Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-09-08
INCIDENTS.


The first soldiers in the field in Virginia
were ordered out by telegram from
| Governor Letcher direct to the various
captains of the state militia, dated
Richmond, Va. April II, 1861. An ex-
ira session of the state legislature passed
I the ordinance of secession at 2 a. N.
on the 18th of April.
Upon hearing that the soldiers were
! coming, Capt. Barbour, in command of
the government works at Harper s Ferry &,
| abandoned the post on the morning of
the 18th and HAD the buildings fired.
The destruction would have been COM
plete but for the timely efforts of the
citizens, who, with their small hand
engine and a large stationary one be-
longing to the government, subdued the
flames.
We reached Harper g Ferry about day
break on the 10th Our train stopped on
a long, high trestle on the Shenandoah
river side. While we were waiting for
orders someone put about twenty kegs of
powder under the trestle, set a match to
fuse and ran. One of our soldiers see
ing what had been done, jumped from
the car and severed the fuse, which per-
haps saved many Of us from a horrid
trip upward.
iIdiIS We IuuuGu III SOOu shape dUtt
took up quarters in the various governE
ment buildings and churches-we did not
invade private residences.
The first officer in command was Col
Nalle, uncle to Mayor Joe Male ofssA fss-
tin; then came Col. Joe z. Johnson, who
appointed StonewalI Jackson a ep1ones3
each of them occupying the manAiDn be-
longing to Maj. d. B. Lucas ,sJniped
States army. Next came First LieTt- "a
z. Hill, who had recently resignedskls
commission in the United States aT1 ~
he was made colonel of the ThiFtaehtIT
Virginia Infantry, composed
the companies above named witHSSfew
additions.
The first Sunday in camp it Nas my
luck to be detailed with John w. Bell, a
prominent lawyer of Culpepper, to police
and ditch our quarters. 1t was rich,
indeed, to see our near sighted lawyer
handle a spade and hear his comments,
such as: "This is nice piece of bust
ness for a lawyer and gentleman, and
member of st. Stephens church vestry in
good standing, to be put at ditching the
first Sunday in campo Frank, l will be
- if l will do it - -
Lawyer Bell, n1Bw Judge Bell, is a
brother to the late Governor P. Hansbo-
rough Bell of Texas ,inSSngurated Deem
Der p, 1919.
Judge Bell was known to be the most
awkward soldier in camp land was regu-
larlY each day put in the awkward squad
for drill. commo1ft fault with the
judge was, he would stop drilling and
argue each point with the drill
master rs to the reason why you should
hold your hand just so, aud your little
finger just there. One morning when
he was being put through, the drill
master Ga Virginia military institute
cadet said, "Now, Mr.. Bell, I want
you TO take the position of q soldier,
and when you step off, incline your toe
down a little and in your steps measure
as nearly as you can twenty eight inches
from heel TO heel. - Mr.. Bell put his
gun in the corner of the fence and
walked out in front of Taylor, straight
ened himself up and began to spraddle
his feet out until he thought they
were about twenty eight inches apart,
then he marched Off some distance,
halted and addressed the drillmaster,
g Sergeant, that may be military, but
its ID awkward -
On our first march from Harper's
Ferry TO Shepherdstown, about May 2,
we were caught in terrific hail storm;
we had no shelter, and it was q question