The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1890-12-19
A FAMOUS WAR SONG.
HOW "ALL QUIET ALONG THE PoTc.
MAcn cAaE TO BE WRITTEN.
Tho R.mark.bie Career of Lamar Fon
...a.. tn. Hero Of Many Hard~ressh.
battles.

the rank OF major at the time. Butt
scheme m~iscarried. and he was ex-
changed for Major Harry White. of
Rennsylvania.
This nan Lamar Fontaine," con-
tInued the General, us famous through
the South for W things. 1t was he
who, In May, 1868. undertook the seem
ingly foolhardy, but, nevertheless. sue
cessful. exploit OF carrying a supply of
percussion caps from the Confederate
General Loring's headquarters at tack
son, Miss, 10 he beleagured General
Pemberton in Vicksburg, when that
commander was entirely out of cap
and consequently could not fire a gun.
"Fontaine-who then, as now, was a
Mississippian-had horses shot under
him, and any quantity OF bullets fired
AZ 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 hard-fonght battles, aud 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. he works hard
at his profession of surveyor aud civil
engineer.
The other thing for which he is
celebrated is rs the real author Of the
popular war song, .All Quiet Along the
Potomac Tonight 10 be 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"
But it is not my purpose to go into
the discussion of u question in which
the public is little interested; what l
do care for is the deeply interesting
narrative Of a wartime episode in con-
nection with the poem, as told in his
recent correspondence with me. These
are the letters. Read them Yourself"
Thank you. General"
It appears that not long after the
first battle of Bull Run, in which Fon.
txine, rs a private in Company X
the Burt Rifies-Eighteenth Mississippi
Regiment, took part. he was trans
ferred to the Second Virginia Cavalry,
and at the time of which this narrative
treats was doing picket duty Just above
the head Of an island near the Seneca
Falls IN the Potomac. This was in
August, 1861-one month after Bull
Run.
It was here that Fontaine and another
private named Moore formed IL close
friendship. Moore was n married man,
aud fairly idolized his wife and their
two beautiful young children. Moore
and Fontaine We're together, whether
on picket or guard duty. They chung
to each other. They bought little
hand-books of poems.Byron, Burns,
aud others-and together they would
sit in the cool shade of trees or hang
ing rocks that lined the Potomac above
the Falls OF Seneca. and read aloud to
each other passages from their favorite
authors.
At this section of the two army lines
the pickets OF either side of the waters,
Federal and Confederate, had come to
an understanding and agreement that
there should be no firing at each other
treacherous violation of this contract
by a dastardly soldier. the incident
herewith related would o have oc-
Cured. and "All Quiet Along the
Potomac To-pightn would never have
been penned. / give the story in Fon-
taine's W graphic words:
we had to stand on o post six hours
Mt a time. That night / took my stand
Mt 6. and Moore retired to rest. The
nights were chilly, and We usually kept
some fire burning. There was a small
spring of water close by. and a large
fallen pine tree that l used to sit on
and rest Mt 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 r tendency to lull me TO sleep.
As soon as / found that midnight had
arrived l 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 to the lire and stretched him
self. as a sleepy soldier will, aud gaped
and yawned; and while his arms were
extended. and his hand grasping the
barrel of his gun, there was n flash
across the river, and the whiz of a
bullet, and he sank to the earth, with
n hole just above his eye on the left
side, from which flowed a dark, Grim.
SOL tide. Not a word, not a groan es-
capped him.
Il removed his remains from near
the fire where he had fallen. And as
Ibid so my eyes fell on the telegraphic
column of a newspaper, and it was
headed: "All Quiet Along the Potomac
Tonight And, oh. how truthful il
was! 1t was certainly all quiet with
me, and with him whom I loved as a
brother.
X 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 j
had been, and whose treachery had
caused his death, and they grew bitter,
and q demon of vengeance arose 10 my
heart, which was not stiiled until the
white dove Of peace had spread he1
snowy pinions over tho whole face Of
the land and the bombshell rolled
aoross the sward the plaything of a
child.
When morning dawned the words
in that newspaper were burned in nv
brain. They rang in my ears, and
were painted on every scene that me,
my view. put my friends effects 10.
gether-his letters, sword. hat, all
and 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
q glazed eyes in the unbrokcn silence
Of my lonely watch I felt what few
mortals ever feel in this shadowy vale.
Penned the outlines Of the poem then
and there. but not as thsy now appear,
for the first were biting and sarcastic.
l read the crude copy to Orderly Ser.
geant w. w. Williamson (who was a
tine critic) and L%ieutenants Graham aud
Depritt, Of my company. and William.
son suggested that II would only make
II more pathetic. instead of sarcastic, i,
would take better.
II did 50. and on the 9th of August
had It complete, as tho poem now
stands, and ! read it to my messmates
and received their highest commenda.
ton. gave them copies of the origi.
nal, and they recopied and 8 n them
home, and soon the whole regiment.
brigade. division and army were in
possession OF il.
my father. whom Is.met shortly
after the completion ofs3t, suggested
that, instead OF .st.ny picket, / oupht