Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1893-07-08
APROFESSIONAL A SKIPPER
The Trials of q Deserter as Told
by Himself.


when the frontier was the frontier,
harsh treatment, bad food, hard service
In the field, the monotony of garrison
life and the lack of amusements and
recreations in the isolated and shabby
little posts were among the causes that
impelled men to desert their colors.
Among the enlisted men descrtion
was regarded as very venial oifense;
and it was held that men who were Ill
treated had n right to desert; men who
We're discontented ought to desert; and
men who were found to be rogues were
encouraged to desert by public senti-
ment and certain rude but significant
hints.
This constant depletion of the ranks
by desertion, and the great expense in
transporting recruits to distant sta
tions, as well as the difficulty of OBJ
tanning recruits for the hard and unro-
mantle service of the plains, made the
evil very serious problem for the war
department to solve.
Fort Wingate situated on the slopes
of the Zuni mountains in Campbelrs
pass, New Mexico, being without tele-
graphic communication with the inner
NOIlti, IL tCsil lIolh uGoCE-
ton.
After each visit of the paymaster
there was decrease in the ranks and
stables of the garrison. The officers
were used to it; the men expected it;
and the fight of these military birds of
passage became one of the pleasing eX-
elements of the post. They furnished
weeks holiday for pursuing party,
which chased the fugitives as far as
San Mateo, where they remained to
have n good time with the daughters of
the town as long rs their cash lasted,
and then returned lcisurely to the post,
to report that the deserters had es-
capped.
In the case and safety of skipping"
as it was tcrnel in army slang, the
cavalryman had the advantage over the
mere infantryman. While the poor
''doughboy' dcserter was hiding in the
hills by day and trampipg over dusty
trails by night, with 4 heavy ''long
Tom" on his shoulder, the cavalry
skipper was riding gayly to freedom
careless of pursuit, able and willing to
stand off any too-otficious civil officer
confident that his comrades would not
bother him unless he ran into their
arms, and certain that his good troop
horse was worth hundred dollars in
the settlement, when he had cunningly
burned out the U. S. brand with red
hot currycomb.
The experience of Fort Wingate was
duplicated in every western post, and
soldiers deserted in parts of the country
and reached civilization when it was
deemed hazardous for armed trains to
travel. Strange rs it may appear, men
never deserted III the field during an In
dian campaign; it was garrison dull
ness that made deserters, not the fight
ing and hard riding of plains and sier-
raS.
In 1878 Gen. Grant issued a procla-
,mation pardoning all deserters who
surrendered to the military authorities
and returned to their colors. The
president wisely concluded that this
would bring back number OF men in
TO the army and stop the outflow for
awhile; but he hardly realized the
story it would tell in the army itself.
At Wingatc the proclamation was the
universal subject of talk in the COM
pany quarters, and conjectures were
made as to the number of men who
would avail themselves of it's clemency.
Out of total strength of eighty men
in my own company, some twenty re-
ported themselves as shippers"
Then we began to hear from posts in
Arizona, Utah, Kansas, Texas, Dakota,
in fact from all parts of the American
military world, from men who We're
getting in out of the rain, ane, per
contra, there was a constant demand
for the records of elusive soldiers who
in times past had slipped away unos-
tentatiously and We're now willing to
return to their first love.
The most interesting of all this host
of prodigals, to me, was quiet, smart
clean, well set-up follow in my own
company, named Dick Brandon, who
modestly admitted twenty-threc de-
sertions. Dick had evidently been on
the move for years and had nervous
objection to remaining long anywhere.
What troubled Dick, now that his de-
sertions were wiped out, was the haunt
ing dread of the big charges that went
with his skipping"
The captain of company in the
army is responsible to the government
for every piece of property in his care,
and he must account for it all or pay for
it, Now, the most painstalllng officer in
the world loses things, and unless they
arc covered, some way, the unlucky
officer would never draw a cent on his
pay certificate Hence the military
sarcasm hurled at soldier when he
loses n cartridge or anything else:
'Lost it, did you? Well, you'll find il
on your muster roll"
Now smart quartermaster sergeant
found n convenient outlet for all losses
in desertion. When u man skipped he
was charged with not only all he ac
tually took, but with all that the fruga
quartermaster sergeant had lost. This
was simple and effective, The extent
and variety of property alleged to b,
stolen by deserters would stagger any
body except an experienced company
quartermaster sergeant or dull de