The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1889-10-17
STORY OF A CANN0NEER.
Continued from 1st page.l

Continued from Ist page.)
reports for distinguished conduct in action
than any other battery commander in the
army, which / suppose the records of the
war will verify when they are published.
ANOTHER STRONG POINT
was his indefatigable attention to the physi-
cal wants of his men. If supplies were to be
had Mt any hazard Stewards battery always
had them. He would stay up all night
hunting for n Commissary or Quartermas-
ter's train to insure his men and horses
break fast in the morning. In n case of ne
cessity on such occasions, woe to the Wagon
master or Commissary of Subsistence who
stood in his way! With his superior officers
corps or division commanders, such rs Glib
bon, Reynolds, Newton, Warren or Griffin,
rs the case might be-he was always prime
favorte, and could always get from them
anything he wanted, because they knew
they could invariably depend on him inn
! plicitly whenever they wanted him for any
duty, no matter how dangerous or desper-
| ate.
In his intercourse with the men he was al
ways curt and to the point, but kind and ust.
| During the time that was with him never
knew him to abuse his power or intlct
cruel punishment on any man in the battery,
though over $50 passed through its rolls
during that time, some of them pretty tough
! customers. But / never got really fond OF
| him rs did of Dawson and Mitchell. In
| fact, Stewart was an officer that n man IN
| the ranks would respect and admire but his
| manner was too serious and his mode OF
dealing with his men too curt and taciturn
| TO inspire much affection. However, no one
dislilled him.
| Lieut.. Dawson, or Jimmy" as we used
to call him when his back was turned was
| what you might call "a corker." He was
shot all 10 pieces at Gettysburg, and never
came back to us, but during the four or FIVE
months that he was with us after joined
| got very much attached to him. Lieut..
| Dawson was Of Welsh brth--or Mt least
! Welsh blood-ihough born, believe, i'll
! England. He had been private soldier,
| Corporal, Sergeant, etc. in the 3d Art since
about 1854. He was promoted in 1862 from
! Sergeant Major of the Artillery Reserve, and
assigned to our battery rs Second Lienten-
ant shortly after Capt Campbell was wound
| ed at Autietam He had recently been
highly mentioned in General Orders for dis
| tinguished conduct at fredericksburg. He
was of medium size, strongly built, IA perfect
athlete, and of complexion something like
| Stewart
/ do not hesitate to say that, as between
| the two, Dawson was the favorite with the
men. He kept closer 20 them, talked with
| them more, took more interest in their per-
sonal affairs, etc, than Stewart did; and
| while his manner was frequently rough and
his language not always the most polite,
| still our rugged veterans warmed mp To HIM
| as you seldom see men in the ranks warm
! up toward an officer.
In that battery there was really no such
thing az grades of courage. Every man,
from commander to bugler, WIS simply
brave, and no one ever thought of flinching,
80 nothing more can besad Of one than OF
another.
BUT JIMMY DAyIsoN's COURAGE WAS or
THE EXULTANr KIND.
He seemed TO love to fight for Gghtingis
sake.
The estimation in which officers are held
by their men can always he pretty accu-
Tateiy guessed by the epithets or nicknames
the men use among themselves in speaking
! OF them. As IL we'll known. John Gibbon
remained Captain of the battery OH the
| Regular Army list throughout the war,
though n Aiajor-General OF Volunteers. So
we never spoke of him as Gen. GIbbon, but
always called him The Old Captain" or
| "Oid Cap" Tor short Stewart was "Old
jim" or more generally :" The Old Man"
Dawson was Jimmy" Mitchell was =" Old
Jack y; or, rs We used call him alter he
became a Lieutenant, Uncle John !"
Thus the personnel Of the battery in 1861
and 1S62, while Stewart was impressSng II
with his matchless disciplinary power was
extraordinarily fine. Perhaps l6 were old
Regulars, all veterans ia the service. These
were in the average by no means 80 high "a
class OF meu, intellectually OF morally, rs
their picked volunteer comrades; hut they
had the advantage OF knowledge Of drill and
iuuTement 10 the rigors Of camp-life aud
discipline. The best and soberest of them
were nOn-commssioned officers, though II
was not long before the detached volun-
tcers, as they learned the ropes, began 10
elbow the old Regulars pretty sharply in
competition for the non commissioned grades
an aspiration which Stewart took pains Ia
encourage. The rest Of the complement
were detached volunteers, chiefly from the
ID, 9th and 7th Wis, the 18Th Ind, with q
few from the New York regiments in Pat.
Tickis Brigade; ia short, recruited generally
from that division of the First Corps But
the Wisconsin boys 20 largely pred0minated
that from November, 1861, TO September
1864, il was 20 all intents and purposes
Wisconsin battery. And il was daisy
These were all young men; farmers boys
, well to-do mechanics and lumbsrmeu from
, Green Bay and the Wisconse River etc.
who had been accustomed TO hard work,
. RESPECTED THEMSELVES, VALUED THEli
REPUTATIoNs,
had honorable ambitions, were keenly 40
Iicitous about what the folks at home vii
: say about us and were ready TO fight any
thing on earth AT any time or III any shape
Now, il wOnld have been easy for an office
l. Of tyranuieal or overbearing Temperament
to have stirred the deadly resentment o
these fearless, independent young fellow.
= most OF whom would not brook an affron
! from IL man with shOuIder-straps any NOR
, than from man without; and who woul
: all " fight ut the drop OF IA hat" If imposet
upon. Fortunately Stewart was Just tn
e man 10 deal with such customers. His frs
7 appeal was always TO mans geifrespec
: aud sense of duty. If that failed he woul
e sometimes send the offender back To his vol
!; unteer regiment with the statement that h
- was not made Of the right stuif' tinglin
r in his ears. On other occasions he woul
T. endeavor 70 arouse the dormant ambition G
the man by calling his attention TO the sue
cess or advancement Of some other fellow
Downright punishment he always avoide
y TO the last extremity, and when he did ia
- ilct it,, methods were used calculated 1
"a make the culpTt ridiculous without seriou
~ physical suffering; and above all he avoid