The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1886-05-20
CORPORAL sOLEnfNOHoLY.

CORPORAL SOLEMNOHOLY.
We had in our company slab-sided.
long-legged chap named Aaron Smith.
His face wore constant look Of second
mourning, and his voice was enough
to remind the most careless hearor of
grave-stones and weeping willows.
More as q joke than for any good rea-
son, the boys elected Aaron corporal.
and ever after that he went by the
name of Corporal SCHENECTADY.
Bull Run was our first fight. W. were
in the neighborhood of the Henry
House, advancing upon a section of
artillery. when I saw Corporal Solemn
choly take tumble to the ground, roll
over and kick, and had no doubt that
he was done for. We were driven
back. and by and by the panic fol-
lowed, and awsy we. went for WASH
ington. About week after this, while
the company was encamped at Airing
ton, the corporal walked in on us one
day and drawled:
"You are nice lot Of dod gasted
pumpkin seeds to leave mo dead on
the battlefield, and shan't forget it''
He had been struck in tho stomach
by spent bullet, and, after being cap
tured by the rebels, had made his es-
cape He was mad at the whole COM
pany, and wouldn't give any of US a
civil word for weeks.
Our next brush was at Williams
burg. The regiment was ordered into
some fallen timber, and the position
was soon red-hot. The corporal was
sighting his musket across limb,
when he suddenly rolled over, and
saw blood on his face as we crowded
further to the left for better cover.
One fifth of our company was wiped
out there, and we hadn't got over
mourning for them when Corporal
SCHENECTADY suddenly appeared in our
midst. This was two weeks after the
fight, and his face was tied up with
bandages. We rushed to greet him,
but he waved US off and said:
"Don't nobody come near me! You
wretches went and left me there in the
woods, and that night burial party
flung me into trench, and was COW
ering me up, when l came to, and l
told EN- what thought of 'em and
walked off. kin lick any man in this
company!''
he had been shot in the mouth, and
the bullet tore out three teeth and left
hole in his cheek as big as walnut.
On the morning of the battle of Fair
Oaks we were just crawling out of our
tents when the rebel wave rolled down
on Casey and drove him back. Our
company was badly demoralized, and
| Corporal SCHENECTADY was trying to
rally three or four of US behind fall
len tree, wien she'll exploded near
us. saw two or three men 20 down
and among them was the corporal.
I'd have taken my affidavit that one
side of his face was torn away. We
rallied after time and regained our
ground, but when night came We
abandoned tho field and fell back to
make a new stand. Five men on the
roll of my company were reported as
killed in action. and among them was
the corporal. A week after the battle
| of Golv,or,, Hill H. s,,%@
after the old fashion and began:
''Durn the bull lot ofye for pack Of
towards! You went ri ht of that day
without stopping to see whether was
killed or not, and I'll dare any two IF
you to knock chip off my shouldcr!''
The shell have mentioned did not
hurt him, but he was splashed with
the blood of an unfortunate, and re-
oeived whack over the head from a
club or limb. During the night he
exchanged clothing with a Conteder-
ate, and after many adventures, cam e
back to report for duty.
After that Corporal SCHENECTADY was
marked man. We looked upon him
with such awe and superstition that no.
body would be friendly. He became
sort of an outcast; indeed, we all agreed
that a man who wouldn't stay dead
when fairly killed had q very mean
streak in his composition.
In due time came Pope's fights around
Manassas. We were fighting at Grove
ton, and as the regiment was ordered
to head its brigade in charge, doz-
en- of us had our eyes on the corporal.
He realized it, and there was look of
determination on his face. We inter-
preted it to mean that if he was killed
again he would stay killed. The brig
ade was in a hot box. The enemy
gave us every sort of missile known to
war, and we couldn't close up the
lanes plowed through our ranks. l
had my cap knocked off and my can
teen cut away, and was making grab
to recover the latter when Corporal
SCHENECTADY got his dose again. I
saw him leap two feet high and fall in
heap, and I knew by the way he
| struck that he was goner.
There were only twenty-cight men
in the company after the fight. They
had given me the Corporal's place,
and we had got around to the fight at
Antietam without losing another man.
We had several times talked over the
fate of Corporal SCHENECTADY, and had
expressed regret at the way We had
used him. My brigade was under
Hooker then, and on the evening pre-
vious to the fight we had been pushed
across tho Antietam, on the right. to be
ready to advance on jackson at day
light. About o'clock, as we rested
on the lines in the darkness, l heard a
voice saying: Il tell you it is dog mean
to 60 and report teller dead and give
his place away, until you are sur
about it!''
It was Corporal SCHENECTADY come
back to us! A bullet had racked his
brain at Groveton and he had crawled
to the rear after dark and had been
sent 10 the hospital in Washington. He
was hopping mad at every man of u.s.
and we gave him as good as he sent. We
told him that any man who had played
hockey on death so often as he had
couldn't be trusted by the living, and
| ho MO n v;co6 IN M IN tho roar and hf