The National tribune., 1890-01-16
STORY OF A CANNONEER.
Continued from 1st page.)

N~D."-A~'.N@
for generations their race had been taught to
abhor
On the other hand, the Southern soldiers had
been habituated to homicide from infancy.
They had been raised 10 admire and look up to
the man "who had killed his man." Every
body knows that this is true. The result was
that in the earlier battles of the war the South
ern soldier deliberately aimed at an individual
enemy as a rule, while the Yankee soldier did
SO as an exception. The Southern soldier, if
he know he had
KILLED A YANKEE"
would brag about it all over camp. The Yankee
soldier, If accused of "killing a rebel" would
deny IL, and try to put it on his "next man in
the skirmishline." But about the date of
Gettysburg the traditional Northern aversion
to "the taking of human life" was on the
wane. Tho Yankees. patient. humane, and
long suffering as they were bad begun to "draw
their beads down fine" The "killing of
rebel had begun TO be matter not necessarily
calling for denial. In tho infantry the Yankees
had begun "to shoot from dead rest" when
they could get one-ovor n stump or rock or
across fence-rail, or alongside tree In the
artillery they had learned that canister
should keep close to the ground" and that the
proper thing to do was to "lsck up the dirt in tho
faces" of a line of charging infantry. Bowel
shots became the talk of the Yankee camps
In short. as | said before, when the war had
been going on about q year aud a half the
Yankees began Ito shoot to kill!" began to
take aim -; began to realize that bayonets
were made for something besides parade began
TO comprehend that war was war, and meant
killing or hurting as bad as possible, and under
all circumstances.
With the Western troops 10 was different.
The sons of the pioneers of Indiana, Michigan,
Illinois and Wisconsin were not SO squeamish
uhn l. 90 Ill h.
start. Though, perhaps, not so hot-blooded,
they were quito as ferocious as the Southern
rebels they encountered. This fact was what
made tho Iron Brigade I'D, 9th and 7th
Wis, 10Th Ind. and oath Mich.-so terrible in
the earlier days of the Army of the Potomac.
IL was what taught tho rebels such profound
respect for the fellows that wore the slouch
hatsi" The slouch-hattod Hoosiers," VOL
verines' and Badgers" took aim Western
fashion," and shot to kill from the start. More
over, IL was the fact that the Gunners and Cam
noneers OF Stewards Battery were mainly de-
tached volunteers from these Western regi-
ment5 that gave it its early reputation for
destructiveuess. They easily learned that a
cannon, as we'll as n musket. should be aimed
low 10 do its most effective work at close
quarters. Ia short, the great practical lesson
of war was mastered only when the New Eng
land, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
rank and file of the Army of the Potomac be-
gan 10 realize that tho only way TO crush the
rebellion was by killing rebels After that the
end was only matter of time and lead But
the lesson was hard to learn with most Of them.
Now, no one more cordially accords the need
Of courage to our rebel conntrymen than do
no one-not even themselves-can be prouder
OF their splendid prowess than l am;
BECAUSE WE ARE ALL AMERICANS;
and am Democrat in politics, and 10 that
extent sympathizs with most of the rebels now
alive. But am not willing to admit that they
were so much our superiors as fighting men
so much better soldiers than were. man for man,
as their writers claim, and some of our writ
ers seem to admit l do not think they ever
had a battery that could have stood in front of
Stewards in tho open at point-b blank range 20
minutes, when our old Western boys were all
at their posts / know they never had a bat
terry that could have unlimbered under our
canister as we did under theirs at Bethesda
/ don't believe they ever had an infantry bri-
gade that could down" " the Old Iron Brigade,
man Tor man, on any field.
speak of the Iron Brigade particularly, be-
cause / knew it best. But | would say the
same Of Bartlott's Veteran Brigade in the Vir-
ginia campaign, as / saw them. all the way from
tho Wilderness TO Appomattox; of Lewis
Grants Fcrmonters rs | saw them fight with
bayopet and musket-b butt, at tho Bloody Angle;
of Upton's Brigade, as / saw them leap the rebel
works at SpOttsylvania, alone aud unsupported,
on tho 10th OF May; OF Webbs Philadelphia
Brigade, III the vortex Of Pickett's charge at
Gettysburg. and so on. 1t is not my purpose
10 rub it ia " on tho rebels. Frankly. / say
they fought better and suffered worse than
sensible men had any right 10 fight aud suffer
in such a cause.
But without discussing the merits Of the
cause, aud viewing them from the true soldier
~ standpoint OF their risks, priyations and
eufFpFtuvQ n uiuua / nuI In my hanrt
TO admit that they are really, on the whole en-
titled to tho bulk OF the sympathy.
Assuming that they were rs honestly attach
ed TO their caase as We were TO ours, we must
forever face the fact that, with the single ex-
ception of Gettysburg they always defended
their cause from behind cover, while We always
vndicated our cause with bosoms barred | say
these things In no uukind spirit-in no spirit
Of triumph over a fallen foe; because ever since
the war ! have been in political sympathy with
the majority of the Confederates. It is only
on questions Of fighting quality that take
Issue with them.
The following corrections aud additions
should DO made 10 the roll of the battery
printed in No. XIII. Tho name printed as
=" Graves" should be Seegrayes. That printed
" Reeves (Buger)" should be Reese or Reece.
This was little Max Reece. He succeeded
Johnny Cook, in July 1864, aud served, think,
several years after the close of the war The
name printed "Van Brunt should be Andrew
Brunt. There was no Mcknight" as given
in the roll but 1t should have been Mccormick
The additional names are rs follows, most Of
them being men who joined in 1854 Dupont
Earle killed, Paul Vinegar (killed, Spottsyl-
vanial, Darby, Batoway Vandcrpool, Degraff
(sent back to his regimentl Leichtner (dittol,
Sergt Wilsey, Hutchinson. Adams Dinsmore,
" Doc" Quinn Seyfred, Schwanecker Bartlett,
Judge, Colgan, Bowers, WEIGH. Fitzpatrick,
Steinhardt. Washburn, Galusha. Starke, Gift
ford, McNally and Kilgore, % in ALL and
brings the total of names thus far published
up to nearly 300 or within say, 40 of the entire
number serving in the battery during the war.
Some of these have occurred to me when read
ing over tho roll others have been kindly
suggested by comrades who writo to me- See
graves and Dupont were from the 10Th Ind;
Earle, Vinegar, Batoway and Darby from the
2ith Mich. The others were nearly all New
Workers.
lNOrE.-I beg 10 acknowledge "a timely sugges-
uon rom Capt stewart, calling my attention to an
error-of chronological order rather than of fact
with reference to the battle OF the Wilderness In
No NI OF this sketch stated that, after following
Nadsworth's infantry In the morning of May 8
through the brush 10y wood road into the Hager-
son clearing and the infantry beginning To retire
rapidly though In order, ;" I'VE did not unlmber
on which we had advanced" and that we I" fell
back without firing "A shot" In No N referring
To the second day, stated that, the infantry in
our front appeared To be falling back, which would
soon bring the guns In action, I" we got orders to
get the canister ready aud retire the eassons"
Upon receiving the suggestion OF our Captain
became conscious that had treated the subject OF
The action oil the battery In the battle of the VIII