The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1890-12-18
A FAMOUS WAR SONG.
HOW "kLL QUIET ALONG The POTO.
MAC" CAME TO b WRITTEN.
The Remarkable Career of Lamar Fon
tame, the Hero of Many Hard-Fought
Battles.

able character" said General Charles
p Mattocks, of Portland, Me-, rs he
handed me package OF letters and
other data. when | was prisoner
in the Confederates' hands ut Charles
ton, ). C., movement was started to
exchange me for Fontaine. whom our
troops had captured. Each of us held
the rank Of major at the time. But the
scheme miscarried, and he was eX
changed for Major Harry White. of
Pennsylvania.
This man. Lamar Fentaine," con-
tinued the General, lis famous through
the South for two things. 1t was he
who in May, 1868 undertook the seem
ingly foolhardy, but. nevertheless, sue
cessful, exploit of carrying 4 supply of
percussion caps from the Confederate
General Loring's headquarters attack
son. Miss, TO the beleaCurcd General
Pemberton in Nicksburg, when that
commander was entirely out of caps,
and consequently could not fire gun.
"FOntaine-whO then, as now, was
Mississippian horses shot under
him, aud any quantity of bullets fired
1T him, making numerous holes in his
clothes and equlpage beside other
frightful dangers in that terrible ex-
perience He is the hero of twenty
seven hard-fought 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 age 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
fact is disputed but | notice in 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 a question in which
the public IS little interested; what |
do care for is the deeply interesting
narrative Of a wartime episode in con-
nection with the poem as told in his
recent correspondence wiki me. These
are the letters. Read them yourself"
Thank YOU. General.
1t appears that not long after the
first battle of Bull Run, in which Fon-
tame. rs Il private in Company k
the Burt Rifles 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 Oh the Potomac. This was in
August lSGl-onc month after Bull
Run.
1t was here that Fontainc and another
private named Moore formed close
friendship. Moore was a married man.
and fairly idolized his wife and their
two beautiful young children. Moore
and Fontainc were together, whether
on picket or guard duty. They chung
to each other. They bought little
hand-books of pncmS-Byron, Burns,
and others -and together they would
sit in the cool shade of trees or hang
inc 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 on either side of the waters,
Federal and Confederate, had come to
IN understanding and agreement that
there should be no firing ut each other
while on picket duty. And but for "a
treacherouS violation of this contract
by a dastardly soldier, the incident
herewith related would not have oc-
Cured and ''Ail Quiet Along the
Potomac Tonight" would never have
been penned. give the story in Fon-
taine's own graphic words:
We had to stand on Il post six hours
ut a time. That night took my stand
at 8, and Moore retired to rest. The
nights were chiIly.and we usually kept
some fire burning. There was a small
spring of water close by, and a large
fallen pine tree that | used to sit on
and rest 1T times, after walking nv
beat, and | have frequently stopped at
the spring and bathcd my face when
the dreary monotony of the still night
had a tendency to hull me to sleep.
As soon rs found that midnight had
arrived | stepped TO the fire AMI threw
on some pine knots, and reused Moore
10 take my place.
He rose slowly. picked up his gun.
stepped TO the ire and stretched him
,
and yawned; and while his arms were
extended and his hand grasping the
barrel of his gun, there Mas flash
across the river, and the whiz of a
bullet, and he sank to the earth with
Il hole just above his eve on the left
side. from which llowed a dark. GRIM
son tide. Not word, not Il @roan es-
capped him.
Il removed his remains from near
the fire where he had fallen And as
| did 50 my eyes fell Oh the telegraphic
column of Il newspaper and it was
headed: "All Quirt Along the Potomac
Tonight And oh. how truthful it
WAS! 1t was certainly all quiet with
me. and with him whom | loved as
brother
Il could not help shedding 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 trcacherv had
caused his death. lad they grew bitter,
and demon of vengeance arose in nv
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
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 met
my view. put my friends effects to-
gether-hiS letters. sword. hat all
and expressed them to his wife, with a
true and perfect description of his
death. And while | 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 shadowv vale.
penned the outlines OF the poem then
and there, but not as they now appear,
for the first were biting and sarcastic.
l read the crude copy to Orderly Ser
geant W. W, Williamson (wao was n
tine criticl and ipulpu1ptS Er,b,n, md