The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1883-06-13
Military Ingenuity.

hoNCi VIII ioIStNc oHc SoH
iederate Government" said Col,
Warrick, when asked to relate war
reminiscence. II started out with a
ripe determination of doing every
thing in my power for the cause, but
men who had more authority than l
had, pulled against me, and conse-
quently ! stepped aside. They even
went so far as to court.maytial me.
Now, if there is anything in military
life that takes away mans appetite,
it is to be court-martialed. 1t is
pretty bad in civil life to be tried
before Justice of the Peace, but
that isn't anything to compare with a
ceurt.martial, and Especially when
he knows full well that he has done
nothing to merit such severe hand
ling"
"Wly were You court-martialed,
Cononel =? asked one OF the company.
"For the simple discharge of my
duty. Just about the time it behooved
the Confederacy to make every edge
cut that it could, / was sent into
community to press guns, and to
draft and arm every available man.
Well, went to work and discharged
the duty in accordance with my con-
struction of the order. At place
we seized large number of double.
barrel shot guns. In examining them
we found many that were damaged
so greatly that only one barrel could |
be used. Itold my men not to throw
them aside, but to keep them-they |
would come in handy. In this COM
munity there were Il great many saw
mills and family fucds, and conse-
quently there were a great many one
legged men. One day | issued an
order that all the one-legged men to
be found within a radius of twenty.
five miles, should be brought into
camp. The order was strictly obeyed,
and within two weeks We had seventy
five cripples. Forming them in line
one day, ordered the disabled shot
guns to be brought out. When | took
up gun whose right barrel was USE
less, ! would give it to a man who had
lost the use of his right leg, and so on
until the seventy.fve men were armed.
This was strictly appropriate, for we
had no other use for the crippled guns,
and the country certainly had no other
use for the crippled men. took
great pride in this crippled company.
| wanted it to make name; wanted
each man to feel proud of himself.
They elected as Captain, Il tall fellow
who lost his leg while rafting logs.
we presented him, attended by disa-
bled ceremony with broken sword
and double-barreled pistol with one
hammer gone. Ii would have tickled
you to death to have seen them on
iress parade parade, and their quick. ;
line would have made Napoleon pull :
'ff his hat and grin. Well, pretty
oon | had OCCASION To use them. The :
'nemy came upon me Unexpectedly, ,
md the hurry in.ident upon such oc. +.
'asions, placed ihe one.legged CON- :
,any in the warmest part of the field. !
The battle lasted several hours and !,
vas a drawn fight. My one-lcgged + !,
ompany suffered greatly. The Cap y
ain S leg was shattered by ball, and '
uring the fight he sent an orderly { {
nto the woods to make him another v
eg. Other members of the company . ,
'ere similarly served, and, sir, the L L
mount nfsplinters OH the battlefield "
as simply astonishing. The enemy p
ad fired low, and three ont of six 81 .
'ooden legs were disabled. Before 9 9
Dmplete repairs could be made. my W W
Ieneral came along. and not being :" -
bic to understand why SO much kind. ~
ng wood should be scattered over ~ ~
a!tle.field, asked the reason. | ex. II II
Iained, expecting him to compliment ~ ~
e on my ingenuity, but the unappre. ~ y,
ative fellow had me court.martial. VI
!. i left the service, and during the U
time ofthe war aided the ="
'Ilse by cupturing mules from the
nion men, and burning cotton that r,
ight have fallen into the possession of G (
e enemy."-ArkanSdw 7iueRer. IS