The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-05-26
TRoTTNG AND PACING MoNARCHs.
he shores. Over on the Virginia side the

the shores. Over on the Virginia side the
great mass of the force was in camp or
bivouac, while the reserves were still occu-
pying for drill purposes the broad plateau
north of the bridge.
They used to rout us out bright and early
in those days-the cooks first, an hour be-
fore dawn, SO that there might be coffee
ready for every mana stand OFF, against
the malaria Then just as the first faint
flush of coming morn could be traced upon
the eastern sly the corporals OF the guard
would come rliding through the company
grounds turning out the boy drummers and
Gfers and getting heartily "cussed" by many
a growler for making so much noise about
it as TO disturb their comrades of the ranks.
And tlen in their shoddy greatcoats the
boys would gather under the eye of the
drum major and brace their batter heads
and blow through their flies, and then all
Of sudden, as it began to grow light
enough to see across the valley somebody
would let drive up near the Vermont bri-
gade headquarters, and in less than min
ute double quick, squeak and pipe, loud and
shrill, rattlely bang, hoarse and roaring,
the rollicking notes of the reveille would go
echoing up and down the heights, and even
the fog banks seemed to reverberate with
the lively clamor.
Just fancy It'll All within hailing dis
lance one Of the other, the field music of a
dozen regiments of infantry, the blaring
bugle of Motifs battery, all letting go" at
once. Reveille, with variations First the
lively tumble up, and then the medley Of
melodies so popular in the old army, the
| prelude to the march around camp.
| Every command that had an "old regu-
| lar' for drum major or fifer had Moore's
melodies or the songs of Scotland by heart.
| The boys Of the Second Vermont would be
| trolling out "Ye Banks and Braes o. Bon
| ME DOOM" their comrades of the Third
Green Mountaineers beginning their march
| to I'D Mourn the Hopes That Leave Me"
| the Sixth Maine tumbling up from its
| blankets to the plaintive notes of willie,
| We Have Missed You," the Second Wis
| consin swearing at the racket of thunder
ing performance of Yankee Doodle" the
| Highlanders turning out to the tune OF
Bonnie Dundee" the Californians across
| the ravine shouting the chorus of "Finne-
| gan's Wake over on the earthen ram
| parts of the new fort the Nineteenth In
diana boys attempting an artistic perform
ance of The Dawn of the Day." which
neat and appropriate effort was drowned
out by those iconoclastic ruffians of the
| Fifth Wisconsin bowling in unison with
their flies and drums the touching cords
OF that classic ditty, Joe Bowers"
/ At last got letter from my dear brother Ike
| 1t came from old Missouri and all the way
| from Pike.
| Up on the heights Motifs buglers were
braying, Cant get 'em up; can't get EN-
up in the mo-orning," and over on the
plateau the Sixth Wisconsin-talk about
the Siegfried ''motif'-the signal of his
bugle horn that is carried through all the
grand music of the Wagner operas-why
ever since the Mexican war every drum and
fife corps, in the west at least, has beer
hammering away in ''two-four time" at 4
quickstep that in their exact order con
tains the notes of that Siegfried bugle call
and the Sixth Wisconsin played it day aftel
day in sixty-one, and every fifer in Yankee
land knows it now. Verify. we had a con
cours of sweet sounds to get up and dress b,
in the early war days.-St. Louis Republic