Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1893-01-20
TWO KINDS OF COWARDS.
The Story Told by a Distinguished Con.
federate General.

tween Jne private ana puDuc courage
of some men," observed distinguished
southerner, who won generalship at
Gettysburg
''ro me the most painful illustration
of this fact was in the course of the first
days fight at the battle of the Wilder
ness. had two Mississippi regiments
in my command and, being native of
that state, knew quite number of
the soldiers personally. One man had
known for years.
For the first two years of the war
he hired substitute, but he was free
with his abundant means in contribut-
ing to the scant exchequer of the con-
federacy. Under the general conscrip-
ton act he was forced into line. When
he arrived at the camp he came straight
to my tent.
81 was glad to see him, for ! knew
him personally to be man of unques-
toned courage. He and my brother
had been at college together and after
ward during political contest, in
which he was candidate for the state
senate, he had fought duel with his
whig opponent and my brother was his
second. The men fought at ten PAGES
and he shot the whig down, though not
fatally. He was one of those men who
gave no insult and brooked none, and
so successfully had he come out of three
or four unprovoked personal encounters
that in his county he was looked upon
| %la nj, 4nh Tow, yIar, ha bnI 4,>
fight
"Well, sir when that man came to
my tent, just before the battle of the
Wilderness, he seemed to be in tremor
and not enough self-possession to ans
wer my cursory questions about our
former friends. He was simply q man
scared out of his wits
ignoring my questions altogether,
he said to me: General, if 90 into a
battle I'll be killed. | know will, and
have come toyou to implore you to find
something else that | can do. l don't
care what the service is. will even
hold the horses drive wagon--any-
thing; but ] can not go into battle to
be shot at, for just know that will
be killed at the first fire..
II laughed at him and joled him for
his superstition, but frankly told him
that he must go to the front, for we
needed ten times as many men as we
could get. told him that we should
probably have a battle the next day;
that had been in every battle since
the first Manassas and had not been
touched by ball or powder, and that he
should go along with me, and of course
that meant he had to fight AS it
turned out, it was fight at close quar-
ters before got through with it.
"My friend knew A. p. Hill and at
his request l went with him to Hills
tent. To my chagrin he repeated his
request to Hill to spare him the crucial
test of battle. Hill really seemed to be
amused, and jestingly said: 81 expect
you to kill at least ten Yankees to-mor-
, row, and then / will see to it that you
are raised to a captaincy for bravery on
the field. Go right along and win youl
spurs for it looks now as if we were tc
. have great battle"
EARLY next day we went into thai
horrible death camp. My friend stale
in my tent that night, but doubt very
: much whether he slept wink. ! know
he did not take any breakfast except
pretentiously to drink some very in
: ferior coffee that my cook hastily served
while our horses We're being saddled.
"We hurried into line and my mer
,, seemed eager to get into the fight. But
: sir, my conscript friend seemed to have
lost the power of speech. He automatic
ally followed me, and when told hin
that if we made charge on the enemy
he must be careful not to let his horse
throw him he shuddered and the tear.
rolled down his cheeks.
e "We were pushed right into the hot
: test of the fight at once, and, strange al
it may sound do believe that the first
@ bullet aimed at us from the federal line'
struck my friend squarely in the fore
II head and he toppled off his his horse q
b corpse.
Ellis premonition of suddenideath haC
n come tragically true, and all that day
| was depressed with the thought that
O might possibly have saved that man
y life
;. "The next morning, before he wa:
t buried in the long trench, took from
t his pocket daguerrotype of his wifi
I and his two children, son and f,
t daughter, and afterward sent it to hi
t wife. 1t would be cruel to give tina
v mans name; but his daughter, nov
u lead, became the wife of a congress
man. and was belle in her day. TIL
son is a talented lawyer in the west
and singularly enough, has had hi
's affair of honor, and at fifteen pace
" wounded his man, but not seriously.
2 "Yes, sir; there are some men VIII
II will fight in crowd, and then ther
y are men who won't.
:. quite contrary case to this, contir
d ued the general, twas one which
: heard Gen. Braxton Bragg tell the las
ID time saw him here in New York
n year or two before he dropped dead o
20 the street in Galveston, Tex. He sal
s. that the think happened in the Mexica
L. war, and if l recollect Alright, in tn
battle of Beuna Vista. The soldier h
referred to was Georgian and Ger
a. Bragg said that personally he was tn
most abiect coward he had ever know
1t "He said that only few days befor
30 the battle he saw another soldier sla
this fellows face and the blow was nj
or resented.
"'But that same man, that persons
1T coward, said Gen. Bragg, immortalize
re himself on the historic field of Buen
is Vista. The color bearer of my reg
lie ment was shot down, and to my su
st prise, having witnessed the face slaI
ping of day or two before, l saw tn
man, who did not have the grit to d.
;, fend himself, rush forward, snatch L
" A. a-l1... al lark.-.. 4. H. L.