Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1890-05-15
CAMPFIRE STORIES.
The PRIVATE SOLDIER.
General Alger Says He Was the Rea
Hero of the War.

| General Alger Says He Was the Real
Hero of the War.
General Russell A. Alger Commander
in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Re-
| public, in an interview with the New
York Herald. saidi at would be unjust
TO single out one or two soldiers In the
ARMY, cali them by name, and diiate at
length upon their bravery in any special
battle or skirniish, because ali the sol
diers who sh6Ildered their fi1nskets and
went into action eduai15 desefve tnen=
ton: The real heroes OF the war were
! the men who carried muskets. Ina bat
| tie the men who stood in line and fought
were all brave.
~ have often been asked how 1t feels
to be under fire. 1t is an uncomfortable
feeling all the time, no poetry whatever
| in it. In battle one feels as if demon
spirit had taken possession of him, and
was recklessly carrying him along. The
most trying ordeal Is the beginning of .
battle, and the sooner one gets in the
more relieved he feels. When a person
goes in bathing in cold water he does
not go in gradually, but jumps in with a
plunge and the cold is soon gone.
My sensations about getting under fire
were similar 70 plunge in cold water,
and although. aware that danger was
everywhere tie anticipation l found
was more dreadful and trying than the
reality. There were few towards in the
army. Whenever call was made for
volunteers to undertake some desperate
charge, or go upon an expedition which
| meant death to nearly all, more soldiers
than were needed always came promptly
forward.
WAR is a stern reality to those en-
gagged in it. After the war, during the
session of an evangelical alliance at De-
troit, four preachers stopped at my
house. One evening we were chatting
about the war when one of the preachers
asked me if there was in reality the
poetry and glory in battle that had
often been described in song. He spoke
of Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, and
repeated some beautiful lines on his
death. Did fame, glory and the sweet
privilege Of dying for ones country
actuate and prompt the soldier to move
recklessly and CALAMITY into battleY he
continued.
81 replied that the whole sentiment
and feeling that stirred within sol
dier's breast when he started in battle
could be summed up in three words:
Give them HI!
And this reminds me that noise
sometimes counts. had rather face an
army of ten thousand mutes than an
army of five thousand yelling men. The
yell somehow puts life into the soldier
and discOurages his opponent. 1 had
rather charge than repel an attack or
fight at long range. The impetus that
the charge gives is apt to carry things
before it. Then, the movement does
not give the soldiers time to think much
and speculate, but with a hurrah they
rush onward, some to death and many
to victory.
Thousands of brave men were killed
in the war whose names are not known,
and in many instances they were not
buried. l remember riding over the
battlefield of Bull Run some months
after the engagement, and saw a skull
or two. In the cemeteries so many
head boards have on them Unknown
1t is sad to die for ones country and not
leave name to be hOnOred in tho roll
call of fame. The Unknown were he
rOes, and died brayely fighting.
when General Lee began his retreat
from Monterey via Emmetsburg my
command was ordered to get in his rear
if possible and cut off his wagon trains.
l never shall forget the time we started.
1t was dark night, and we had to GO
rapidly. We could hear therumbling of
the wagon trains going around the
mountain road. Finally we came neara
bridge which was guarded. II the rebels
had destroyed the bridge it would have
been better for them, and kept us from
intercepting them.
The bridge was guarded, and in
stantly ordered my men to lie down,
going down myself. A soldier next to
me was shot dead. I could tell by the
peculiar thud that bullet had struck
him, and then his musket fell from his
grasp.
Selling his gun we all charged the
bridge and captured it. To this day
do not know the name of the soldier
killed next to me. He was not in my
regiment, and as we had to push on for
days and days he was left where he was
killed.
II knew o self-confessed coward who
was brave enough to ask to be shot. 1t
was physical impossibility for him to
go into a battle. Nature was against
him, and he knew and regretted it. On
the eve of big battle he came to me |
1nd begged me to shoot him. He said |
that it was impossible for him to face
the enemy, and rather than be humil-
lated by having to run before his COM
rades he wanted to be shot. OF course |
it was out of the question to accede to |
his request In battle the file closers |
have orders to shoot those who run, but |
they do not always do it. felt sorry |
for this man, but he could not go into |
battle"
JOHN BROWNS CLOTHES.