Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-10-29
THE WOUNDED SOLDIER.
The Life OF n Green Mountain Boy Saved
by Fair Enemy.
from the watchman.l

gallant soldiers than the Green Noun
tain Boys" In the late Civil War the
descendants Of those Green Mountain
Boys nobly maintained their ancient
fame.
One OF them Ii the hero OF this story
Lieutenant Henry f. Bedell, OF the 1lth
| Vermont regiment was rs years old when
he enlisted IN the army, Il strong, hand
! some man over six feet high. To serve
his country he had made the true patriots
sacrifice, for he not only riskt d his life,
but surrendered the delights of a pleasant
Northern home, where Il young wife ana
two little children anXously waited for
his return They little thought that they
would be indebted to his enemies for his
restoration to them from the shadow of
death.
Lieutenant Bedell's experience in Shen-
audoah Valley forms one of the most
touching episodes of the war; and the
facts of it rs related by an officer of his
IT giment, Colonel (afterward GeneraD
Warner, may be relied upon as substan-
TALLY correct.
One day, while taking part in skirmish
movement near Opequan Creek Shortly
before the battle which bears that nance,
which carried away one of his legs and
mutilated his right hand His comrades
corded his bleeding limb and carried him
back to their camp at Clifton, and laid
him in the upper room of house near
by, where the surgeons amputated his leg
and dressed his mangled hand.
His wounds, and the necessary opera
ton, were so terrible that nothing but his
wonderful manly vigor enabled MIN to
survive them. AS it was, the shock and
loss of blood so exhausted him that his
death seemed but a question OF Il few days
perhaps hours. The soldiers gave him
ali the attention possible, but they were
soon ordered forward to Join i'll the com
| ing battle, surgeons and all Only two
comrades were left to wait on him, and
receive his dying wishes. Orders had
| been issued to remove all the wounded to
Haryea's Ferry, but Lieutenant Btdell
was too far gone to be carried there. Be
| lieving that he had but little while to
| live, the brave fellow said to his nurses,
you had better follow the regiment while
you can. a dying man doesn't count
| and can die alone. 1t is the fortune OF
war But you are able to fight, and should
take hand in the battle with the rest.
| II you stay here, you'll be throwing your
lives away. Mosby's guerillas swarm in
the neigborhood, and if they come here
| tney ii not spare you.
1t was too true. And the occupants OF
the house in which Bedell lay We're enc
mics of the cause ne had fought for, and
| it was only because they felt compelled to
| that they had given him chamber to
| die in. If the guerlllas came, they would
take no pains to shield the men who took
care of him, for to them they were only
foes. Sadly the nurses took leave of their
| friend and FASTENED away to join their
| departing regiment.
Days passed, five days and is hours,
and still the brave lieutenantlived Lived
spite of utter neglect-for none OF the
| family in the house entered his room once,
or paid him any attention at all, although
they had promised to care for HIM faith
| iully. How the young hero managed to
bear up under the horrors OF such situa-
ton he never could tell. At last the door
opened softly, and FAR young woman
| looked in upon him. Gentle pity was
written in every line of her face, and the
wounded man soon felt assured that she
was as kind and generous rs she was
beautiful. The lady was Mrs. Bette Van
| Meter, and she had a brother and (though
she was yet scarcely 2O) husband i'll the
Confederate Army, the latter being now
a prisoner of war in the Union lines She
| had somehow learned that wounded
Union officer was lying in the house of one
| of her neighborS, and entirely without care
or attention, and though her interests and
| y
| humanity and the sentiment of the gold
en- rule made her at once his friend. She
determined to have him placed under her
own roof, and to do for him as she would
wish her foes to do for her husband or her
brother. DisregardinS the jeers and
criticisms of her neighbors, She carried
this resolution into effect, with the aid of
| four compassionate negres and soon her
careful nursing and the skill OF an old
physician whom she summoned from four
miles away, brought the dying lieutenant
back to life and hope. AS his appetite
returned, the question of proper food and
cordlals tor HIM became serious one.
| There were no sucn supplies nearer than
| Harper's Ferry. The war had reduced
Mrs. Van Meter from atllUence to power
~, and she had little TO give but her house,
| her own labor, and the services ul II
wretched old horse and wagon. Harper
Ferry was twenty miles distant, and
| there was no one but herself who either
cared or dared to 90. She harnessed the
| old horse into the wagon and started.
| The shabby team and its driver were al
| lowed to pass the Union lines without
much dispute, though her movements
were followed and she was narrowly
watched as a possible spy. She needed
all her eloquence, however, to make the
officers at headquarters believe her story,
Tor she carried no credentials, the lieu
tenant being unable to write with his
wounded hand. Her earnestness aud
evident truthfulness triumphed at last,
and she received an order on the SAM
! tary Commission for everything she want
ed. After this she made "a similar trip
once week, and kept her patient well
| supplied with comforts. What is much
more wonderful, she kept all knowledge
of his presence from the Confederate au-
thorities, and though there were in the
valley thousands of the soldiers in gray,
and parties of them sometimes entered
her house, her consummate management
saved the lieutenant from discovery.
Those of her neighbors who necessarily
shared her secret, she knew how to bride
into silence, if pity or personal friendship
were not sufficient TO keep them still.
Lieutenant Bedell was now rapidly re-
covering, and when he was once able TO
write, the letters, mailed by Mrs. Van
Meter, at Harper's Ferry, and the replies
received bearing the Vermont postmark,
Quoted ali suspicious about her errands
there. The authorities treated her with
every courtesy, and left her free to go
where she pleased. When five weeks had
passed, and the young officer was able to
| leave his bed. he naturally felt ANXIOUS To