Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-10-18

M vpait; II Is part of history. When
was 1t that the Confederate sold;ars
ever e' broke out with enthusiasm ovas
L lnelr President? Who ever spoke Of
n u. around their camp-fires with affeo.
tlo NJ. or admiration? A man of great
aolll1y, no doubt, and thoroughly do.
k hooea 10 the cause of which he was the
; neaa out ne had no faculty of inspir-
ing me rank and file with great regard
ior himself. It may be said with per
lecC truth that he has been much bet
Ter received at many places in the
pouth since the close of the war than
ne ever was by the Confederate armies
curing the war. He was never tho
soldiers man.
~ nave put at the head of this article.
How We Talked" The Eve" com,
prehends much more than the private
soldier. The discipline of the yolun-
5eers never reached that of the regu-
iars-and it would have been a sorry
thing for the service if it had. Com
pan:yv and field officers were we'll known
TO the soldiers of their regiments at
home, and often Colonels and Captains
dld not dlsdain to come out and stand
round the fires with the men, smoking
the universal brier-wood pipe, and lis
tenlng to the talk that was hardly sof-
tened on account of their presence. In
fact, the talk was sometimes made q
little palmer when it was known that
shoulder-straps were within hearing.
Fragments of such conversations are
remembered after twenty-five years.
Here is one of them:
"Most twenty miles marched to-day. /"
grumbled high private. whats the
use of such long march on hot,
dusty day like this?"
ITO give General - chance to
show his authority. suppose"
We'll, why don't we fight? Why
not have battle and put an end to all
this toting about?"
"Yes, why not?" observes philos-
opher in blue. "Why the dickens
amt you in command, Jones? You
seem to know just what ought to be
DONE"
A slight laugh follows, and Jones
grumbles to himself. After pause
another soldier takes up the burden of
criticism.
well, I don't care; we've got right
to growl when we see things going the
| way they do. What's been the good
of all our marching the last two weeks,
I'd like to know. We haven't seen the
enemy; our Generals haven't meant
we should. What's the good of it?"
you're the hired man of the United
States," observes the philosopher in
blue. "You get thirteen dollars a
month and found for doing what the
military big-bugs tell you to. You're
a machine-don't you understand it
Want to run yourself, do you?"
20, pshaw guess we can talk il
we want to. Now, say that anybod,
can see there's nothing but foolishness
in this campaign. If we hadn't moved
so far away from the river, SO that we
could get our supplies regular, an6
without the guerrillas interfering; ant
if we'd moved two days sooner than W,
did; and if the cavalry was worth +.
cent for scouting; and If"
20, dry up! Always the big If il
the way: Do you suppose you coult
better it? Why, I suppose that i
your uncle wore petticoats, he'd b.
your aunt-wouldn't hep"
Laughter and good llumor follow
such sally as this; soon the "tattoo
sounds, and the soldiers go to thei
rest on the ground, dreaming of home
and gathering strength for a twenty
mile march on the morrow.-Chicag,
Ledger.