say word ag'in either. We've
got through fighting-we're shak-
Ing hands now, and durn the man
who says a word to interrupt the
harmony! It's one family! ole
Uncle Sans boys and gals and ba-
bies, land we're going to live in the
same house, eat at the same table,
and turn out bigger crops than any
other ranch on the globe
He rose up to go, raped on the
box with his crutch, and said:
Resolved, That this glorious old
family stick right together in the
old homestead for the next million
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