Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-07-31
AN INCIDENT or ANIleTAM.

nobody could believe to he the end of u,
occurred sn incident which even now ]
narrate With some hesitation.
when II became evident that the at
tack on the Rebel left had been rcpulse,l,
and that the lighting In that part OF the
field WAS over for the time, rode hs,k
across the creek In the direction OF Cen
eral McClellin's headquarters. u wss
expected he would order forward his re-
serves under General fiu John Porter,
but he did not. Precious minutes aud
priceless hours ebts~i away snd nothing
VAS done. I Was looking about Tor = ~
mount, a. my horse had = couple of bu'.
lets In him aud could not be depended
on, when an officer Of General McCiel.
lan's staff whom knew detached hlm self
from the group at q little distance aud
came over Ia me. lie said:
~ hear YOU were with Hooker when
he ~ss woundedr'
ayes"
"Do YOU know whether he Ia disabledy'
saId that he had been hit hard, could
not sit his horse, and had been carried
Of on an ambulance; since then ! had
not seen him.
I'M NOu kfluN WUfff wv
"Nes; at red farm hous. In an open
Held on the right. this side of the cre"k. 7"
"will you take . message Ia HIM =
By this time bgsn 10 think the In
terrogatory both curious and serious,
aud ! answered, -.
THAT depends on what the message 10. '"
Ny friend aud were by ourselves,
we'll out of ear-.hot of the shn. but
within view, aud I saw that the stsH or
some of them were watching ~hst went
on. lie came little closer, lowered his
voice, and aid.
"Most of W think that this battle 10
only half fought aud half Won. There ls
.illl tlme Ia finl.hit. hut Mc,iellsn will
do no more. What ! want you Ia do 10
to see Hooker, hnd out whether he can
mount hl. horse, and u he can, ask him
whether he will take command of this
army aud drive lee Into the l'otomsc ar
fore. him to surrender"
10 va. perhaps the most astounding rc-
quest ever made by soldier Ia civilian.
What he suggested Was nothing less
than an act IL mutlny Ia the face of the
enemy. aud I told him so.
IL know that As we'll as you do, Was
the answer. ave all know u, but We
know also that II 10 the only way to
crush Iee and end the rebellion aud save
the country"
pointed out that 10 Hooker were Ia be
approached ON such q subject, u ought
Ia be BY him or by one of hi. comrades
In the plot-for it WAS Q plot-and that
N they meant business, they ought Ia bc
ready to take the risk. ] added that
thought II more than likely that General
iIooker's answer To such q proposal
would be- 10 order the msn Who made u,
whoeyer be was, under arrest.
ut need not he = proposal" he re-
piled. "All We want you 10 do ID to
sound Hooker and let us know what his
views are. The rest ~e Will do our
selves" asked him 10 he meant To give
me q written message.
Certainly not. Such things are not
put into writing"
"Dut Why should Hooker believe me,
or compromise hlmsclf la q conversation
with man he never saw I'LL to-day
~. aid Il WAS known had acted as
IIook.r's aide, and urged sundry other
reasons. I .till declined, but he siill
pressed II. Hooker, be- declared, had
Won the confidence of the army, and Nc
Clcllan had lOst .t. IL MAS NO time Ia
stand on trif... lie regarded What Ice
proposed Ia the az patriotic duty, aud
so on. Finally, as persisted IN refus-
log Ia be- the bearer of any such message,
he asked u I would see Hooker, aud
bring them word whether be- could, In
any circumstances, take the Held sg,in
that day. TO this saw Do obj-,tion.
and rode Oh. I found General Hooker
la ted, aud la great palm. lie asked
eagerly for news of the battle. When ]
told hun that the attack on both winxs
had failed, that no movement had been
made for the last two hours, and ihu
General M,Ciell,n seemed Ia have no
Intention 10 making any, he became
angry and excited, aud used Language oi
extreme plalnness. ! had notioed in the
moruing that lac had very coplvus Va
ciDulary. II Vas directed, for the mot
part, against the enemy, whose sharp
shooters followed him all over th. field.
Ia which bi. tall figure In full unlform,
aud his white horse. were by Ear u.
most cons spicuous targets. Onc. hi. stsfi
got the benefit of this fiow of energetic
speech, when iwo or thr-c of them Joined
la the sugge.iion that the proper place
for corps cOmmsnder Was not In the
.Lirmi.h line. aud that he could not pru.
d.utiy remain under 80 hot lire. Nav
IL Was turnei upon Mcclellan, With whose
excessive caution aud systematic Inert.
ne.s In the crisis of a great battle hc had
no patience. This Outburst gave me an
opportunity Of putting the question ]
wanted tn, and {; asked him whether hls
wound would permit him Ia mount his
horse again that day. lie pointed To his
swollen aud bandageJ foot.
"No; IL Is impossibie."
"Or io take command of your corps
again In auy wsv--iu carri'ge, " oiie
could be foundr'
"No, no; ! cannot move. ] am per-
fectly helpless"
All at once, whether from the way iD
which had put my question, "r from
my manner, it seemed to dash uIon him
that there MAS something behind. lie
broke out:
"why do you aski What do you mcans
Who sent you bercf' :.
lie VAS In such torment from his wound
aud the fever it had brought ON that ]
thought Il best not to fence with his gnes-
tion. aud his suspicious. ] told him u
was true that some friends OF Ills who
knew how we'll he had done his sork IN
the morning were anxious 10 learn wheth-
er. In an emergency, he could resume his
duties; that the position was critical
that his troops would hght under him as
they would under nobody else; In short,
I admitted that came to hnd out what
his real condition WAS, aud that thought
a good deal depended on l,ls answer. tie
groaued and swore and half raised him
,e,f on his bed. The effort WAS too much;
the agony brought cry TO his llps;
.You see what a wreck am; u 10 im-
possible, impossible" Even 70 his
courage there were things which were
Impossible. Again he asked from whom
I came, but I answered that my errand
was done, that it Was only too plain that
his wound cripple him, that the whole
army knew what . misfortune u was,
and that must return to my friends
and report the facts. The paroxysm OF
paiu had passed, but left him exhausted.
lie said good by faiutly, asked me 70
come again the next day, which knew
I could not, and took my leave. The
account had to give Of General Hook.
er's condition Of course put an end TO oil
schemes at headquarters, aud the sun
went down upou 90 isdscisive day
George W. smalley, In August Hsfpsfs.