Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-12-18
FELL WHILE CHARGING.

nave been Dishonorsd Had ae LfvsN-
Toward the close Of the rebellion )
aid grizzled veteran OF the late va
who. strangely enough, never fights ii,
D@1.'es over again unless he Ii pressed
20 DO 20 BY friends who were not there
saw young man die dishonored
VINO, believe. was the victim y
wretchedly unforVnate circumstances
! dont know what his name was. and
should not mention it II did. but ~
was not more than seventeen years old
ana ne was beside me as We charcad
some Confederate breastworks during
'ne preliminary skirlnishing that pre-
ceded the battle Of Gettysburg He
was Enthusiastically very much fright
ened, for he had been sent to the front
with batch Of raw recruits. and this
was the first engagement he had mar
ticipated in.
his lace was ashy pale, and mora
than once saw him looking back over
his shoulder. But he held his musket
drmiy, and, he and being about the
same height. the point Of his bayonet
was IN an almost unwavering line with
mine. As l notice this rememr,a.
thinking, This young fellow will MAKE
q good soldier yet Il the bullets spare
him.
The fire was very heavy as we drew
up TO the works. and our men went
down by scores. Suddenly saw the
Lad beside me roll over. and several
Others observed him falling, for he had
attracted good deal of attention by
his youth and evident nervousness.
That fellows fear didn't deceive
him. muttered the man who closed
into his place. His fighting days are
over
We carried the bneastworks with
great loss, and there was no more skir
mishing that day. In the evening. Sit
ting at the campfire, watching the coffee
boil with the rest OF us was the recrnit
whom we had seen, as we supposed
shot down in the morning. Beyond
some scratches and bruises. caused nv
the soldiers in the rear trampling him.
he was not hurt at all He told us. in
shamefaced way. that he had tripped
and fallen to the ground, and that he
was unable to get up In time to Join in
the attack.
Not one of us believed his story.
We were convinced that he had pur
posely dropped to get out of the fire
The officers OF the regiment held the
same opinion when they heard of the
matter. and the young man had a mar
row escape of being tried by drumhead
court martial and shot for rank cow
ardice that night. He pleaded his case
SO earnestly, however, that he got The
benefit of the doubt and another chance.
1.-THE other chance came the next
day. We were advancing toward Get
tysburg, and again we were ordered to
charge on some outlying sandworks,
from which the rebel marksmen were
harassing u.s. For the second time the
boy was at my side as we rushed on.
and again | noticed his pale face and
compressed lips, though detected no
other indication of terror about him.
Brace yourself up. my lad said.
1T will all be over in a minute
"lhad hardly spoken when he pitched
forward on his face. He fell exactly as
be had gone down the preceding day.
II hope he has bullet In him this
time, said to the man who filed the
gap he had made.
If he hasn't he will have before
was the grim rejoinder.
"a couple of hours later the dead
body Of the boy was found on the
cleared field. He had killed himself.
The shoe and stocking were off one of
mis- feet, and his bare toe was pressed
upon the trigger of his empty musket.
The muzzle of the piece was in his
mouth, and the bullet had passed up
ward through his brain. Nearly all
he regiment believed that, in frenzy
If terror, he had thrown himself down
20 escape the danger of the moment,
md then, realizing the utter hopeless
less of his position, had summoned
sufficient resolution to take his own
ife. But l always fancied that he
nay have tripped twice, and, despair
ng of explaining the cause of his fall
ng the second time, blown out his
brains. Under any circumstances, that
vas the wisest thing he could have
lone. New York Recorder.