Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-09-26
An Ex-consederate's Reflections.
BY w. A. cnoFFur.

Yaas, ! fit in tho war, and war on the iosin'
A Johnny Reb-I state it fiat, tho faint no
cause for pride;
Fer war down in Dixie Wen the trouble LII on
me-
wur raised in Alabamy, way up the Tonnes
see.
That's how it came about, you know; secesh
wuz in the air;
The Stale wuz boss; the Fed'ral COMMENT
An Ole John Brown he'd stole our nigs, Ole ADO
he'd follered suit
An lowed he'd march his minions down an
tread us under foot.
1t made us mad, this sort o. thing; we swore it
So when in Alabany. way up the Tennessee,
The old Inscumhy Battery enlisted fer the
fight,
signed the roll an waded in, not doubtin' it
wuz right;
An when the evening come to go. we stopped,
in marchin' down,
To get the bencdiction OF the Oldest man IN
The Revolution veteran, my uncle, Marion
Rowe,
Who'd Lett leg at Eutah Springs nigh eighty
He leaned across the winder-sill and looked
upon our line,
An tears war streamin' down the checks of
Uncle Marion Rowe,
aMy boysl" he cried, turn backl turn back /;
The warnin' of a friend!
The trouble you are bringin on you'll never see
1t endl
Turn backl Don't fire upon this flag, but all its
stars defend!"
He gasped fer breath behind the light We see
him trembhn' stand,
An then he dropped an died right thar the
banner in his hand
Some said 1t war n Judgment, some thought he
Some said 'twere second childhood and failin'
At any rate the drums struck up we took the
road once more,
And four years fit across betwixt the mountings
At Corinth Shiloh, Donelson, and Chattahoo-
At Nashville Dalton, Mission Ridge, and oil the
battles round
Ole Kenesaw, till half of us waz furloughed UNI
An wen at last along the James, ole Grant had
cornercd Lee.
/ toted home ali empty sleeve to the Upper Ten
nessee.
Wal, jim hev got shet of then, old obsolete
idees;
For I've looked round sense then and seen wat
everybody sees:
I've seen that we uns wuz behind; that you
'uns ways WIZ best!
I've seen that Ole Abe prob'ly knew whut Ole
Brown probly guessed;
I've seen the n1ggers chuckle at the Joy OF Deln
free;
I've seen life come to Dixie, just as clipper ez
can be,
Till it hes reached Tuscumby on the Upper Ten
nessee;
And ez brood upon these facts. it suddenly
seems plain,
It wasn't Uncle Marion but me that was insane.
I'm glad the blamed Conf dracy was blighted in
the bud;
I'm glad that We was walloped by chaps of kin
dred blood;
I'm glad the States is keepin' step an narchin'
From Florida to Mexico. from Maine to Oregon
An will mention three men whose teachin's
despise
Who dulled my brain with ignorance, and band
aged up my eyes,
And filled my heart with hatred and stuffed nv
ears with lies,
And sent me on that FOOLS errand from the Up
per Tennessee
lude to Jetfs'n Davis and Robert Toombs an
me-!
I'm proud of these United States as any man
to-day;
I'm proud Of this old flag that blooms ez daisies
bloom in May
Proud of the land that poor folks love- the land
that tyrants hate;
That lights the giln of hope again where men
are desolate
That holds its hend as high as any nation on the
earth.
Where every mothers baby has q blessing with
Its BIRTH
And, Jim! faint pleasant to rehect-and you
won't Disagree
What a COMPOUNDED idiot formly used to he,
When listed in Tuscumby on the Upper Ten
nessee