The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-02-05

| 10 DesOIt1e Il SOIltST. DID COt
league. James Flick, managed to slip in al
seventeen. Jerry Simpson went to the wal
at twenty. Ellis, of Kentucky, put on the
gray when he was lad OF sixteen and
wore it nearly four years.
Congressman Belknap, of Michigan, wa:
one of the youngest soldiers in the war
He was born in October, 1916, and in Au
gust, 1861, left school and enlisted. Ii
January, 1854, when only seventeen years
and three months old, he received a cap
tain's commission. He was three years il
the thickest OF the fight and was wounded
seven times.
John Allen, the lannon's funny man from
Mississippi tells many good stories OF his
| youthful experiences in the war. He was
even younger than Belknap. of Michigan
for he was born in July, 1847, and shout
dered musket and marched to the front
in the winter of 1S61-2 months before he
had reached his fifteenth birthday. An
other boy soldier from Mississippi now in
congress is Catchings, who has come tc
the front this winter as one of the leaders
of the house He was only fourteen years
and three months old when he put on the
gray uniform.
John Tarsney, of Kansas City, enlisted
at sixteen, was wounded at the battle OF
! Fredericksburg, was severely wounded and
captured at Gettysburg, was for some time
a prisoner of war at Belle Isle and Ander-
sonville, and when exchanged Immediately
went into the fight again and witnessed
! the surrender at Appomattox. After all
these experiences this hey soldier returned
! home and re-entered school at the age OF
twenty Another fighting boy soldier,
| who has since become 4 congressman, is
! Bartine, of Nevada, who enlisted at the
age of fifteen years and four months, was
severely wounded in the battle of the Viii
derness, recovered and participated In 8
dozen battles, ending with Appomattox.
Mcdonald, of New Jersey, was a soldier
before he was seventeen. Viewer, of New
York, enlisted at sixteen. Bum, of North
Carolina, became a Confederate sharpshoOt-
er at sixteen. Pearson, of Ohio, went to the
front at seventeen. Stone, of Pennsylvania,
was only sixteen when he became Union
soldier Pierce, of Tennessee, jumped upon
a horse when he was only fourteen and
offered his services TO the colonel of the
Eighth Tennessee cavalry. He was wound
ed and captured in a cavalry fight and re-
NAMED a prisoner of war for more than
year. I4anham, of Texas, was not fifteen
when he took his place in the ranks OF the
Third South Carolina regiment.
Of course the Chilian minister was not at
the Capitol for that purpose, but if he had
cared to look about him he could have
rested his gaze upon many men who have
made their records as among the best
fighting soldiers in the world. Right in
front of him sat Captain Boutelle, Of
Maine, who knows something about naval
warfare, having served four years in the
United States navy during the rebellion
He took part in the blockade of Charles
ton and Wilmington, the Pocotaligo expe-
dition and the capture of st. Johns Bluff.
While an officer of the Sassacus he was
promoted to lieutenant 'for gallant con-
duct in the engagement with the Confed-
crate ironclad Albemarle." Only few
seats away sat General Hooker, fighting
Mississippian, who lost an arm at Vicks-
burg.
4 little to the minister's right was a
giant with only one eye in his head and
good many scars on his body-General
Curtis, of New York, who was thrice pro-
NOTED for gallant services and twice seri-
ously wounded. In view from the seat
which Don Pedro Montt occupied was
Cowles, of North Carolina, who fought like
a tiger in the First cavalry of his state,
being repeatedly promoted, shot through
the body and his head slashed opeE with
saber, the scar of this wound still marking
him conspicuously as one of the heroes
of the war General Enochs, of Ohio,
who was so impetuous in his desire to
be in the hot of the fight that he was
promoted after every battle and at
the close of the war, which he had
entered a private, found himself a briga-
der with body full of holes; Brosius, of
Pennsylvania, who was twice promoted for
bravery in battle and who to this day suf-
fers severely from a wound received at
Green Plains, no bone now connecting his
right arm with his shoulder Stewart, Of
Pennsylvania-Tariff Andy-who was four
times promoted for gallant conduct and
who was one of the last men mustered out
of the service; Patterson, of Tennessee, a
dashing cavalry colonel, frequently pro-
NOTED for bravery, and whose command
veritably fought to the last ditch, being
the last body of organized troops to SUR
render east of the Mississippi river; OFFER
rail-, of Virginia, who went into the cavalry
as private and fought his way to a colo
nelcy, and while opposing Sheridan in the
EoUtndulOdu was lliitc tliIltS SCI CACAy
wounded; General Oates, of Alabama, the
hero of twentyseven battles, who was
wounded four times slightly and twice Sc
verely, losing his right arm in front of
Richmond; Little General Wheeler, of
the same state, not much bigger than
ten-year-Old boy, but as full of fight as
tiger cat, who was successfully promoted
to the command of a regiment, brigadier,
division and army corps, who received the
thanks of the Confederate congress and of
the state Of South Carolina, and whose
body is covered with wounds received in
the defense of the lost cause; Post, of Iii
nois, who was twice desperately wounded
while leading his men into action; Hender-
son, of Iowa, who went into the war pri-
yate and came out colonel with one leg
LEFT behind at Shiloh.
These are only few of the heroes Of the
civil war by whom Minister Montt was
surrounded in the house-a congressional
object lesson in the fighting qualities of
Uncle Sans subjects-and the best OF It all
is, whether Senior Montt knows it or not,
that all the men who wear these honorable
scars in fighting each other, and all the
people which they now represent, are ready
to stand shoulder to shoulder in fighting
common enemy. ROBERT GRAVES
Mend Gloves with Cotton