The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1893-07-06
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Tne Trials of q Deserter as Told
by Himself

Dcsertion was, mud IN, the open sort
Of tho American army. Like NIL rthct
evils, II has its causes. u VIE !Sid days
when the trohti"i Was the frontier,
harsh treatment, bad food, hard service
III the field, the monotony of garrison
life and the lack of amuscmcnts and
recreations in the isolated and shabby
little posts were among the causes that
imrclied men to desert their colors,
Among the enlisted men dcsertion
was regarded Us a very vcnial ~offense;
and it was held hat men who were Ill
treated had q right to desert; men who
were disconnected ought to desert, and
men who were found to be rogucs were
encouraged to desert by public senti-
mon: and certain rude but significant
hints.
This constant depletion of the ranks
by dcscrtion, and the great expense in
transporting recruits TO distant tta'
tions, as we'll as the HiHitNllv Of OBJ
tanning recruits for the hard and unro.
mantle service OF the plains, madc tn
evil a very serious problem fer we war
department to SOLVE
Fort WirEatc, situated on the slopes
nf the Iuni mountains in Campbcll's
pass, New Mexico, being without telc-
graphic communication Win the inner
world, suffered a great deal from descr-
ton.
After each visit of the paymaster
There was a decrease in the ranks and
stables of the gar-i-oH. The officers
were used - e, the men expected it;
aud nc flight of these military birds Of
passage became one of the pleasing cx-
elements of the post They furnished
a weeks holiday te,f n pursuing party,
which chHss1 the fugitivcs as far as
sra Matco, where they remained to
nave IL good time with the daughters of
the town as long as their cash lasted,
and then returned lcisurcly to the post,
to report hat the dcscrtcrs had es-
capped,
in the case and safety OF 'skipping,"
as it was termed in army slang, the
cavalrymau had the advantage over the
mere infantryman. While the popr
"doughboy" dcscrter was hiding Ia the
hills by day and tramrihf over dusty
trails by night with u 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-oficious 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 a hundred dollars in
the settlement, when he had cunningly
burned out the L. $. brand with u red,
hot curryComb.
The experience of Fort Wingate was
duplicated in every western post. and
soldiers deserted in partsof the country
and reached civilization when it was
deemed hazardous for armed trains to
travel. Strange as it may appear, moi
never deserted in the field during an In.
dian campaign; it was garrison dull
ness that made descrters, not the fight:
ing and herd riding Of plains and sier'
ras,
In 1873 Gen. Grant issued O proclai
nation p~ardoning all desestcrs who
surrendered to the military authorize,
and returned to their colors. Tn,
president wisely concluded that thil
would bring back a number Of men in
to the army and stop the outflow foj
awhile; but he hardly realized tn,
story ii would tell in the army itself
At Wingatc the proclamation was tn,
universal subject of talk in the com
pany quarters, and conjccturcs were
made as to the number of men VIII,
would avail themselves of its clemency
Out Of Il total strength of eighty mel
in my w company, somc twenty re
ported themselves as shippers"
Then we began to hear from posts II
Arizona, Utah, Kansas, Texas, Dakota
in fact from all parts OF the American
military world, from men who wer,
getting in out of the rain, and, pc
contra, there was a constant dcman'
for the records of elusive soldiers VIII
in times past had slipped away unos
tcntatiously and were now willing t.
r return to their first love.
|, The most interesting of all this hos
of prodigals, to me, was q quiet, smart
I clean, we'll set-up fellow in my owl
company, named Dick Brandon, VIII
modcstly admitted twcnty-thrce dc
scrtions. Dick had evidently been o
the move for years and had a ncrvou
9 objection to remaining long 'anywhcr,
What troubled Dick, nov that his d,
sertions were wiped out, was the haun
ing dread of the big charges that wcr
with his shipping"
The captain OF u company in tn
army is responsible to the governmer
for every piece of property in his car
and he must account for it all or pay fC
it. Now, the most p~ainstakIng officer
the world loses things, and unless the
4 are covered, some way, the unluck