The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-09-02
THE SERGEANT OF COMPANY f.

A Typical American Volunteer Soldier Who
Served and Died for His Country.
The following sketch was read by Col.
Oran +. Perry at the recent reunion of his
regiment, the Sixty-ninth Indiana:
"Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith, than Norman blood"
1 remember the first time 1 ever saw him.
1t was at the mounting of the guard. He
was a large-boned, angular man, a little
stopped in the shoulders. awkward of mien,
and approaching middle age. His hair had
not yet been reduced to the regulation
standard, and a heavy brown beard fringed
his plain face. He was wearing his first
suit of blue, and evidently had accepted
everything issued to him without pro-
test. His trousers were a little too long,
his coat a little too short. and he had yet to
learn how objectionable was the sin of ap-
pearing at a parade without it buttoned up
to the chin. An understood infantry
cap chung timidly to his head;
low down in front by the weight of
clasping the trigger guard of the gun in a
futile attempt to carry arms and standing
at attention in q position entirely his own,
he presented a picture painfully bordering
on the g~rotesque. L was just fresh from the
Army of the Potomac, where style was
everything, and as L looked at the unprom-
Using subject before me, / wondered why
they had enlisted him, and what they ex-
p6cJeu 10 10 WITH MIN. Il WducneQ MIN as
he marched away with the guard, vainly
trying to keep step to the gay music of the
band, and / thought / never had seen any
one so completely out. of tune with all his
surroundings. Rejecting upon it afterward,
i remembered that when explaining the
duties of the guard, he had given me the
closest attention; that | never looked in his
direction without e~ncOuntering the wistful
gaze of his soft brown eyes, and / recalled q
touch of pathos in his homely face that
pnoHa mo onriouc RI knnw an of ifo
owner.
wondered what had moved this man of
peace, at his age, to take UP a line of life so
foreign to his nature. so unc0ngenial to his
tastes. Had the world used him illf Had
he nothing to leave behind, or had he some
sorrow which he hoped to drown in the din
of strifef Else why did he enlist7 / could
account for myself, for l was Young, n
my patriotism was supplemented by a love
of adventure and the promptings of ambi-
ton. Blu this man puzzled me. They told
me he had quilted his farm; left behind
him wife, children and friends; taken on
himself the hardships of an enlisted mans
life, for no other reason than a conscien-
tious belief that it was a duty he owed to
his country in her time of need. | could
hardly realize such a sacrifice as this. and
it had to be proven before l could believe
it.
Evidently he had good standing among
his friends. for he was elected a sergeant az
the organization of his company. l noted
from time to time his progress in the art of
war; his uphill contests with the tactics;
his disheartening struggles with the man.
ual, as we'll as his earnest endeavors to
qualify himself as a non-commissioned Off
Ger. Always on the side of discipline, he
gave his officers an unquestioned support,
while his firm but gentle enforcement of all
orders lntrusted to him won the abiding re-
spect of those subordinate to him. His
even-handed Justice in the performance of
his duty as c0mmissary of the company is
held in affectionate remembrance by all of
his comrades to this day. The hardships of
the march, the vexations of the camp never
seemed to disturb his equanlmity, while
duties both disagreeable and dangerous
were performed with unfailing fidelity.
In spite of my preconceived ideas of what
constituted a model soldier L could see that
they were gradually being undermined by
this man. Day by day he took new hold
on the profession of arms. tie was adyanc-
ing by parallels, and each week found him
a little further to the front. Then came
the great battles, the supreme test, when,
in a measure, rank is leveled. style is moth
lng. courage is everything; when "a man g
a man, for a. that" and from the smoke of
conflict he emerged unframed and stood
fortn IN bold relief. g grand soldier OF the
Republic, the peer of any man In the splen-
did regiment that never turned its back
upon the foe. No uncertainty about him
now; 1 knew what he was good for, and to
the end he had my unwavering confidence
and respect. Time wore on. and the term
OF our service came to be counted by
days His comrades noticed that. Gin
cinnatus like. his mind had tur ned
toward the farm again, and he talked
cheerfuily of wife. children and friends,
laying plans for the future and already
treating the war as a thing of the past.
Conscious of a soldierly record above re-
proach; happy in the prospect of enjoying a
Well-earned peace, he went about his daily