The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-07-01
FROM PRIVATE TO CAPTAIN.
An Incident of the Late Civil War. Showing
What True Man May Accomplish.
Detroit Free Press.

Detroit Free Press. " &s--s@ '@---+
| 1t was not once year, but almost once
| a week, that the soldier VINO had anything
| of the heroic in him in his nature was
| offered chance to develop it. Men
| stepped from the ranks into the shoulder
straps at enc stride,- and the case to be re
lated was only one in a hundred.
We were the rearguard We had fought
the enemy at. Malvern hill and checked
him, bat the arTny@dared not halt. Under
| the cover of darkness the long
trains and the battered and dis
heartened lines resumed the march
| towards White House landing and the
| cover of the gunboats. Dead and wound
ed were left -onitthe field, and over the
swamp roads. deep with mire and mud,
plunged wagon and gun and caison and
ambulance, followed by men whose eyes
closed in sleep even as they walked
The rear guard had work on hand.
close on our heels came fresh troops whe
had orders to ride us down-cut US to pie
ces-tramp us into the mire-get rid of US
that they might reach the army beyond.
| They followed us on the road and they fol-
| lowed as on both sides of it in the woods,
There was hardly a moment during the
long night that the guns were silent. Men
| ell dead in the mire and were left to sink
out of sight, Men fell wounded in the bush
| es and were not given a second look. When
one file of men had been shot away in the
rear guard another took its place, and SO
! the long and murderous night were away
and the blessed daylight came.
Daylight was not to end the pursuit or
make wounds less horrible or rob death of
its ghastliness. Yet it was a relief.
Just at sunrise we had respite. The
enemy was closing up to push US with a
determined onslaught Our men were
marching at will, detected, Respondent,
sullen and ferocious. | could not see an
officer anywhere up The road. I could
look over thousand men, but not so
much as the bar of a second lieutenant
/ was among them. Where had all the
| officers gone? Some We're dead in the road
and bushes miles away, but death had not
claimed all. Here was an entire regiment
| without an officer TO command.
| We had made q dozen stands since mid
night, but ne one remembered to have seen
an officer u Men had halted, bout faced
and dressed lines like machines and when
the pursuit was checked we bad, toiled on
again. We struck a terrible slough extend
ing across the road. Five pieces out of
! six in battery had been abandoned there
with everything belonging except the
horses. Scores of men surrounded each
/ gun and caisson and lifted them out of,the
mire and dragged them along to clay hill
beyond. "-
On the crest of this hill the five guns
were planted and 500 men deployed
right and left il support. Fresh car
I tridges were served out, a supply Of
I bareback came down the line and we
were resting and eating and wondering
what general was in command when a
private soldier, face black with powder;
uniform covered with mud and left arm
| in sling and covered with blood, mount
| ed gun before US and said: Boys, we
are going to stop right here and give EN-
n Ill They can't flank US, and they can't
| ride over US as long as we have a shot left
Lets show Little Mack how we can fight
without shoulder straps to boss u.s."
He was only q private soldier-a man
from the ranks whom no one would sus
pect of having anything heroic in his com
/ position-zyet it was under his orders, we
1 had saved the battery--he had planted it,
he had dcployed us in support-he had
picked mp ammunition and provisions to
/ serve as We had rested for twenty min
utes when the head of the pursuing column
| appeared. We had the key of the road for
1 three miles. They came on with a yell,
the road packed with them and our battery
opened. 70 -
r Men were never cooler. Almost ike
tclockweFk were the guns served and in ten
minutes we had cleared the road. Then
they brought up two batteries and for half
an hour five guns foun9ht twelve, When
our fire slackened by order of that same
private soldier the enemy came on with a
rush. When they had reached the slough
eight hundred muskets blazed into them
and the guns opened with grape and no man
| lived to cross it. We were cheering and
yelling and an aid came galloping up be-
hind us and shouted:
"Where is the general in commando
''Here l am, replied the private, he
stepped ont.
*<You are directed to fall back beyond
the Hickory road where we are massing
for battle shouted the aid as he dashed
away.
We could have held that position against
| twenty thousand men. but our general
obeyed orders. 1t was better road now
and as we retreated we dragged the guns
| with Us. We had not reached the Hickory
road when dozen officers were with us,
| coming from no one could say where, but
they could not rob our private of his glory.
Before we had passed the battle line Gen
| eral Mcclellan had taken him by the hand,
] given him all due praise and made him a
captain. We We're not Jealous We cheer
ed him and wished that he had been made
a colonel.
DDEcc