The National tribune., 1889-01-17
Keen 1t Up. Boys, Regardless of Crackers.

EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: I wish here
with to heartily indOrSe Comrade Cowgills
criticism of the article headed Time to Call
Halt" published in your issue of Nov. %.
There is, however, this difference as to our re-
spectiye feelings with regard to the matter,
that while he is stated to have been amused"
| must confess to feeling of indignation at
the thought of any eXsoldier thus berating
the survivors of that fearful struggle for the
Nations life, and / am satisfied that no true
hearted cOmrade who saw any real service
while in the army would do So 1t seems to
me that any ex-soldier who can truthfully say
with the poet
We've shared our blankets and tents together,
We've marched and fought in all kinds of weather,
And hungry and cold have we been,'
should rather rejoice in the fact that SO many
of those comrades still live. and are able, by the
means so kindly afforded them through the
medium of The NATIONAL TRIBUNE, to regale
one another with sketches of their personal
experience during those days, weeks, months
and years of hardship, peril and suffering.
Their observations may differ somewhat occa-
sionally, but what of that? | have been con-
slant reader of the dear old TRIBUNE for the
past five years, and / can say for one that the
slight disparity between the statements ofdifer-
ent comrades with regard to few occurrences
have never disturbed my mind in the least.
We're Comrades Nichols and Conlee vexed at
the discussion as to who planted the first flag
on Lookout Mountain? Then why, in the
name of reason, have they kept silent so long?
Why did they not rise in their insulted dignity
and protest against it while 1t was in progress?
Comrade Conlee asserts that the discussion
above referred to used up enough space to
publish the entire history of the war, and no
one was any the wiser for it."
O, how wOndrous wise some men are after
the event! And what a grievous insult is this
to the intelligence not only of many gallant
comrades, but of THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE
publishers as well; and what stupid lot they
must have been not to have perceived their
error in time to have avoided part at least of
so great waste of time and space, labor and
material. Where, l would ask, were these two
comrades, who now excel in wisdom, that they
did not speak in time and nip the aforesaid dis
cussion in the bud, or at least check it ere it
had run to so great length? None of u.s. l
presume, are apt to be very grateful for advice
or information deliberately withheld until too
late to be of service, and in this view of the
case these two prodigies of wisdom are greatly
to blame in the matter.
Again, Comrade Conee speaks rather dis
paragingly of some Of THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE
writers, aud insnuates that they ran away
while drawer comrades staid and persisted on
the battlefield. Well, perhaps some of them
did run occasionally as at Charlottesville or
Stone River, and the c0mrade among them,
too. If he did not, his experience in battles
must have been extremely limited. And as to
the survivors belong the pride of victory or the
shame of defeat, so we who are alive should
not fail in our respect and even reverence for
the memory of those who shed their life's blood
for Nations redemption
As to the comrades rushing into history
| through the columns of THE NATIONAL TRIB-
UNE, am satisfied that not one in 10000 has
any such idea. Fighting Them Over" and
Picket Shots - do not belong to history in any
| sense; they are merely "reminiscences and rec
objections of the great contest, and never can
or will be anything else. So | conclude by ex-
horting the comrades not to mind the eroakers,
but continue to write so long as THE NATIONAL
TRIBUNE exists or one of them remains; but,
| above all, let us be ready aud equipped for the
last march and final roll-call.-W. L. GARDNER,
Co. K, 10th Ohio Olga, o.