The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1884-12-26

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have his name cleared. don't know
anything about the truth or falsity Of
his story, but he tells II very straight.
He will have TO bring affidavits and
other proofs to establish il before his
case can be acted upon. I only give you
the story as he related il to me Just
now.
"Isuppose You have many strange war
incidents brought to your attention p
suggested the reporter.
"Oh, yes, lots of Them" was the re.
ply. II have in mind now the case of q
man. who was reported a. killed in
action, but who turned up few years
ago at q reunion Of his regiment like q
ghost among his comrades, who had
never heard word about him since the
memorable battle when he was shot. It
was at the second battle of Bull Run, ]
think. He was cavalryman, and rode
in the front ranks in q charge. He was
shot from his horse at the beginning of
the charge. and the whole regiment
passed over him. There was no doubt
about his death, and that his body
was not found occasioncd NO surprise.
As he tells the stsry, he knew noth-
ing until he regained conscious
ness, two or three months later, out in
Michigan, being cared for by some
strangers who had taken him in. He
was q physical wreck, and when l saw
him he looked like q regular Quilp.
He was all twisted and torn out Of
shape as If he had been blown up in q
boiler explosion and patched up after
wards. He wandered about for several
years, and finally visited his former
home. He found that his wife, believ-
ing him dead, had married again. He
didn trouble her, but continued trav-
cling about until finally he gained the
friendship of q well-to-do man, and
with him he made his home, finally
marrying one of his daughters. After
bis appearance at the reunion of his reg
iment he brought his case before the
department to have his record cor
rected and to secure the pension which
he claimed on account of his wounds"
"The strangest incident within my
recollection" continued the official, twas
connected with the death Of q colored
soldier. Both his widow and his mother
claimed Q pension. The widow swore
that this man, her husband, died in
Tennessee in 1862 of the smallpox, but
that his mother was not living at the
time of his death nor even several years
before. The mother claimed that this
man, her son, died in 1854 of small
pox in Tennessee; that she had re-
peatedly seen him between 1862 and
1864, but that her son had never been
married. Now, that was a nice snarl
to untangle, for both women were evil
IDENTIFY telling the truth. There was a
record of the man in question, according
to. which he was enlisted at certain
date in that regiment and company, and
died of small pox in 1864. But there
was also strong evidence that he died
in 1862 OF smallpox"
Glow was it Strengthened out?" ask.
ed the reporter.
"Well, it YVES learned that tile man
did die in 1862. as claimed by the Wild
ow. In those times, however, and par
ticularly in those colored regiments,
the officers made every effort to keep
their ranks full, and as the colored men
seldom went by any other name than
Nose or Pompey, or some such we'll.
known darky name, the Sergeants ex-
perienced little difficulty in filing the
place of some one of the men who died
or deserted. 1t is supposed that in this
instance no record was made of the
death Of this Nose, or whatever his
name was, when he died of smallpox in
1862, but the sergeant hunted up man
who looked enough like him to take his
place, and the new soldier adopted the
name of the dead one, and was known
as such. Two years later he also died
of smallpox, and his death was recorded.
There were really two soldiers, but one
of whom was mustered in and but one
Of whom who died according to the
record"
"Who got the pension?" asked the
reporter.
II don't recall the character of the re-
port made by the department to the
pension authorities, but my impression
is that neither got it. You see, the
husband, who died. did not die until
1864, when it was shown he wasn't the
man, and the son, who did die in 1864,
never was mustered in, and there you
are. One was mustered in and didn't
die, and the other died, but was never
mustered in."