The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1889-04-11
AFTER % YEARS.
Return of Soldiers Diary from the Far Sou

stranger than fiction" The Subjoiued article,
taken from the Providence r. T. Journal, will
in part explain the cause of this articles:
The Paris (Ark.) Express in a recent issue con-
tanned a paragraph concerning Is Rhode leland sol
der named Thomas f. Holland, who was First
Sergeant OF TO. E, ID II. /. Holland belonged III
South Kiugstown, this State, when he enlisted.
He was wounded in the battle of the Wilderness.
May s. 1864, and taken prisoner. The paragraph
reads as follows Dr. l.. l.. Harley has in his pos
session diary that found on the body OF a
dead soldier on the battlefield of the Wilderness,
in Virginia, by 10. Z. Gillespie Of Caulksville who
was Sergeant of Co. b, goth Ga. The name Of the
soldier Thomas +. Holland, Co. Z, I'd II. /.
The diary is completed from the time he entered the
army up to the day of the battle. DIR. Harley Is
DESTROYS of returning the diary 20 some friend or
relative OF the deceased"
On the morning of Dec. IS, 1883, as the eyes
of the readers in the town of Mr.. Hollands
nativity gazed OH this paragraph, their minds
were filled with wonderment at the revelation
that I. f. Holland deceased some "a years
since, for We had been accustomed to seeing
him daily in and out amongst us. Your cor
respondent, therefore, sought him out to ascer-
tain, if possible, the true meaning of this al
most unprecedented incident We learned from
hisown lips this interesting narrative. Asindi-
Gated in the principal paragraph to which ref
erence is made, the event did occur on the
battlefeld%Of the Wilderness However, the
day was the 9th of May instead of the 5th.
During the previous days fight, Capt. Mcintyre
having been killed and Lieut.. Clark seriously
wounded, on Holland, who was Orderly Ser
geant, deyolved the command of the company.
In the famous Longstreet charge he was in the
very forefront of his men, and in consequence
become engaged in hand-to- hand combat with
a Confederate. Both fell, wounded; the Union
man in the ankle the rebel in the thigh. Both
were bleeding prOfuSely from their injuries
| aud, as natural sequence, being almost locked
III each others embrace, they engaged in con-
Versatien. Their intercourse intuitiyelY d.
rected its course toward their sulferings, and
as result they were now found endeavoring
to ameliorate each others circumstances as best
they could, though so recently seeking by all
the means employed in that great fratr;cidal
strife to put an end to the existence Of each
other. The Confederate belonged to the I'd
Ark, being Color-Sergeant of his company.
lie, being the more seriously wounded, was
bleeding profusely, and Holland, prompted by
that spirit OF sympathy which seemed to actu-
ate the boys of both armies when placed in
these peculiarly trying circumstances, sought
to afford him what relief was within his power.
Taking from his canteen its string, although
himself suffering intense pain, he managed to
so arrange it as to quite etfectually arrest the
flow of blood. In the course of few hours
! this soldier was removed, promising, however,
| to see that his benefactOr was also removed
! aud properly cared for. Mr.. Holland was,
| however, obliged to lie on tho field from IL IN.
on that day till about II m. tho following day.
| While so obliged to lie and suffer, a rebel SOL
! der came near him, and observing his KNAPP
sack and other accouterments, made free to
1 appropriate them, even to cutting the boots
| from his very feet. 1t was in his knapsack
/ that he carried the diary referred to in the
principal article. He also carried therein a
photograph of his wife and baby son, and sun
! dry other trinkets from near and dear ones in
Little Rhody." On the day following that
on which he received his wound he was re-
moved to Longstreet's field hospital, and there
| underwent an amputation of his leg by Con.
federate Surgeon, Holt. Holland was q true
soldier, imbued with that determination and
possessed of that grit so characteristic of the
ancient Spartan.
he was told by the Surgeon that it would bt
necessary, in order to perform the operation, tt
| administer chloroform.
TO this Holland refused to submit prefer
ring to be perfectly cognizant of what wa;
| Transporting, and insisting on having profeS
sional job done rather than a bungle, and per
haps loss of his life by reason of surgical NAL
practice. He simply requested q glass o
whisky, aud with only this he passed through
the trying ordeal. aud perhaps was instrumen
tai in saving his own life. For who can tel
how many of our brave boys lives were simply
sacrificed by those Confederate butchers? III
was imprisoned in Lynchburg, and also in tina
Infamous den, Libby, remaining in the latte
place four months after his term of service ha(
expired. While incarcerated in Libby he was
by the merest accident, prevented from bein,
cast into that hell-pen, Andersonville. Libby
becoming overcrowded, it became necessary Il
transfer some of the prisoners to other prisons
so a batch of the boys were consigned Il
Georgia. In this squad was the subject of thi
sketch. He was necessarily obliged to go OF
crutches, and while at the depot awaiting
i nthar cn1diOr ri ip az
these from him. When the officer in who's
charge these prisoners were came across him
seeing his condition, questioned him how h
expected to get around. lie answered some
one had stolen his crutches. The officer toll
him he had no use for him, and so sent hin
back. This probably saved his life; for tn
comrade who took his erutches barely escapes
alive.
Although we have in this article depressed
little from the main point, yet these facts ar
so intimately connected with the history of thi
long-lost diary that they are perhaps not on
. of place. They serve to show the devotion t
his country of man who rlsked his life, hi
: all, for that country's sake. To whom is create
praise due than to these self-same soldier
who made it possible for our country to shin
with undimmed luster after century of Ma
tional existence? What greater honor can
youth of to-day claim than that he is a son G
a veteran?
All these thoughts are at this time and i
your very valuable paper most pertinent. Al
ter brooking the insults, heaped upon indig
mites, of the past Administration for foa
long years; after having all sorts of epithets az
, piled to them by both Northern and Souther
/ demagogs in Congress during the many al
, tempts to pass pension measures, is it to b
wondered at that the soldier expects to see i
| that grand old man of grand old party Tia
fruition of their long-deferred hopes? Do the
4 -
men as are the subject of this episode are til
ones who are first entitled. other things bein
equal, to the emoluments in the gift of the AC
minstraton
r 1t is but very meager way in which to a,
cord to the soldier recompense for the man
hardships endured and risks incurred durin
{ the tenure of their services 1t is be hope
that the Claims of the gallant bows of the c. A ]