The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1885-10-29

| at Charlottesville, Ind. remaining there until
| he abandoned the groves of the Academy ;"
for the tented field, i'm April, 1861. On the very
dag which Fort Sumter was attacked he
enlisted as a private soldier in the Montgomery
| Guards of CrawfordSville which company
was few days later mustered into the three
| months service as Co /, 18th Ind. Zouaves,
Col. (afterward Major-General) Lew Wallace
commanding. Upon the organization of this
regiment. J. c. Black was made its Sergeant
Major, which position he occupied until the
muster-out of the regiment some four months
afterward Immediately thereafter he returned
to Danville, and engaged i'll recruiting COM
pany for the three years service, which was
mustered in as Co. X, 37th ILL.,, Col. (afterward
Maior-GeneraD Julius White commanding
In the organization of this regiment Gen.
Black was chosen and commissioned its Major.
From this position he fought his way up. being
commissioned Lieutenant Colonel and finally
Brigadier-General by brevet for gallant service
on the field of battle Each commission issued
to him by the State and National authorities
was by them marked as for callautry in some
special engagement or for meritorious conduct.
Gen. Black remained in the military service
until after
THE LAST BATTLE WAS FOUGHT,
commanding 4 brigade, of which the 37th H.,
which veteranized" in 1864, formed a part,
and participated in the stormng of the
in the subsequent military events in Alabama
and Texas, which formed the closing scenes Of
the rebellion
Then, i'll the Summer of 1865, he returned
to civil life, in which he has since been
engaged, taking very active and prominent
part in the political affairs of his district
and State On coming out of the army he
| studied law in Chicago with the firm of Cook
ins & Roberts, and commenced the practice Of
his profession i'll the early part OF 1867 IN Dan
vile, but he shortly thereafter removed to
Champa gn, where he resided until about June,
1874, since which time he has resumed resi-
| dence ia Danville, which is now his home. AS
souvenirs Of his service Gen. Black bears two
wounds. The first was received in the battle of
| Pea Ridge, Ark on the 18th of March, 1862, be.
| ing gunshot through the right arm. The
| second wound was received in the battle OF
| Prairie Grove, Ark, the 9TH of December,
| 1862 He has suffered intensely and for years
| from these wounds and the surgical operations
necesstated thereby, his life being several
| times despaired Of and his death currently re-
ported. But strong constitution has enabled
him to maintain the struggle for life and he
wives in the full vigor of intellect and with fair
| general health, although crippled in both arms
GEN. BLACKS WOUNDS
! The fearful suffering of Gen. Black in conse-
| quence Of his wounds cannot be told more elo-
quentiy than by quoting the following pathetic
extract from ltJLtr, WHICH was never intended
| to be made public:
| was wounded on the eth of March 1862 and
| again on the 9Th of December of the same year.
The bones o, both affected in the Joints
that OF the right arm being sphntered, broken or
scraped, and that of the left broken into many
| pieces l have had six operations performed i'll
all the first of which took place in December, lS62
| when II pieces alone were taken from arm,
and the last III that long Winter of misery and trou
BILE, at Danvilie in the Winter of 1876 z, at which
time the entire elbow of the right arm was re-
| A ia III s..I ion If IA
closed wounds prior To the final operation, for dur
ing all this time they opened and closed at regu-
! lar intervals.
| i have been sick hundred times from blood
| poisoning from my wounds. Physicians may be
| able TO tell the reasons for these things l only
know the facts. The result Of the last sickn and
operation was an enforced absence of two years
| from all professional duies-from 1874 to the mid
| die of '76-at which time, you remember, took
! the stump u candidate for Congress; but you
know the condition was in at that time. My en-
forced absence from work in the attempt az saving
| my life had wasted fearfully the little accumua-
tons of peaceful life which had had for you know
| was a hard working selfsupporting boy and col
| lege student. l had no friend TO back me inan
cialiy.
| j entered the army from college, and studied
] law after ny return from the army. The doctors
bills and surgical bills ate up and away with all
that could gather, and in the Winter of lS1677
| had very little more than when had taken my
| sword in the service.
1t is painful for TO think now of that horrible
Winter, with its cuttings and pnchings of broken
and its unuterable ghastliness OF surgical ope
| rations and executions And have lived through
Six such scenes and now carry which is
anchy l0sed at the left elbow half and which,
account Of the cutting of the nerves paraly zed
to the exterior muscles Of the left hand and in
the other elbowless arm carry constant, open, sup
purating wound.
| If any thinks that have made money out
Of the Government by pensions he need only re-
member that for 70 years "A ceaseless drain OF my
strength has been going day and night to real
| lie something of the balancing of accounts. l
would give all l have if / could start armed and
| barefoot, but strong, in the world ut the age of
| 49, would gladly assume all the burdens of pow
erty if could only have health and strengthened
my hands, As other men, to give to labor and friend
| ship. can only keep one position in my bed, and
that is flat upon my back, without being aroused
| by the pain or the threatening nervous numbness
which arises On account of my troubles in any
other position. And there is scarcely night in
ten, aud lately no night when my sleep is not