The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-12-19

show signs Of Tagging. But there wa.
this difference between them, that the
Brobdignagian could have picked Che
Iiliputian up, load and all, and have
marched offw1th him, while the petit cor.
poral could scarcely have done the same
b. jerry.
Often have / seen the big corporal
with q half dozen muskets and KNAPP.
sacks slung in various fashions abou,
his brawny person, which he was carry,
ing along for some weary comrade, and
laughing at the idea Of being overload
ed. A mighty man was Corporal Jerry
Dayton; q mighty man of valor ye. un.
tried.
There were two of his f~ellow-soldiers
who did not believe in Jerry's courage.
One was the orderly sergeant, an old
soldier himself, and the other a man who
seemed to have known something Of
Jerry's antecedents, though he never
gave any reason for his opinion. Both
ACKNOWLEDGED Dayton's good qualities in
camp and on the march; but
You keep o sharp lookout on him,
lootenant, fust squall we git inter, an
Of Jerry Dayton don't run then I'll 90
beg his pardin for thlnkin' some an on
hun. IF Jerry hadn' been Tilted he ha'
know'd too much to ha' gone and lis
ted
"Ycu thought he was really lame that
day we went after the bu~shwhackers,
lieutenant, said the orderly, "but I've
always had a shrewd notion he was lame
nearer the region of his heart that time
All this l of course pooh-poohed, and
convinced that / was as good q Judge OF
the man as any one else, held fast to
my liking for the corporal. If he
wouldn't stick to me in a fight, I said.
there was not a man in the company
who would. Time showed whether /
was right or wrong.
1t was ut Fair Oaks. We had been
hurrying forward to the support OF
Casey's shattered division, and I was
too busy to keep much of an eye on any
particular man. I had glanced at Day
ton several times, but had noticed moth
ing beyond the ~paleness of his face; and
as pale faces are not unusual at such
times on the bravest men I paid no
heed to it.
Our regiment and one other, both
under command of Colonel Stradella.
had been selected to proceed through
White Oak swamp, along an old aban-
doned road which Kearney had discoy-
cred that morning, and take up a posi-
ton SO as to fall upon the flank of the
rebel advance, which, it seemed likely,
would drive COUGHS and Keys division
far back to the river. We had marched
q good part of the way at q double
quick, and tile men were too busy pick
ing their way along the rough path to
devote more than half their thoughts to
the rattle of small arms and sharp ar
tillery fire, which showed us too plain
ly how our men were being borne back.
And the plan of the hurried march
gave no time to the dead beats and pol
troons TO skulk out of the ranks.
But finally we reached the edge of
the swamp and deployed into line be-
hind q snake fence on the skirts of the
wood whose underbrush screened us al
most entirely from view. Before us
lay an open clearing about q quarter
mile in breadth, across which wounded
men limped or were carried to the rear.
and "demoralized' men were falling
back out OF range. singly and in squads;
and in which, as if the rebel ar~tilierists
we'll knew the location Of the clearing,
shells were exploded and scattering
their fragments with that peculiar musi-
cal ting! tingl" SO familiar to men
who have once heard it; and ever and
anon n of these uncomfortable mis-
siles would whiz past us, and be fol-
lowed by an instantaneous ducking of
the head by every one Of the green re-
cruits. But though this was the frst
time our regiment had been under fire,
the men behaved splendidly. Casting
my eye down the line Of my company I
could see a decided majority of pale
faces, but compressed lips, and not q
sign of wayering; while one or two of
the veterans or the deyil-may-cares
would indulge in o joke at their neigh
boris pallor or q sheer at some coward
~ fugitive. No one had been hit as
yet, but the prospects looked uncom
Portable hot.
Allthis time infantry fire came near
and nearer ~ re~treating line, and the
advancing rebels, with ever and anon a
taunting yell Of defiance, seemed to be
approaching SO as to present their flank
as they passed our position.
This was just what was expected and
desired, as, unless they discovered us
in lime, we could take them in reverse.
and create q diversion in favor of our
own forces, whose commanders had been
already notified Of our intended attack,
and would cooperate with it,
But all this is far from the
and we will now return to Corporal
Dayton. AS loon as our line was
formed, I began pacing up and down
in rear OF my company was in COM
manipulating words Of encourage
ment to the men and ~impressing upon
them the necessity Of waiting for and
obeying all orders promptly and eff
GENTLY ;above all things cautionlng them
reserve to their fire till the right mo-
ment, when they should receive the
word.
While thus engaged / turned toward
the corporal, and noticed that he looked
as If he were having o chill. He was
shaking as with an ague fit, but each
ma was intently watching the panora-
ma before us, and only his close neigh
bors seemed aware of his condition.
But all at once there was a loud explo-
sion above our heads, and in the com
pany IN our right a yawning gap was
rent.
STEADY, men, steady! It's nothing
but a she'll! Close up your ranks u
came from the officers Of the adjoining
companies in as loud a tone as was pru-
dent. And onepoor fellow lay doubled
up on the ground, while a second was
carried to the rear. But, after tho first
startled explanation, never a groan.
This was the climax Of Jerry's forti-
tude. The Goliath turned. and, leav-