Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1893-07-03
a PROFESSIONAL SKIPPER
The Trials Of a Deserter as Told
by himself

wien 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 desertion
was regarded as . very venial offenSe;
and il was held that men who were Ill
treated had a right to desert; men who
were 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 CAmpbelfs
pass, New Mexico, being without tele-
graphic communication with tho inner
world. suffered great deal from deser-
ton.
After each visit of the paymSster
there was q decrease in the ERnks and
stables Of the garrison. The officers
were used to it; the men expected it;
and the flight of these military birds of
passage became ono of the pleasing ex-
elements of the post They furnished
a weeks holiday for pursuing party,
which chased the fugitives as far as
San Mateo, where they remained to
have a good time with the daughters of
the town as long as their cash lasted,
and then returned leisurely to the post,
to report that the dcserterS had es-
capped.
In the ease and safety of ''skipping,"
as it was termed in army slang, the
cavalryman had the advantage over the
mere infantryman. While the poor
''doughboy" dsserter was hiding in the
hills by day and trampinG 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-ofticious 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. 5. brand with a 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 IL was
deemed hazardous for armed trains to
travel Strange as it may appear. men
never deserted in the field during an In
dian campaign; IL was garrison dull
ness that made deserters, not the fight.
ing and hard riding Of plains and sier-
raS
In 1878 Gen Grant issued q proeia-
nation pardoning all deserters who
surrendered to the military authorities
and returned to their eoloES The
president wisely concluded that this
would bring back number OF men In
to the army and stop the outflow for
awhilei but he hardly realized The
story 1t would tell in the army itself.
At Wingate the proclamation was ths
universal subject of talk in the com.
pany quarters, and conjectures were
made as to the number of men who
would avail themselves of its clemency.
Out of a 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 were
/ getting in out of the rain, and, pei
| contra, there was a constant demand
for the records of elusive soldiers who
in times past had slipped away unos
| tentatiOuSly and were now willing t,
return to their first love.
| The most interesting of all this hos
of prodigals, to me, was quiet, smart
clean, well set-up fellow in my OWL
company, named Dick Brandon, vhG
modestly admitted twenty-ehree de
sertionS- Dick had evidently been OF
the move for years and had a nervous
objection to remaining long anywhere
What troubled Dick, now that his ode
sertions were wiped out, was the haunt
ing dead of the big charges that wen
with his ''skippiug."i
The captain of q company In tn
army is responsible to the government
for every piece of property in his care
and he must account for 1t all or pay TO
it. Now, the most painstAkIng officer Il
the world loses things, and unless the,
are covered, some way, the unluck.
officer would never draw q cent on hi
pay certificate Hence the militar.
sarcasm hurled at q soldier when b
loses a cartridge or anything else
Lost it, did you? Well. you'll find
on your muster rolll"
Now a smart quartermaster sergean
found q convenient outlet for all losse
in desertion. When a man skipped b
was charged with not only all he ~
tually took, but with all that the frugz
quartermaster sergeant had lost Thi
was simple and effective. The exten
and variety of property alleged to b
stolen by deserters would stagger AMI
: body except an experienced compan
quartermaster sergeant or q dull d.
partment auditor. They knew froI
experience that deserter was capabl
of stealing anything from ramrod Z
a battery of artillery.
When the last of Dick BrandonAS a
counts came in, we figured 1t out this
he owed Uncle Sam about four thol
sand dollars; and. as he ruefnll
scratched his head, Dick guessed b
would be ready for the soldiers HON
by the time the bill was settled 3
began to grow uneasy and was AboT