Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-02-04
IRONTON. MO-, THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 4. 1886.


The eight weeks were about gone, any
way; for the reader must bear i'm min,
that in those days we had no telegraph
and by the time letter could go flon
Monterey to Washington, reply pre-
pared and sent back, the bigger end O
eight weeks was gone. So we had {
long rest, having nothing to do but tt
drill.
Blfore I describe the long march
from Monterey to Victoria, / will tell
how some of our men got along in the
fight. Isuppose all armies have dead.
beats and men who don't like to hear
bullets whistle too close to their ears,
and our regiment was no exception to
to the rule. We had a captain whose
weight was something over 200 pounds,
who was great "hlower," and a great
fellow to tell what he would do for the
yellow devils''-meaning the Mexi-
cans. I will leave his name for
the present, but Capt. B. was great
man in his own estimation. On the
morning of the 2lst, when we made
the chrrge heretofore mentioned) over
the open plain spoken of as being full
of notes.-the boys called them ditcaes
after we took the fort and had little
time TO look around. some of the boys
called out: "Capt. B. is killed." when
u young gawk Of a lad in his company,
who hardly knew his right hand from
| his left, drawled out: eff he's killed.
| he killed himself when he tumbled in
to the ditch" Col. Campbell said:
"How do you know he got in the
ditch?" Case I seed him tumble in me-
self" was the reply. We saw no more
of Capt. B. until that night when
we went back to camp, where we learn
ed our brave captain was in his tent
very sick, and he to X no further part
in the Monterey isht. Several months
later, while We were at Tampico, the
captain, lying on the fiat of his back
in his tent, began TO loast of what he
would do, and made the remark that
he was going to have his company
Photographic in life-siz, just as they
were at the battle of Monterey, when
he got back to New Orleans" His
first lieutenaut-a Dutchmau, named
Pat Duffey, who would not weigh over
one hundred pounds-was i'll the tent
at the time and heard him, replied:
"Yes, and they would look id nice
with the captain in the ditch!' Where
upon the captain concluded to give his
lieutenant u fiogging; SD he mounted
him, but what Pat lacked in sta ture
he made up in action and grit, and was
fast turning the joke on our brave cap
tain. Some one cried cut, IA fight!"
and soon raised the whole regiment,
of the compass to see the fight, but as
the contestants were in the tent we
could not see them and of course did
not know who Was in the scrimmage;
but fight was up, and of course we
must ste it. Col. Campb> II hearing
the racket, walked down from his mar
kee, had them parted, and then inquir-
ed what caused the racket. When he |
was told the story, he threatened TO
have them both court-martialed, Lut a
threat was all that came of it. Pats
face was badly scratched, and the brave
captain wore pair of black eyes for
several days. The, saying "They would
look d-n nice wild de captain in de
ditch" got to be quite by-word with
the boys in camp, but Col. Campbell
put stop to it one morning during
i parade, by telling the whole regi-
re ,iment that the first man he heard
using the phrase he would have HIM
arrested and placed in the guardhouse;
he also charged all the commissioned
officers to report any man they heard
breaking this command. This put a
stop to the fun, or if "They would look |
d-n nice wild de captain in de ditch"
was ever repeated in camp, it was said
so quietly that it never reached the
colonels ears.
I will give one more event in regard
to the battle o: Monterey. There was
a man in our company by the name OF
kin to Maj. Alexander
who by some means got behind in the
same charge, ION the 21sD but unlike
Capt. B., came up into the fort short
" afterwards, and was az cused, by
some of the men, of taking shelter in
The ditch. But he explained, by say
ng that his shoe came united and he
stopped and stopped down to tie it, and
n this manner got behind and could
rot catch up. It is unnecessary to say
hat his story was not believed. The
dea of man stopping and coolly
stopping to tie his shoe during such a
storm of shot and shell as that was is
. little too weak. A few days after the !,
oatt.e, u soldier by the name of Mack
Johnson twitted him about it, where +.
lpon Alexander knocked him down ,,
md before any one could interfere gave !.
him sound thrashing. Jackson Lawl-
ii loudly for help and they were final
y separated. Capt. McMurray had
Alexander kept under guard and the
lext day court-martialed. The penal
v assessed was for him to dig up
arge stump that stood in our parade
ground. The writer was detailed as
guard over him while he was at work,
md as it was right out in the boiling
lot sup, the punishment was about as 8
yreat on me as on Alexander, but r
au1 eot1innef1 five la w dircots T..