The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1891-06-17
"LIGnTs AND SHADOWS OF THE OLD
CAMP FIRES"
ny ONE OF THE "o1D VETS. .

per says our army is still in Statue quo. y
"Dunno" replied the other, "reckou she
must be the east fork of the Chicka-
morgy."
Lieutenant; ''There's nothing like pres.
ence of mind. One day in battle, sol
dier near me had four Of his teeth knock.
ed in by rifle ball, which would have
surely passed through his spinal column
and killed him, had he not, with rare
presence of mind, quickly swallowed the
ball.
At council of Generals, some one re-
marked that Major Clark was wounded
aud would not be able to perform duty
which 1t was proposed to assign him.
"Wounded ~ exclaimed Stonewall Jack
son, '.lf that is really so, think it must
have been by an accidental discharge of his
! duty"
Pat was detailed as Sentinel when the
Maine Regt. was near Culpepper, Vir-
ginia, and was told to be very careful and
not let anyone or anything fool him. He
took his place end all went well until two
o'clock next morning, when he heard The
sound of some one approaching. "Halt, !"
yelled Pat, 'who comes there 2" 'sThe
Officer of the Day." responded the new
conner, and gave the counter-sign. "An'
faith" says Pat, sand what business has
the Officer Of the Day to be poken around
at nightR Clear out or III put a bullet
hole through ye ~ and the officer had to
clear.
A veteran who was not particularly
brave In the ranks, was relating his SOL
dier experience, when some one asked:
"Were you taken prisoners 81 guess l
was. | was a prisoner of war eight
months aud slept on the ground in open
air all the time. Some days l would get
something to eat aud some days l
| wouldn't. | nearly starved to death. y
at must have been a terrible experience, y
remarked listener. at was indeed a
frightful experience. But tell you gem
tlemen, and his voice was lowered as he
added earnestly, at wasn't near as bad
as fighting"
In the Battle of the Wilderness, the 2Olh
Massachusetts Regt. was in the thick OF
fight and one color bearer after another
was shot down, almost as fast as the men
could be replaced. Butsuch was the eager
ness to keep the flag aloft that at one time
two men-Irisbmen-caught hold of the
standard at once, as 1t was about to fall,
and struggled for 1t. Just then shot
struck the staff, cutting IL in two, and
leaving one man with the flag and the other
with the broken staff. "Bedad ~ said the
man with the short end of the staff, the
rebels have decided for us this time, !" and
went to loading and firing again as coolly
as II nothing had happened.
General Holt tells many stories OF his
experiences with Lincoln, during the war,
rs Judge Advocate General of the Army.
One day he presented to Mr.. Lincoln the
death warrant of a couple of young men
from Massachusetts, who had been charged
with throwing down their arms In the face
OF the enemy and fleeing from the field Of
battle, found guilty and condemned to
death. "Ths is very clear case OF cow
ardice in the face OF the enemy, Mr.
President" said the Judge Advocate Gen
eral, In presenting the papers, "and pro-
badly you will not care 10 go into the de-
tails. But Mr.. Lincoln did want TO 20
into the details. and when he had inform
ed himself, he turned to Gen. Holt and
exclaimed, "Holt, were you ever scareds"
81 cau't say that ever was, replied the
General. swell, / was," said Lincoln.
81 have been so badly scared that had
no more control over myself than would
in an epileptic fit. was not RESPONSE
BILE for what did when in that condition.
| simply couldn't help il. That was the
way with these poor boys; they weren't
cut out for soldiers. Some men are born
to be soldiers, and some are not. Do you
think ought to shoot these boys to death
simply because they didn't happen to be
born for fighting. No, Mr.. Holt, can't
do 1t. Let the boys be confined In the
guard house for few days, and then de-
tailed TO some work In which they will
not be required TO face bullets.
During the war IL was the misfortune
OF Union girl TO live 10 settlement OF
Southern sympatbizers 10 the State OF
Ohio. Grace, as l will call her, must
have been of tender years, as she was still
a schoolgirl. Among her scbool-mates
were couple of girls whose political faith
differed from her own, and who showed
their true colors and adherence TO the
Southern cause by wearing aprons re-
sembling the Confederate flag. Grace
could not bear the sight OF the flags, and
declared the girls should not wear them.
Having pugnacious disposition, she
pitched into these fair representatives OF
Rebellion, tore their aprons OF them and
into sbreds. Public sentiment condemn
ed this act. Grace was looked upon as a
disturber Of the peace; guilty of break
log the laws OF the land. warrant for
her arrest was issued, and 10 due course
OF time she found herself in the custody
Of an officer, awaiting trial before the cir
cult court, at the county scat. IL was a
clear case OF assault aud the poor girl was
likely to suffer the full penalty of the law,
with no prospect of being favored with its
delay. The day OF trial came the prison
er was arraigned at the bar, the Judge took
his seat, and the jury was prepared to list
en- to the testimony How far the trial
had proceeded we know moi, when the
smooth course Of justice suddenly met