Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1893-08-10
AFTER A SCORE OF YEARS
confederate Commander Learns the Re.
suit Of Clever Shot

When the Washington art;llerx ,yaS
at Morgan City on the 4th Of .Julv tbere
were many striking incidents that
sprung out OF the ceremonies of defeat
my Fort Star and of practising with
solld shot. The whole day the war and
lts memories were kept before the peo-
Ply. pot 1t was not a reawakening in
which the bloody shirt had any nIav
put more of a thoughtful retrospection
IN which the recalling of battles was
nor with bitterness but with an impair
!lal sadness; Among all the happen
ings or the day none were more sinuu-
lar and noteworthy than one which oc-
CURED to Col. Richardson, the com
mander of the battalion.
1t was during the time when the bat
terles were ilrlng shells at the two tar
gets, which looked like tiny handker-
chiefs on the water, they were so far
away. A good shot was fired, and the
spectators were applauding the excel
lent craftsmanship, and the colonel
stepped up to the gun to commend the
gunner, when without cause or without
knowing why. the memory of similar
shot which had been fired twenty-nine
years ago, almost to the very day,
flashed into his mind, when he had
stepped up to a gunner and compli-
mented him in much the same style.
1t was when he was in Fort Malone at
the siege of Petersburg, which was
known as Fort "Damnation," when the
shot twenty-nine years before had been
fired, and the Fourth ofJuly was almost
the anniversary of the very day. In
stead of white targets for a mark it had
been the tops Of sibley tents, which
peepcd over the r:lmparts of Fort
Hell" just opposite Fort Gamma
ton" They were the tents of the
Federal officers, says the New Orleans
Times-Democrat, He knew that from
| deserter, who had informed him also
| that the officers of the whole command
held daily consultation there, and that
he could tell the time from the fact that
they hitched their horses around the
tents. Col. Richardson was then cap
tain in the Washington Artillery and he
conceived the idea ofscoring point on
the Federals by firing on the tents Just
| He selected the best gunner in his com
mand and told him what he wanted
him to do, and that was to load and pre-
pare the guns for a special shot which he
was going to direct them to make the en-
suing day. The young captain was sure
| that he had gunners he could depend
upon, and to make his triumph com
pfete he asked Gen. Malone to be pres
ent when the shots were to be fired.
lit was noon the next day when the
horses of the Federal officers were seen
collected around the two tents The
yunncrs were told to train their guns
their shots tell. Those two shots were
made the center of the interest in Fort
"namnation" for that day, for the word
was passed around that the destruction
! of the officers tents was to he attempted.
After Il deal of preliminary arrange
ments the two shots were fired and the
tops of the two Sibley tents disappeared
| like card houses in a gale of wind. The
surcess of the shots was the signal for
cheering on the part of the Conteder-
ates. Gen. Malone complimented the
accuracy of the artillerymen, and 1t
was then that the captain stepped to
the gunner and expressed his approba-
ton in much the same was that he used
TO the one who had made the good shot
at Morgan City But there had always
been a tinge of dissatisfaction about
that shot at the Federal tents, and that
was that he had never ascertained
whether anyone had been hurt in the
tents, and for the twenty mine inter
venlng years that one thought had per
vaded the whole incident.
With these thoughts ia his mind, Col.
Richardson turned away from the gun
ner at Morgan CITY, and at that moment
one of Morgan City's prominent citi-
zens, Mr. Gray, stepped TO the Coloncls
side and said:
Isn't this Col. Richardson -
eyes"
"Well, | have been wanting to meet
YOU for many wears, ever since | hearu
that YOU had been in Fort 'Damnatlon'
at the same time that | was an foft
He'll
"Yes?" said the colonel, land when
were Won at Fort Hell ~"
an July, 1864; in fact just twenty.
nine wears ago to-day" answered Mf.
Gray. ..1,.
The colonel instantly thought OF those
two shots and wondered if his curiosity
was TO be satisfied. ''Do you remem-
her Il dav, while you were opposite me
IN Fort Hell when the tents OF the
officers were taken down by two shots
which were almost simultaneous
The stranger did not reply tor lull
minnie. A shadow seemed TO fail over
him. his ewes grew dark and lac steppeo
back and surveyed the coioilea fani
rood IN foot. Then he broke out Ieel-
;m"lv. "D-n YOU, l shall never tor
COT sm those shots. They swept away the
fowar of nv corps My first heutenant
m,,S k;lled and one leg OF my SECOND
l E" was shot off, and five others
We're killed. And did you ire 'ha'
shot?" e..a no, WAS evil
dent, but moment later ne .ean sai",
ssWel. colonel, you are now W, te aar far
vorr Young soldiers to serve the NY ioi
which nv officers laid down 'he'' 1Nes'
1t is kismet.
Unclaimed Prize Money