The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-02-19
NO M0RE iN.fuELESs IiER0.

SSiGi"r- Judge l.rrSbaw Trjis the story
OF his Decd oi Vnior.
CAMDEN, January 30, 1880.
10 Mc Eiitor c/'tho NcrS und C0u-
TiCT:
Your Columbia correspondent re-
fcriCd 70 the incident narrated here,
telling The story rs twas told to him,
and inviting corrections. AS such Il
deed should DC recorded in the rigid
simplicity Of actual truth, | take The
liberty ofscnding YOU for publicction
an accurate account Ola transaction.
every feature Of which is indcllibly inn
pressed upon my memory.
Very truly yours,
j. B. kERSlIAw.
Richard Kirkland was the son of
John Kirkland, All cstimablc citizen OF
Kcrshaw county, II plain, substantial
farmer Of ihc oldcn time. In 1861 he
entered rs Il private Capt. j. ID. Ken
ncdy's company (E) of the Second
South Carolina Volunteers, in which
company he was sergeant in Dcccm-
Der, 1862.
The day after the sanouinary battle
Of Fredericksburg, kcrslaw's Brigade
occupied the road ut the foot of Aaryc's s
Hill and the grounds about Muryc's
House, the scene Of their desperate de-
icnsc of the day before. One hundred
and fifty yards in front Of The road.
the stone facing of which constituted
the famous stonc-wa|l, lay Sykes Di-
vision Of Regulars, L. :. A., between
whom and our troops murtlcrous
skirniSh occupied the whole day, fatal
to many who ,'ccdlcs>ly opposed thcn-
selves, even for II moment. The
ground between tho lines was britlwcd
wit II the wounded, dead and dying
FcdcralS, victims of the many lcsprr-
:t"ly gallant assaults Of that column ui
81. 600 brave men hurled vHinly against
that imprcGnablc position.
All that day those wounded men rent
the air with their @:oans and their a"o-
niZinG cries Of "Watcr! wulcr!" In
the afternoon the General sat in the
north room. up stairs, Of Mrs. Stevens
house, in front o. the rord, survryiu"
the field, WHEN Kirkland came ur
with an expression of Malignant r,.
monsirancc prrratlinm his person, hi
manner, and the tones OF his voice, II,
said, "Grnrral | can't S."nI this
NV hat is the matter, Sergeant: =
aSkc The General.
lie replied. "All nioht aud al tlnv !
have hcard these lSor people crying
for water, and can stand il no longer.
come to ask permission to 60 and
give them watrr.'
The General regarded him for Il mo.
! men; wi ht"rlinYs orproi0und adnir:l.
ton, and said:
"kirklamd, don't Won know that vo,
w uld get bull, t thro, gh your head
the moment YOU stepped over tn,
wall?'
"Ics, sir" he said. 81 knew tha:
but il YOU will let me, am willing I,
try it,"
AIlcr a pause, the General said
"Kirl>land. ought not to allow YOU
10 run such risk, but the sentiment
will not refuse your request, trusting
''H' H'nSc nSc $e,&&stnl%$9 SECS 1i%Sh,cd Hi; iii viii
pleasure. lie said: II thank YOU
sir, and ran rapidly down stairs. Tho
General heard Him pause for momcnt
AMT hem return. bounlin" two steps
~ Il tune. lie thought the Sergeant :
hrnri had failed him. lie was mis,a-
X i. The Sergeant stopped a; the
tonr and said: "Gcncral. can show a
Whine hanhAcrchirf:" The General
slowly shook his head. saving cmphali-
rh!iN. "Nn, Kirkland, YOU can't do
t!ai. "A!l right sir.' he sal an
tHEr IN" chancrs," and ran down with
n bright smile on his handsome coun:c-
nance.
With profound anxiety he was
watched as he stepped over the wall on
ms GRAND otmcrcy.-Chris.-li like mercy
lnharincd he reached the ncarcsI SUIT
ferrr. llc knclt beside him, tcndrr.v
raised the dropping head. rested il
gently upon his own noble breast, and
poured the precious, lilr-givinw fluid
down tEc irvcr-scorchcd throat. This
done, lie laid him tendcrlv down..
placed his knapsack under his head,
Strengthened out his broken limb.
spread his ovrrcoat over him, replaced
his empty cantrcn with full one, and
turned to another sufferer. Bv this
time his purpose was well undcrs,nod
on both sides, and al danger was over.
from all parts oftlle field arose fresh
crlcs OF water, water; for Gods sake.
wafer! Morc pitcouS still, the mute au-
peal or some who could only trcbiv
hit hand to say, here, too, is life and
suffering.
ioi ah hptll itIQ nall ulu this mill
istcrlnS angel pursue his labor of mcr-
cy, nor ceased to go and return until
he relieved all the wounded on That
part of the toI Il. lie rtulLcl to his
post wholly unhurt. Who shall say
how sweet his rest that winters ni~Ll
beneath the cold stones! Little re-
mains to be told. Sergeant Kirkland
distinguished himsclfin battle at Get
tysburg. and was promoted Licutcu-
ant. at Chickamauga lie fell on l,Ic
field OF battle, in an hour of victory,
lie was but youth when called away,
ani had never formed those ties from
which might have resulted a postcrity
to enjoy his fame and bless his country:
out nc has bcqucathcd to the American
youth, yea to the world. an example
which digniiics our common humanity.
The Boy AND THE BAKERS CAnr.-
The driver of The bakers cart should
have known better than to cut the
small boy who pinchcd his horse. for
when the man went into the "palacc
dining-roons" the small boy took n
big stone aud Knocked out the staple
that held the bar across ten bio n;c