The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1890-04-24

that the western Armies did all thai was re-
quired or expected of them, but when 10 comes
down 10 who did the actual work we point TO
the losses not OF our regiment or brigade but
OF the whole army and the battles they fought.
lost all interest in field matters May s, 1864;
for while you were chucking case and canister
at the Johnnies, The enemy got the start of mo
and busted my right arm, so that they had To
amputatc il to save il. Consequently | took
no further interest III affairs al the font
To THE CANNoNEER: have been very much
interested in your story, and ut times have
been emlhused by your description of battle
scenes l have no doubt you tell the truth
about the services of the two batteries you
served in. If Stewart and Mex night, and your
comrades were such men as you describe, the
whole matter is explained But ] have been
gradually analyzing the story as it went along,
and cannot resist the conclusion that the Can
noneer must have been what we used to call in
army days an "oflicers, pet; which appears
from his own recital. Now while do not wish
10 detract from what may be due him, feel
like saying that there were thousands upon
thousands of just such young boys who were
just rs brave rs he, who never got any such
nice details as he got, and never knew what IL
was To have such favors from their officers rs
he constantly tells about getting from "Serg't
or Lieut.. Mitchell, /" who is plainly the idol of
All this is very good and even noble, hut 10
anyone who will analyze his interesting sketch
u must appear that the CannOncer was q
spoiled child from the start. lie was spoiled
1T home and again spoiled in the army. Ac-
corling 10 his own account his father was rich,
and sent him money in every letter-S20 bills
at a time. Any old soldier knows what that
would mean IN an average company, il the boy
was free with his money among his comrades,
which he evidently was. Then he was well
educated. good looking no doubt, to judge from
his little picture, aud rather smart, and his
money enabled him 10 dress well, besides trent
ing the comrades, etc. Now reverse the pic
ture, and think how many poor boys there
were, rs young and bright ms be, who instead
OF getting so bills in every letter from home.
had 10 send part of their poor pittancc every
pay day 10 support an old mother at home.
Think Of these poor BOYS Comradc Cauuoneer,
and no doubt you have known of them. not
boru with silver spoons in their mouths rs yon
seem To have been; with parents able 10 send
you To college. aud then. when YOU ran away
aud enlisted. sent you money. according to your
own statements, amounting to many times
your army pay" etc, together with " fine un-
derclothiug and boxes of knick knacks."
Think OF these poor boys when You utter such
fierce denunciatiOn of those who got the
bounty " i'm 1864.
We can all see how IL was Even after %
years yonT own old Capiain-the heroic James
Stcwart-wheu lie occasionally writes TO cor
rect your story, as his letters have been pub
iisbed, writes TO you ia tone of unmistakable
affection. and cOrTeets you now, / have no
doubt, with the same genlieness as when he
had 10 correct you in the battery. Such feel
lnFs between Captain and his soldiers so many
years after are very beautiful and touching,
and have fully shared your affection for your
noble Captain But really was shocked ut
the language you used IN speaking of the re
crnits OF 1854 when describing the scene on
the boat IL seemed that you could not find
words 10 praise your own little squad Of vet
eran arlillcrymen enough, nor TO sufficiently
dcnouucc the bounty jumpers and Couscripls."
Your feelings were not aroused till you saw
them trying 10 rob an artillery fecruit-one
of your Own cloth" as you call hlm. Yet in
the next sentence you say hc bad SEQ bounty
money in his pocket etc. Well III the others
were such despissble bounty jumpers" what
was he? Did the red braid ON hs jacket max @
him any better or more honorable than the
others, or rather the others worse than he?
Does u not strike you that you were inconsist-
eni about thisy Ii 10 was wrong 10 take the
iouniy why did you and " Pat Hunt, Bill Bate.
man and George Copeland" take such chances
10 rescue this solitary one with hs 500 bounty.
money in his pocket" you yourself say2
Why did you not leave him TO his fate? IL
>
is just aud true, why then it was simply a case
Of dog eat dog, aud the artillery bounty
jumper WIS no better than any other. With
all your talent, comFade. ] think you have
made tile mistake OF blowing the artillery
hugic little too loudly. However. ! suppose
10 IS natural. But one thing wish 10 impress
upon you According 10 your own account
yen were very lucky. Your luck gave You
always excellent officers" as you say. II
gave you rich father. who sent you money
Ia every letter from home" No doubt your
Income as private soldier Was equal To that Of
many tbor Lieutenant from this source. That
was great power in camp. rs every old soldier
knows The boy Wh0 always bad money in
camp between pay days. always had friends
friends among lhe Sergcants etc, who could do
him the most good. No doubt you had TO fight
sometimes: but according TO your own story,
yoa got the benefit Of every soft thing that was
going. / notice that you have nothing but
praise for your Orderly Sergcants They were
ali the best Of their rank-your Orderly Ser
geanis were always good 10 you Santmyer,
Mitchell, Mcbride aud Henry Moore in Battery
y OF the 4th u. $. aud Davidson and Yoder Of
Battery NJ OF the 5tb.
Now this Is all right. IL shows that you
were smart and look I'd out for number one. -
Every fellow does that But when you write
history please give thought to the thousands
II almost said hundreds OF thOusands--Of poor
little smooth faced boys like yourself who had
no influential friends or rich parents; who
Instead Of getting $50 bills in every letter from
home, had 10 allOt some Of their pay. little AS
IL was. TO support their mothers: who never
got petied by their officers, but had to lug
their muskeis aud knapsacks Oh foot, n the
mud. while you rode by in the escort Of some
Major-General, or mounted on the Timber. chest
oi yoar gun; or who humbiy died In support Of
your arlsiOcratic Regular battery without So
much rs shiDgle to mark their poor graves
Think Oi these poor, devoted boys comrade
aud ~ you write, show at least common
ciiafty. Because you were ali exceedingly
lucky s0ldier-bOy Is no reason why you should
be uncharitabie towards others. Looking over
your story fad that you enlisted early in
september, 1862. You escaped Fredericksburg
by being on Provost Guard" (Soft snap No
IL You escaped Charlottesville by being " alb
sent with 4 detail to get horses" (Soft snap
No. p You got into IL al Gettysburg but
" IN October got detailed at Provost Headquar-
ters," and remained there until Grants order
~ March, 1864, requiring all able-bodied men
10 report 10 the mont. lSix months, Of soft
snap No 81 Then you got into il again in the
Virginia campaign and went through 10 Pc
tershure, but there y0nr good anpel-Lieut
Mitchell, no dobbt-to0k the Grst opportunity
10 send y0n u the anmunitiou- wharf at City
Point This was no doubt intended TO be soft
snap No. 4, but was rudely nppcd in the bud
by hauling you all of 10 reinforce the Sixth
Corps batteries" etc, which got you into The
Shenandoah Valley campaigu Returning