The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-05-31

their cheering. there was roar of wheels
! behind us, the tramp of swift horses came
to our ears; we look; here came that cap
| tain with his battery, on dead run. every
| rider flashing his horse with merciless
| yigor; into hae they rush, the white foam
streaming from their mouths. their
nostrils red with heat, the guns uniim-
bered, whiried upon the enemy, shotted TO
| the muZZeis, again that clear, ringing
| voice of their captain is heard, the com
| mand is given TO fire, again six guns le.tp
/ from the ground, again six cannon
mouths blazed with destruction. The
enemy suffer terribly. soldiers could not
/ withstand the carnage. With emaciatefl
ranks and bleeding INNS, tias
enemy broke ard fed f.. the field.
Victory was ours-the ma became
wild with delight. they Y lled them
/ selves hoarse. they cursed, - vilified
/ they shook hands, they huge. ZACH other,
/ tears ran down their cheeks, dld all be-
/ cause woman had become = heroine, "A
| very goddess of liberty, while she, brave
queen that she was, galioped away and
/ have never seen or heard OF her since, And
J for her supreme courage OH that occasion
RosencrautZ was made a major general
! and transferred 10 the command of Buell. :
army. Cruel fate, aud all because she was
woman; she won and deserved exalted
| honors in this life and will wear a diadem
in the world 10 come. And while ali of
these terrible scenes were being enacted
and while her loved one were suffering and
dying for the cause, how was it with the
mother, wife and sweetheart left behind,
who, in silence and in tears with uuspea X
able sorrow patiently ava y re day
when her soldier would be reIgr4eO ~ L b..
a hero or q corpse? W hat Is there that
Z her fall teri NJ
! love during those terrible years of war,
has not and does not enjiCle her to? Who
can paint in words the unspeakable
anguish of her soul as she kissed him &
last farewell?
The maid who blinds her warriors sash,
With smile that well her pain dissembles;
And while beneath her dropping lash,
One starry tear drops, hangs and tremhles,
Though heaven alone records the tear
And fame shall never know her story,
Her heart has shed drop as dear
As e'er bedewed the field of glory.
TIL wife who girds her husbands sword,
Mid little ones who weep or wonder;
And bl avely speaks the cheering word,
What thought her heart be rent asunder.
Doomed nightly in her dreams to her,
The bolts Of death around him rattle,
Hath shed aS sacred blood as ever
Was poueed upon the 1eid of battle.
The mother who conceals Eer grief,
Then breathes few brave words and brief,
Kissing the patriots brow she blesses.
With no one but her sacred God
To know the pains that weigh upon her;
Sheds holy blood as DER the sod,
Received on freedoms field OF honor"
And to the old soldiers present let me
say: As the government should cherish
you, so should you cherish her. Her love
was the inspiration that fostered and kept
alive. fresh and green, the patriotism that
beat and throbbed through every pulsation
of your hearts, without which you would
have been a struggler by the wayside.
many, many times indeed, who after toll
ing on a long, weary march, over a road
unspeakably bad, with gun, cartridge box,
canteen, coffee pot, crackers and coffee
sufficient TO las: a week, with 100 rounds
of extra ammunition for use in the battle TO
come, with blankets and kuapSsack,
making Il load that would stagger young
mule, weary, worn and spent, you were
ready to totter to the wayslde, reckless or
consequences to yourself and regardless OF
orders, when there would come from the
front the sullen roar of Canuonading. The
order would go along the line, Close up.
And the band would strike up that grand
old soldier song, The Girl / Left Behind
Me-" Then, God bless you, how you would
yell, cheer aud march, utterly forgetful of
the roads, your load and your fatigue, with
thoughts of home aud loved ones, aud
what might be their fate If you should fall
in the coming battle, the tolls
of the march were forgotten,
while with every boom OF the
cannon as you neared the con
fict, would come the hoarse roar
of the cheering columns IN front. which
drove every atom of WEAKNESS from your
bodies, and when we remember all of
this, let me ask, what is there that this
u0y does Is
there that it should not be willing 70 do /
for your 1t has not and il never VIII do |
too much for you. Ii cannot do enough
for you, but for you there would be no
government today, 1t belongs to you; you
purchased it with your blood ana paid Tor
it with the best years OF your lie; you
it with your courage and you
have IA right to be heard III the dictation
OF its politics, TO criticise the conducts OF
its agents aud servants. aud TO deHounce
the men who in public life prove false TO
you, and 10 the memory OF your comrades,
who died by your side. And this without
being called coffee coolers" hospital
bummers, " bounty jumpers" or army
pauperS," as Is sometimes done by men
who did nothing TO save this country. and
sacrificed nothing 10 perpetuate it. Your
scars and your suffering resulting from /.
your long services in behalf Of this gov
eminent ought to be sufficient TO protect /
you from insult at the hands VI such men; |
men, who, when their country called |
them, only too often, cOwardy and neaniy |
hired substitutes or went to Canada, aud |
say this even though political revolu |
ion may have lifted them from an ignO- |
Bile obscurity into sudden prominence. |
that it is mean cowardly and infamous |
for them TO do it. They forgot that your 1
vaior aud patriotism protected them aud /
their property from plllage and rapiHe.
r. u. FrfNIs n -
themselves Such men have no sympathy
with your reunions; they depreclate
the fraternal feelings which make
you men leave your homes aud
business yearly, to meet with EACH |
other They may unusually be found adj
vocating the discontinuance OF them. for
lear that you viii thereby oueud the men !
you fought and make more prominent
heir own hack of patriotism. Yet their
foices are never heard in condemnation q
he reunions Of the Couicderates. II
.neaker at one OF your reunions should In
.dyertently refer to one Of them. or call
raitors or rebels by their right name they
oTthwith set up cry that he IS taking
politics. or that you are political OrgaBlza-
ion Yet no word % csusure - ever heard
o fall from their lips when such men 80
feueral Jack son, at Confederate reunions
proclaim jefferson ID Wis, patriot ~ he
lid at Macon, Ga, wherein he ure.i ian
-uaye OF and concerning oar laDeBt~d
lincoln, that brought that grand Old Ohio
tat.sin1tn, Judge Thurman. 70 bis feet IN
tern condemnation. The jadge is pa
riot, these men are not ! hey want yoa
o return Less aud JohusoL's armies
as which you took from them. and %
.uv carefully they kept their o@n iaieraal /
str,ssse- ia the background, whlle yOu
we're taxing them. Flags that were cap
aired b. y8I on every battlefield ot the .
Il. war Bsftiefelds rsgdersd immortal