Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-05-07
"BILLY AND JOHN"
Row They Fell Ont, Never to Make It Up
ON Earth.

How They Fell Ont, Never to Make It Up
ON Earth.
If you were not soldier, you can hard
~ realize what strange friendships were
formed by the rank and file. The man
who hadn't a comrade was bad man. To
be comrade meant everything. There
was no limit to what you might demand
no limit to what he would grant. You
cooked together, ate together, shared the
same canteen, haversack and blanket; you
were one and inseparable until death or
sickness separated you When rollicking,
laughing Billy Davis came down to us
after the first year, he surprised us by
taking to" gruff old John Chivington on
sight. 1t was case of May and Decem-
Der. Billy was young and handsome
John old and ugly Billy was happy go
lucky-John gruff and sulky and fault
finding. The old man took fancy to the
boy at once, and on his part Billy had no
fault to find. Inside of three months they
had stronger friendship than any two
brothers, and the old man was happier
than we had ever seen him before. 1t was
a comradeship like thousands of others,
however, in the fact that it was tested at
intervals by words and deeds which hurt
Down through the wilderness cheer
fully tramped Billy and John with the
rest of us, old John carrying double weight
on the march to favor the boys young
shoulders, and by and by the army strung
out in front of Lee at Petersburg. After
that it was not war, but murder. In some
places the rifle pits were so close together
that you could toss a hard tack over your
head and know that it fell within reach
of the Confederate, who had a bit of tObac
CO ready to toss back.
One morning, when our company had
been detailed for the rifle pits, though we
could not get into them until darkness
came to hide our movements Billy and
John had falling out. The provocation
was curious one. Billy was making the
coffee, when piece of shell, fired from a
fort two miles away, descended and struck
and demolished the coffeepot and scattered
the fire about. Old John leaped up to re-
proach and find fault not exactly clear rs
to what had happened, and Billy's feelings
were hurt, and he walked away. Ones
pride is at stake in such cases, you know,
and the day passed away without a recon
Citation. 1t was strange thing that
Billy and John were paired off for one of
the rifle pits. 1t came about without
word being said, and they had no speech
for each other as they crept forward
through the darkness to relieve those who
When they had dropped down and slowed
their haversackS and cantcens away, John
humbled himself to say:
Boy, you can go to sleep, and I'll at
tend to business.
Billy wanted to reply, Thank you, dear
old John, " but pride prevented, and by and
by, without another word having been
said he went off into dreamland, and the
old man cramped his own legs to give the
boy more restful position. There was
desultory firing during the night, but no
one seemed determined to kill till daylight
came Then there was a crackle of mus
kerry all along the front, and the man who
held a finger above rifle pit drew a muir
derous fire. Billy slept peacefully through
the night, and daylight was an hour old
when he opened his eyes. Old John was
beside him ON his knees, with musket held
ready for shot 1t had been chilly night,
and the boy found his comrades overcoat
laid over him. The sacrifice touched him
to the quick, and with tears in his eyes he
said:
Come, John, but I'm sorry and want
to make upn'
The old man neither spoke nor moved.
Wont you make it up with me, John?"
queried the boy as he reached out to take
his comrade by the arm. II wasn't to
blame, you know. If you hadn't jumped
up and shouted at me, it would have been
all right
His fingers gripped the blue sleeve and
pulled, and the body lurched over against
him. Old John was corpse-shot through
the head an hour before!
He's dead-he's dead!'' shouted the
boy in terror as he pushed the body away
and struggled up. "Oh, John, we had a
fuss, and we hadn't made it up yet when
you
He Strengthened up in the pit, forgetting
the fearful danger at hand, and when he
sank down there were two corpscs in the
grave-Billy and John. We buried them
side by side that night, and as we turned
away from the trench the sergeant said:
Il laid the boy on the old mans arm
before they were covered in, for they are
never to fall out and make up again"
M QUAD,