National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-11-15


In reading tho personal experiences OF
participants in battles and campaigns one
often comes across stories Of apparently
we'll authenticated instances whore men
seemingly had q forewarning of their ap-
preaching doom, and who, after making
the arrangements naturally attendant on
such a foreknowledge, such as dispose
tion of property, messages to relatives,
and so on, met their doom accordingly.
Among soldiers and sailors as a class
belief that such presentimeuts do occur,
and that the catastrophe foreshadowed is
resultant is largely entertained, though l
don't know why it should DO so, unless 1t
is that their trade deals in "battlo and
murder and in sudden DEATH" In con-
versation on this subject many time
] have been asked IL during my soldier life
Ihad known instanceswhere these socalled
premonitions were fulfilled. 1 replied
that had, and then again know Of so
called presentiments just as vivid in the
mind of the subject which had not been
fulfilled. AS far as my experience goes,
ii IS six to one and half dozen to the
osiS 81 iaes' ,t hHo ~ po,ioi t IN w
,S $1,000 VI Init gu III y ISL s,,Sa
fer, niro,,n,sto poas SESo ston,'
ach, nervous arrangement, or that tinge
of superstition as to good days. bad days,
&C., which seems to be inherent in the
great body Of men, even the educated.
Now, / have seen many strange things
during tho war which / could not
nationally accouutfor, but for that matter
hn,ia'.o 40 "a nysyIuiy Snu, "
49, t,at RI RI @ iu,lnf 1;.nh,i
frnVo , on"y IA .ha aI ,,'Ia1s tSa Sa.,
and hour Of dao,h "A oot nnco mon .
81; 81 ~ -, VI yIv oneo upou
s en-. ~ -, hoa.S men ~, uo n my NY Sot''I
9U w ; un1. Ino hti IN oooi 'n s ~,
maa W 20 nu ooio.p tnu sos.ins W Suo
80 puS.o nj, Sht,a.s hn aaa,,
IT,, Nv CO., 40. 10 w. uvI 1919; -, III se
on ' A. SoS az u ,oaas SUI ~
AM, " v' c. W vuS' 800, 800 t mnon e .no
Sattyshrun taL;ud tlo ',' ts nail LIZ -
tho plna a. tl,o foJnroi nanair,, taoL
noSsossior ~ ~ va go nnd 49, v vo
t,Sass,,,, T., 81 H. ;no s"ps n a.o VIZ" -, 49,
.iaI: 49, poau "pon
cauairns t,d hao i;,naaI,,' .,,,, "a, rs ,o'n
go Hau oS Se, iun on tTs lose'
S on. lug was ioIce y, W hlake use oi ms ~
happened that the writer's regiment
9th Virginia) was detached and ordered
into Manassas gap, opposite Fort Royal,
to hold it while the wagon trains were
passing. Now, it was beautiful morn
81 10 ~ 'tuuEeu Sio.s III niEh
ep;' t'olu 'uo ~, vIVno Vi 'ne noun
aAin al, Hone h.ooulns raven n,, oi
IT. S0"i""o sIuuueniy sugsIsseu' why,
90 u ,s0s tham"S ,na 'n sn au "
for the time being. Instantly the uuip
and jest were silenoed, and tho fellows
looked at me with plying sympathy, for
We expected to have fight before tho
day was ended. You see, ii was an old
woman's tale with us that the man who
went into battle on his birthday would
inevitably lose his life. l don't mind
confessng that the cold chills chased
each other rapidly down my spinal col
umn, though / affected to treat the mat
ter lightly. What was hardest to bear
was tho internally evident tender SYM
pathy that was demonstrated by my COM
rades. They were earnest in the belief
that If we had q battle l was gone coon.
As soon as our arms were stacked OF the
point we were to defend, while all the
rest of the men were scattered about
after luscious blackbepries, which were
6A0"'"S 80 pa IA .hO hoiuoj
sneaked off into the bushes and
drawing my Testament l devoutly read
the Sermon on the Mount" but could
not shake oil the gloomy depression of
spirits, and was only hopeful that there
wouldn't BIO fight that day after all.
Ihls nope was fallaclous, for it had
scarcely passed through my mind before
n rafting hre from our pickets announced
the presence of the enemy. As ran to-
ward the stack OF arms there was but one
thought-to do my duty, come what
might.-and afterward L felt more COM
Portable. 1t is not to tho purpose to
speak OF the fight, which lasted till sun
down. Suffice it TO say that mon were
knocked down to tho right and left OF
me, and came out of the affair smilingly,
without scratch. None of our boys be-
loved i'll old woman's tales after that.