, 1886-10-24
UNDER SENTENCE.

with notion. intoxicated with noise, the
wells of comrades, the rattle OF ~rauskctry,
the yvhiz of minics, whir OF balls, n
clattcr of shells, the cheers of %victors, the
rush for position and desperate holding.
TIC human passion of spiteful revenge
mad the reused taste for blood and car
mage innate in the animal man-undcr
fire in the frenzy Of fight Is no test Of
courage. Many II mn stands there be-
canse he Is afraid to run.
| remember In the battle of Port Re-
public-in tie three days lighting around
Cross Keys, down In the valley Of Vir-
GINA in &c, our regiment, w. l.. Jack
sons old TAirty-nrst Virginia, was one of
three ordered to storm and take n bat
terry OF nine pieces, supported by five
regiments of infantry and some OF the
coolest, most accurate shurpshootcrs we
had met. BY some miscarriage the order
caslo oaly to u regiment, now dcei-
mattel BY fighting and forced marching
10 3li men.
But VIC crawlcd up through that oat
field Oh our bellies, rising to snoot, drop
ping main to load md advance. And
every time we rose some comrades dropped
to rise 10 more. We ncared the crest
until VIC could almost look down the
blac,s sulphurous throats Of those nine
twclvc-poundcrs that were bclching
kAa ~ aAtlNA 1aAilloACI llllO u NilF iOlllAi
Five times had our colors fallcn-onc,
two, three, four, five Of our tallest bravo
fellows, one utter another, raised with
the regifncntal flag, and fell, SHOT through
the forehead.
They had been picked OF by the sharp
shooters ono after another, those gallant
Western Virginia mountainccrs-as fast
rs n color bearer fell, snntchiny up the
fiag nad rising with it.
The lfth had fallen. a sergeant
jumped from Company @ to raise the
stan lard.
Deter let that - thing nlonc, ELL"
witt your bayonct next rise"
Ill Coo. c WIS n Pennsylvanlan-as
bravo II man rs crawle1 bncl; with our
little ennant Of Ia that day. After we
had reached safe quarters uld wero lying
down t. rest in the woods, lie turned to
M to as,s;
"W-hat were you looking up and down
the line in there for BillY'
"Lieutcnant, - was the answer, ~ was
looking for n chance TO run.
"Dy 0, 50 was IT, grufly retortcd
the quondGn man Of valor; "but - il
every follow in the regiment wasn't look
Ink right ut me"
Aye, aye, it takes less courage to stand
than to ran away from n battle.
+ Dut | did get II touch that tested me
most sorcly after that, when they sent
me "throIgh the lines" in the secret
service
Never mind my business, or how I WINS
betrayed, and how | was gathered in.
Enough that they bagged me 1850 miles
inside the enemy's lines and hustled me
of to prison in Baltimore harbor, where
] was confronted with the charge Of being
a spy. No matter that | had on when
captured my full uniform rs captain. No
matter that at my court martial trial their
" officer who captured me testified
hat he did not take me us IL spy md TINT
there was no work for II spy where he
captured INC.
No matter; | was found guilty, and the
sentence was read to me; ITO he hanged as
n spy on the parade ground OF Fort Nc
Henry, between the hours OF IL m. and o
O'Clock p. III, Nov. 3. 1868"
In answer to my request that II they
must k IL me, for the sake of honor to
give INC the death Of IL soldier, they gra-
c.ously changed the paper to read, "ro
be shot to death with musketry on the
parade ground, etc"
Somehow, | suppos l did not fully
comprehend or adequately appreciate my
situation, for | did not feel then any
more than | do now that death was to be
my next deal. Nor had | ut all contcm-
plated that result all through the trial.
Only the last day before that sentence
was read to me- had been creating
mcrrisnent by asking puzzling or irrelc-
vano questions OF the judge advocate,
telling jokes during the rccesses Of tho
court, ia divers manners creating fun to
draw mirth for myself out Of that barren
rock, military Justice" Only the day
before the president Of the court martial,
the colonel of the regiment, twelve OF
whose officers composed my ndjudicators,
asked to talk n little with me in private,
as between man and nan
"Of course"
"Captaia," said he, ~ greatly fear
you do not properly appreciate your pres
ent S tuntioa."
"Wcll, colonel. 7 know OF no man more
favorably situated to realize it. Why do
you say sou
"Decause, sir, your life as at stake in
this trial"
WOLF"
"Ncll, you Il be found guilty, most as
surcdly, OF the chnrsc."
'Nyclls"
"You'u DO sentenced to die"
"Nycllt"
"Anl youIl be HANGED or shotl And
here you have been spending TIC leisure
hours of tic court trying You for life in
frivolous icstlny and mirth. A Il fellow
man II Crievc1 nc to sec you so carclessly
playiaJ 81 80 terrible n brink as you
stand on
Colonel WINS the reply, 81 thank you
for Your interest. II VIC ere national
enemies, YOU speak rs n man and n sol
der. Dut let nc ray this' (now cannot
explain what induced me to make the
following foolish, hraygart speech; but il
bu ahlcl up cad was spoken; Colonel,
you OK | r.ay die before night. VIC Go not
know, bat in SO far "a the result Of your
courts finding ia concerned, / Will be
nlivc vixen You anil your twelve officers
are deal and lor-ottcni'
lie left RIO in disgust, and / don't
blame him,
Dnt such was my Feeling. / did not
feel 1t it my bones. 80 Us the slang goes,
that death was 60 near.
The colonel md the entire twelve com
posing tic court died before | was cx-
Changed -"siot to death" In one cher-e
CT Coal llGrbor. | live to write the &C.
carrenco twenty five years after the con-
vcr3ntiOn.
II may or may not be true that when
tic grin monster singles ont his victim
tie sends liil sovic way u spiritual pre-
mention that he IL going to let ry from
Deaths quivcr the fatal dart. Ec that
as 1t may-I had 10 %prenionition OF
dcntl,.
Not when they stood me NJ to hear my
sentence II 10 nnswcr. nor nftcrwarl in
the cool contemplation my isolation and
silent dungeon afforded, not when the
officer Of the day, on that cvcntful cxs-
cuilon morning, read to me in ry dun
geon the days programme and define
etol my doom ut the hands Of twelve
detailed soldiers. lie found me Whaling
a5 | paced ray narrow cell hat morning
and exclaimed in surprise;