The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1885-03-14
TALK OF OLD SOLDIERS.


nat Garfield Said of Mcclellan, Hancock
and Rosecrans.
To" Ihttd. Sunday Press.
General James B. Steedman who pass.
10 his rest only a few months ago. and
nose splendid courage and nerve did 81
,a%a toward saving the day at Chicka.
8 c. vas an eyewitness to the kill,no
eff q na,, 'son, the bully, by General
". laws, qs;at ltt1a w.
:, mao grossly insulteo, : oncs hoa u
,'ee''',"h relate the story wl@ H. ~
III ana Vehemence, as he set in q usual
5toup OF friends in the Neal House III
k.r'umbia. ii'use' AZ
'ais ne was lot of us STANDING at tho
being denesar," said he, "amora thaa
Kentucky Infanshn T. Croxton - ~,
the long hall and ioSheard voices down
group in which were Celia. wav and
Governor Morton and Genera,Nelson
ihey were quite excited and talkeo xis
vehement manner. Almost immediateiv
-,oson drew back his right hand and
''"ppe' Davis in the face. Davis wasa
s''i"'i i'i"-, while Nelson was over s;x
ieet TALL "eis,ed well onto 900 nounds
ana was as stro.y as a giant, trr,od
to Croxton and salt. .Tboro : -:
be trouble. Nelson h. struck S DAVIS :,
We moved toward the gr.,n and as
did so Nelson moved back afew stonS
and leaned against the Office ran.
ton and Davis moved back a SHORTY.
ance. The former took a pistol from In,
hip pocket and handed it to Davis. who
stepped forward, leveled it and fired.
Nelson threw his hand up to his breast
and said, 'Jim I'm dead man, send for
an Episcopal minister We all took hold
of him and carried him into a side room.
His clothes were thrown open, and near
the heart was found small blue mark,
about the size of shot. No blood was
seen, and the wound had closed. A cler->,
gyman came running ifsAkzsA> he 1T
tered we withdrew a:
In ten minutes Nelsoa,o ~.
Davis remained qui. tho ,Sor.
| IA
those who first appeared in here
the shot was a policeman, who,o
Davis under arrest. He went along
city, but Was soon released on the o.
mand of General Buell. on the Mayor.
He was never called to account in any way
for the deed. There was nothing else
the man could have done under the cir
cumstances. He would have had no show
in physical contest To have received
blow in that manner and in that public
place, and then to have walked away with
his hands in his pockets, would have
driven him from the army in disgrace.
There have been questions raised as to
whether Morton furnished the weapon or
not. l was not near enough to see that
it was a pistol he gave Davis, but I do
know he took svu.. :. a.. 8, f"oln his pocket,
handed it over and that Davis ed his
hand and Immediately fired. The homi-
eide did not seem to change Davis in the
least-he was always a morose, quiet
man."
sTEEDMAN's NAME.
A gentleman who was sitting in the
group said: General, what is this story
about your stopping on the battlefield
to issue an order that in case you were
killed your name should be spelled cor
rectly in the newspapers 81
E Steedman laughed heartily at the ques-
ton. mot quite so bad as that" said
! he. "The story originated in this way:
, AS we went into battle on the great day
Of Chickamauga l met General Granger,
who said with a great deal of feeling,
'Sted, old fellow, it's going to be hot in
;, there. If anything should happen to you,
have you any requests to make p l turn
ed toward him and said, Yes, General.
If fall, please see that my body is de-
o Gently buried and that my name is cor
:. rectly spelled in the papers-S t-e-e-d-
m-a-n.'"
, Since the bluff old soldier has passed
away have heard theory advanced
j to prove that this was no playful within
of the Generals but matter of personal
n earnestness. 1t was this: There was then
q in the service another man of the same
4 name from Ohio a general, who spelled
: his name Steadman. Some years before
the war this other man, backed by forty
odd others, had sent a petition to the
: Ohio Legislature asking that it should
+ take immediate steps toward secession,
giving as reason that while slavery ex-
a listed Ohio was party to the crime and
p would remain so, if still a part. of the
federation whose Constitution recogniz-
ed the terrible institution. Perhaps, says
the theorist. General Steedman, while
" fighting to fesssr~>ne South back into the
Union, did not care to be list lzsa for
u one WHO had once argued that state of
> t., North had a right to go out of the
. Union.