Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1890-12-20
A FAMOUS WAR SONG.
HOW "ALL QUIET ALONG THE PoTo.
MAC" CAME TO BE WRITTEN.
The Remarkable Career OF Lamar ron.
taine, the Hero of Many Hard-Fousht
Battles,

other data. "When | was n prisoner
In the Confe1era.es' hands at Charles
ton, g. G.. a movement was started to
exchange me for Fontaiue. whom our
troops had captured. Each Of ns held
the rank Of major at the time. But the
scheme mlscarried. and he was ex-
changed for Major Harry White. of
Pennsylvania,
"This man, Lamar Fontaine," con-
tinued the General. Ifs famous through
the South for two things. Ii was he
who, 10 May. 1868. undertook the SEEM
ingly foolhardy. but. nevertheless, sue
c~essful. exploit Of carrying a supply of
percussion caps from the Confederate
General Loring's headquarters at Jack
son. Miss, to the beleagured General
Pembertoa In Vicksburg. when that
commander was entirely out of caps,
and consequently could not fire a gun.
"Fontaine-who then. as now. was n
Mississippian-had horses shot under
him, and any quantity of bullets fired
at him, making numerous holes in his
clothes and equipage, beside other
frightful dangers in that terrible ex-
perience. He is the hero of twenty
seven hartt-fonght battles. and came out
Of the war minus "A leg and bearing
other evidences of his war experiences.
He Is still living in his native State,
where at the ago Of 60, ne works hard
at his profession Of surveyor and civil
engineer.
"The other thing for which he is
celebrated is as the real author of the
popular war song, All Quiet Along The
Potomac Tonight To he sure, that
fact Is disputed, but / notice IN a book
OF war songs recently Published he Is
given the credit which to him right
fully belongs"
Bat it is not my purpose to go into
the discussion of a question in which
the public is little interested; what I
do care for Is the deeply interesting
narrative OF a wartime episode in con-
nection with tho poem, as told in his
recent correspondence with me. These
are the le:ters. Read them yourself"
Thank YOU. General"
II appears that not long after the
first battle of Bull Run, in which Fon-
taine. as a private ia Company X
the Burt Rihes-Eighteenth Mississippi
Regiment, took part. he was trans
ferred to the Second Virginia Cavalry.
and at the time of which this narrative
treats vas doing picket duty just above
the head of an island neal the Seneca
Falls on the Potomac. This was in
August. lSGi-one month after Bull
Run.
1t was here that Fontaine and another
private named Moore formed q close
friendship. Moore was a married a
aud fairly idolized his wife and their
two beautiful young children. Moore
and Fontaine were together, whether
on picket or guard duty. They cluug'
to each other. They bought little
hand-books of ~poems-Byron, Burns,
and others-and together they would
sit in the cool shade of trees or hang
Jog rocks that lined the Potomac above
the Falls OF Seneca. and read aloud to
each other passages from their fayorite
authors.
AT this section of the two army lines
the pickets on either side of the waters,
Federal aud Confederate, had come TO
al understanding and agreement that
there should be no firing at each other
while on picket duty. And but for a
by a dastardiy soldier. the incident
herewith related wonld not have oc-
Cured, and "All Quiet Along the
Potomac Tonight" would never have
been penued. give the story In Fou-
taiue's own graphic words.
1--WE had to stand on a post six hours
Mt a time. That night took my stand
at 6. and Moore retired 10 rest. The
nights were chilly, and we usually kept
some fire bursing. There was a small
spring of water close by, and a large
fallen pine tree that l used to sit on
aud rest at times, after walking my
beat, and have frequently stopped at
the spring and bathed my face when
the dreary monotony OF the still night
had n tendency to lull me to sleep.
As o as | found that midnight bad
arrived | stepped to the fire and threw
On some pine knots. and reused Moore
to take my place.
"He rose slowly, picked up his gun,
stepped 10 the tire and stretched HIM
self. rs a sleepy soldier will. aud gaped
aud yawned; and while his arms were
extended. and his hand grasping the
barrel Of his gun. there was a flash
across the river, aud the whiz of a
bullet, and he sank to the earth. with
a hole Just above his eve on the left
side. from which flowed a dark. Grim.
sol tide. Not a word, not q groan es-
capped him.
Il removed his remains from near
the lire where he had fallen. And as
] did so my eyes fell on the telegraphic
column of a newspaper, aud it was
headed: 'All Quiet Along the Potomac
Tonight And. oh, how truthful ii
was! 1t was certainly all quiet with
me. and with him whom ! loved as a
brother.
II could not help shedding a tear,
and my thoughts reverted to his home,
his wife. and his children. and to the
falsehood told by those whose guest /
had been, and whose treachery had
caused his death. and they grew bitter,
and a demon Of vengeance arose 10 my
heart. which was not stilled until the
white dove Of peace had spread her
snowy pinions over the whole face OF
the land aud the bombshell rolled
across the sward the plaything Of a
child.
when morning dawned the words
in that newspaper were burned in my
brain. They rang 10 my ears. and
were painted OF eveiy scene that met
my view. I put my friends effects to.
ges.:er--his letters. sword, hat. all
aud expressed them to his wife, with a
true and perfect description Of his
death. And while l stood beside his
cold form and gazed at his marble face
and glazed eyes in the unbroken silence
Of my lonely watch ! felt what few
mortals ever feel In this shadowy vale.
! pcnned the outlines Of the poem then
and there, but moi a. they now appear.
for the first were biting and sarcastic.
] read the crude copy to Orderly Ser
geant w. w. Williamson (who was a
tine critic) and L~icutenants Graham and
Depritt. Of my company. and Williams
son suggested that II | would only make
il 0 pathetic, instead Of sarcastic. II
would take better.
II did %. aud on the 9th OF August !
had IL complete. as the poem now
stands. and ! read II to my messmates
and received their highest commenda-
tion. 1 gave them copies Of tho origi-
nal. and they recoPied and sent them