Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-03-27

the best ni.cr> Bat 10 our tale. \
c.;urt-mu,,iil condemned the Aforesaid
thieves tu have their heads shaved. 4
pIacari marked thief attached /"
their backs. and u be- drummed ont Of
,:tnin l,forc the assembled regiment L.
t!l, llln, OF ile ..Royut y March. Ii
hapI"n,.d thai WAS corporal nf lh'
guard iii char". OF the prisoners OK
the day the sentence wa> to be carried
int" effect. and il wA> very disagree
able duty 10 act ~ ton>orial artist Tor
The uc,;.-:on. to make the finishing
toilet uf thu pilicr''rs. a. il We're. |
fell >n:ry TOR the men. iad II they had
shown tl.u-rlvrs 10 he. for the Il -
grace which they must undergo >c,.In.r!
little preferable 10 death its'lf. f.nicr-
ng thr tent where the. men We're con-
fined found them play n" cards
You men must untrrg" your sen
t.nrr Il. three clork. said |. ''hut
YOU Inrl>l bear up. You have brought
IL OH '. ur>,l,r>.
'Oh. never mind. rorrN. sad one
"f them. aud they We're both laughing.
We r. clad 10 get lno>r. We Il ,r en-
j,HnG f.. while you fellows ar food
f'n me WORMS.
liter disgust seized upon me- and
felt no NOR. ruinp,Inction of conscience.
Calling in two of the guard To hold the
-,oin'irrl> IN Il convenient position.
>,iI.d the shears aud took my iir>i and
last lesson Il, barber. ! think tn"
iob WAS well .lolr. for ciIt To The. -kin
in some places and left their head
striped like Il Nrhra : back. III :; =. III.
the regiment was drawn mp Il il f'r
dress parade. and marched the thieves
on: with lie of haNonrt> n The back
OF each. aEl when all was ready pat
r;it,.! them up and down before tn" line
with the lifr- and drums raillin~ away
merri, al the ''Ruou March behind
them. am Il roar OF laughter from the
men who had been di>hon"rrd b, their
presence. Taking the pit full fellows I"
the boundary ut the camp they each
received Il kick in the rear from the
guards and were sent on their WA rr-
| 10 cinT.
! Ia "A prcviuu> article alluded "a the
execution Of Il man named Ra irlitfr. t
con-cript from Southwest Virginia.
who had been assigned 10 the frr-t
VIRGINIA Battalion "f Infantry. lie
WAS Il mnuntainrcr with a large
! family If children. and WAS :tlway-
pnlny for home. He was utterly
wort hlr-> As 4 soldier. After de>c,'t
ing and being brought back two or ihr =
times. he finally desperately wounded n
guard vino rndeavored to balk >t!ll an
other attempt to desert. He WAS cap
turcd co,lrt-martialed and >rni"nc-d
to br shot although the corrt for 4
lonw me he-itatrd to pass sentence. IL
some. of he members believed the man
tu hr h.lf-wiitrd. Had moi Radcliffe
nra"lN killed the guard he would have
only been confined. H. he did not at
tempt TO desert 10 the enemy, but io q"
hum": hut the assault d'trrm ned the
minl- of the court. On being br ,uglit
out for execution the poor dr.ii bias
phemcd and howled and >.rugg led
with the guards in Il heartrendiny man
iuer, and II was not until he SAW that
his PRAYERS for mercy were useless that
he hraccd up Ike a man. and quietly
kneeliny upon his coffin and received III
his bosom the fatal bullets. have ever
thought. and think STILL that the e\e-
ton of this man was II stain on the
court that tried him. under the circuln-
stances. tie WAS monomaniac on the
subject of home. His Captain deemed
him Irresponsible. and the ma ;oritN %
the officers o. the battalion We're Of ih,
same up mon. had been transferred
to this battalion ut this time. and
know that Wa, in favor Of locking
Radcliffe up instead of shooting him.
Speaking Of puni>hmrnts, ] don
know that Twas more forr.bly struck b,
:. ANYTHING | witnessed during the stru-
Gle than bv the following incident
Ia the autumn OF 1864 Captain Charlie
A. Davidson : company First Virgin:
Battalion). in which | was Il Lieuten
ant. was detached from the comman,
and ordered to assist in dl>mountin.
the heavy artillery from the Howlrt
II lISr battery on the James RIVER. an,
in removing TO and remounting then
in the new batteries VIII 'ch had beer
d cons ructed mile or two up stream
j.. directly Opposite Dutch Gap. The com
I pany was assisted in this heavy labo
b, the sailors of the & gInboat> lying br
the Richmond Penitentiary; these la or
y however, doing separate work iron
the soldiers aud sailors. Onc da
David son and We're passing along tn
/ riil..-pits were the convicls We're di.
giny when one of them raised his tin
u ger to the Peniteni AIRY guard and IT
e qmc>ted permission to speak. 1t WA
i granted and he spoke to Davidson b
/ Maine The latter stopped, and, aft,
o looking earnestly al the man. e,
e ella med: My God! What are yo
: doing here? | thought You had bee
: pard0ned." The convict mourniull
l. shook his head. and when Davdso
took his hand. burst into passion
II tears.
e "Is there anything can do !ur YOU?
l. "a d Davidson.
II No" the poor wretch replied: :
IS am dead to III, family and To the worl,
N and am in hell. Yet my body is ali,,
l. and 1 ,hudtcr to commit >u;c dc.
n In watching the ,cenr confess teal
e. came into my eyes. A. learned afte
II ward here was >c;on If on" of ii
Il lies OF the Virginia Valley. who ha
ne deliberately flung himself to The ha'
re- Start ny out in the war As a youn
III Lieutenant in q crack cavalry con
IL pany. he had suffered his asion +,
r. quOr to carry him from shady act
IL act. until at last he comm, tied forger,
'ii and wound up by stealing span
'n horses and Il carriage. in the act
ie selling which he was arrested. Trit
!e by couit-mlrt al he was cashiered al
'ir turned over to the ci, i authorities, |
et whom he was sentenced to u five year
rd term IN the TcDiienIlarN. All M, iai
NJ ily intlIencp could not save him
aha,e the igor of the sentence. IL
p otleiS,> We're too "ro>s for clemenc
n After we had left h m Davidson nev
y. went near him again. II was too pa
a ful, but he managed to obtain son
he ahatcmet of the labor imposed on 4
TO wrc,ched man while the cOnvicts We
o stationed near our camp 1h0maS
a. Wrray, IN Washington Repubiicdn.
he
h Hon. Simon Cameron. who
lie eighty ->iN. tell, VII, he is still youn
of II >ecre, of life i 10 keep moviu
A. Men grow old only when they Il dov
tn long enough Ia get rusty. | want
ed live Just rs long a> | can he hapl
t. ,a.l,n