Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1895-05-23
BRUIN JONES.

captain, who was the best soldier
you ever knew?"
This question was propounded recent
ly to Captain Bronaugh, the present
coal oil inspector of st. Louis and man
who has seen enough Of war to make
his Judgment in regard to soldiers worth
something.
"Well, I hardly know" was the re-
ply, "but can tell you very easily who
was the best fighter / ever knew"
whats the difference?"
There's a great deal of difference.
To be a good soldier one must have
courage, patience and endurance, disci-
pline and a great many other things. To
be q good fighter one only needs to have
plenty of the devil in him. I can't say
in regard to the best soldier, but the
best fighter ever knew was undoubted-
ly man named Jones. have no idea
what his first name really was, but our
men all called him Bruin, for reasons
that / think you can guess when you
hear the story. He was a member of my
company, but have no recollection of
how or when he joined u.s. The first
day l remember ever to have seen him
was the 18th of August, 1869, just the
day before the awful fight at Lone
Jack.
1t seems that on that date all the COM
panies in Lewis regiment were reor-
ganized, and that the voting for officers
was al done by ballot. When it came
to Bronaugh's company, every vote read
was cast for him for captain, except the
last one To the surprise Of every one,
the last vote was called out in stentorian
tones:
1.-THE devill"
At the announcement Of this unex-
pected vote the men stared around at
each other in amazement.
"Say," remarked the wit of the COM
pany at last, "that fellow ought to have
better manners than vote for himself. "
In the laugh that followed all the
company joined, except Jones. He stood
stiff as a ramrod, with countenance
like that of Mephistopheles, until the
laugh had subsidized, and then he re-
marked:
"He voted for a blamed sight better
man than Bronaugh, anyway.
think that the reader will concede
that when the captain compliments Mr..
Jones fighting qualities it is not be-
cause of any special personal friendship
for him. He was man of about 30 years
of age, below medium height, slender,
clean shaven, dark complexion, and was
very much like hawk in the keenness
Of his eyes, the curvature Of his nose,
the musicalness of his voice and the
general amiability of his disposition.
The captain sums up the case by saying
"He was soured ON the world and all
the rest of mankind.
He was never known to agree with
anybody on any subject that could be
mentioned The nearest he ever came tc
it was one day in camp, when the sol.
diers happened to be discussing the char.
acter Of Abraham Lincoln, and one Of
them forcibly expressed the opinion that
he was the greatest scoundrel that even
lived.
''Yesl' exclaimed Jones, with pro
fusion of lurid language. "There's only
one more contemplate hound in the
universe than Lincoln.
"Who's her"
Jeff Davis, he replied, with all the
whitening contempt he could crowd into
the words. From this speech it may be
imagined that while Mr.. Jones hated
the Union he did not adore the Confed
eracy. The boys in camp suggested that
he wore the gray merely because he had
more men to shoot at than if he wore
the blue. There was no duty too hare
for him, no night too cold or rainy fol
him to stand guard, no fight too danger
ous for him, provided only he was al
lowed to have his fill Of profanity ant
abuse for the world in general Once
when it was limited that the ARTILLERY
was not strong enough to dislodge Ger
tain battery belonging to the enemy
some one suggested:
"Put old Jones up in front and le
him cuss at 'em. If that don t clean 'en
out, there's no use to try bombshells.
He would not only curse the Federals
but the Confederates also, the officers a!
| we'll as the men. Several times he wa
known to knock his messmate down will
the fiat side Of spade, and then if h
was so inconsiderate as to remonstratt
to threaten him with the edge. Owing
10 such traits in him as these, the mel
gradually grew unwilling to eat will
him, so that for months he was veri
table hermit, though surrounded by men
No one spoke to him or had anything o
any kind to do with him when it coul,
in any way be avoided, and this scenes
to be exactly what he wanted. Abou
this time he was nicknamed "Bruin,
not only on account Of his bearlike tenn
per, but also because the solitary figure
squatting about by his campfire, eatin
his own food and holding converse wit
no one was very much like that Of
bear Gagged by itself to prevent it fror
injuring anything.
\ In this way things worked tolerabl
smoothly for awhile, but before Ion
Captain Bronaugh and his men decide
that if it could be done they would lii
very much to get Bruin transferred
some other company. There were ju
two difficulties in the way Of this.
tho first place, no captain who kne
him very well would consent to tai
him, and, in the second place, If Bru
knew that Bronaugh and his men d
not want him he would insist mo
strenuously on staying. Both these diff
cultles were circumvented by lit