The National tribune., 1885-11-19

old fellow; see you again before we start o.
| course" This he said to Graves as the latter
mounted Hippodrome and rode away; and the
Captain going into the midst of his command
found his senior Lieutenant, Mr.. Allyn, t.
| whom he had sent the message, already hard al
work like good officer as he was.
"Mr. Allyn" said his Captain, "Graves says
we are to go flying light; that means, of course
that the camp equipase is to be left behind
| and you VIII send at once to the Division Quar-.
termaster and see if he will take charge of it
| and so relieve US to that extent We shall take
the wagons, of course; you will load them with
such of tie commisSary stores as we have on
hand, and by the way, l have lot of things
came up from the city the other day-you
know, in one of the wagons; be sure they &c
| along"
very good, sir" said the Lieutenant, whose
interest in all that belonged to his Captain was
never insufficient, and so zealously did he pro-
| coed that within the hour named in Graves's
order Stanley's COMMAND was ready to move
and the Captain had mounted his horse, when
! along came Graves again in a great hurry.
lou can't take your wagons Capt. Stanley
/ meant to have told you so. The General says
| send them to Smith, Division Headquarters
and he will receipt for them"
And how are we to manage for supplies?"
| 20, live on the country, suppose"
\
What a growler you are this morning, Stan
| ley" said Graves, between whom and the Cap
| tain there was a great friendship. But the
commander of the battery did not reply. He
was blindly reckoning up the cost of the choice
selection of Cote Dor, POHtet Caaet petit poiS,
trutfies and sauces that were, oh, so securely
| packed in one of those condemned wagons, and
must now be left behind. "They will be lost, ~
mused their owner. "lost forever; the boxes
VIII be broken open, and what the soldiers
don't gobble
THE NIGGERs WILL STEAL.
This was one of the fine distinctions of army
life Soldiers often "gObbled" and niggers
often stole" the result was much the same,
but neither trespassed on the privileges of the
other.
Great Scott! to think of it. John Galpin
almost refused to sell me that wine at any
price, and now" but words failed him.
But he was too good soldier not to obey
with alacrity and good faith the lawful orders
of his superiors appointed over him; and he
turned his horse and rode to the rear of his
battery, where that active young gentleman,
Mr.. Horton, the junior Lieutenant, was busy
looking after the line of caissons, which was
his special command.
Mr.. Horton, the wagons and contents are to
remain behind"
"Yes sir; Mr.. Allyn sent me to the Division
Quartermaster to see if he would receipt for
the camp equipage, and he told me no wagons
were to go along, and that he would take and
store everything we did not carry"
Now, Mr.. Horton do you see to it-and re-
member, place great reliance on you-tbat
Capt. Smith understands that there are valu-
ables in one of those wagons of ours, and that
he has it specially looked after"
There was a rueful tone to the Captains
voice as he continued: Il hoped to have car
ried along the materials for little enter
tair han, h,,4
with cheerfulness- cheerfulness, Mr.. Hor-
toni" Remembering he was addressing his
youngest officer, he laid great stress on cheer
fulnesS desiring to set him good example.
"If you will give me leave sir" said the
youth with the harless shoulderstraps, with a
look of great humor in his eyes, hesitating to
suggest to his Captain an idea that had occurred
to him, " think the things might go after ALL
/ can -"
Capt. Stanley, Gen. WeitzeI's compliments,
and he desires to see You at once" said Graves,
pulling Hippodrome back on his launches from
gallop.
You have your orders Mr.. Horton" said
Stanley; and then he and Graves wheeled their
horses and eantered away.
"Da, da, da, da!" said Mr.. Horton with the
voice of an angry child and thrusting his
tongue out of his mouth after his departing
Captain. Yes, L have my orders; and | have
also my head, and hang me if old Smith and
the staff shall live off the stuff of the Captains
l hardly dared to tell him what l wanted to do,
but FL do it now, anyway"
Sergeant" he said, riding to the side of the
non-commissioned officer at the right of the
battery, bring along your empty caisson after
me; here, follow those wagons" and the two
white tilted wagons, followed by the caisson,
the latter drawn by six horses, moved back
along the wooded road towards the cluster of
buildings that made UP the town.
Haiti" cried Horton, as bend in the road
hid them from observation. " Sergeant, get out
those boxes of the Captains from this wagon.
break them open, and store what's in them in
the three chests of your caiSSon."
The Sergeant appreciated the situation in an
instant, and under his apt directions the wine
and delicacies were rapidly stored in the am
munition chests of the caisson. Champagne
was thrust into compartments
INTENDED FOR PERCUSSION SHELLS,
Burgundy rested where spherical case had been,
salad oil OF the most superfne quality, trutf1es
whose perfume almost penetrated the tin cases,
pate de toie grGS, anchovy sauce and mushrooms
were crowded into spaces heretofore sacred to
canister, solid shot and gunpowder.
Just a load, sir" said the Sergeant with
gleeful smile. lone hundred and twenty rounds
of fixed ammunition, sir. 1t couldn't have
packed better If it had been made a. purpose,
sir"
the Sergeant, seeing he was coming out ahead,
managed TO get one or two bottles and eases to
one side, whence they found their way into GER
tain blanket-rolls and saddle-bags. and proved
very refreshing to the boys " at a mid day halt
The transfer completed, the caisson rejoined
the battery, and the wagons kept on their way
and were duly receipted for by the Quarter
master.
If any of the old Reserve Brigade should
ever read this narrative, it will have been time
wasted in telling them anything about Godfrey
Weitzel; and perhaps it is impossible that any
others should ever care, or be made to under
stand, how much every one in his command
loved the young General. His relation to his
subordinates was like that of elder brother-
and not SO very elder either-as Stanley had
remarked on one occasion. Did / say elder
brother? Let me rather say elder soldier; for
sometimes brothers have been known To-.
But who of thy command ever quarrelled with
thee worthy namesake of the brave crusader;
who ever differed with thee; who ever failed
thee; who would net have led any storning
party, and who that carried..a "a muslset or swung
a saber would not have followed to the death
to be paid by the approval of Godfrey Weitzel
How we used to say in far-off Louisiana" If
you want Richmond taken, you must
SEND OLD WEITZEL THERE"
and how our hearts thrilled, though we were
not there with him, when among the very last
dispatches OF the war came his simple message:
d" entered Richmond at o'clock this morn
ing"
In obedience to the message from the Gen
eral Stanley found him mounted and sur