Birmingham state herald., 1895-10-27

thigh and a red stream was trickling down his neck from a sabre cut across the head
 T took out my silk handkerchief, and, tieing knot in it, bound 1t about the boys wounded leg and made him sip some whisky from my canteen. He bare ly put it to his lips and I had to force him to drink several swallows, for he was very weak from loss of blood.
 'I left my canteen with him and told him to take a sip of the whisky every now and then and as soon as 1 got my own men off the field would send back after him.
 Tt was over an hour before l got through with my task. but when did 1 got the litter-bearers together and went to hunt for my yankee boy in the ravine. When I arrived there he was nowhere to be found.
 Scene second of my story is laid in Jacksonville, Ala. The war was over and I had been elected solicitor of my circuit There were lots of union men, bushwhac ckers, we called them, and had to wear gun to protect myself when went to the county seat of the adjoining county of St. Clair. That was in recon struction days, and a man was not all lowed to go armed without permit.
 There was a garrison Of yankee sol- diers stationed at my town and l went over and asked the officer in charge for permit to wear pistol, as l was going over into St. Clair county to attend to my official duties. He told me to go over to the post and the clerk there would is- sue the permit.
 q went and the clerk, a handsome, manly young fellow, was soon busy writing out the document and being a soldier he and I were soon relating our experiences. l told the incident related above. He seemed deeply interested, and as I noted afterwards. a little excited, but he did not say word until had re- lated the whole story, which consumed some ten or fifteen minutes.
 When I had finished the young fellow threw his arms around me and drew me to him as if had been long lost father or brother, and for awhile did not know what it meant. He then stepped back and threw back his long hair and showed me the sabre cut on his head and asked me to place my finger in the wound in lhis leg, which I had bound with my silk handkerchief to keep his life blood from oozing away. He told me that I could not only get permit but he was ready to go with me over to St. Clair and pro tect me with his life's blood if necessary.
 While I was busy removing my wounded from the field squad of yankee soldiers had erept up the ravine and carried the young fellow away, and that is the reason did not find him on my re- turn after the wounded of the Confeder- ate cause had been properly cared for. The incident, occurring as 1t did while the war was in progress and the happy sequel after 1t was over, will never be eff faced from my memory, and as long as I live I will never cease to cherish the in cident as one of the most pleasant that occurred in my four years experience in defending a cause that I thought then and think yet was just and right
 Col. John H. Caldwell is one of the most loveable of men. He is as tender as a woman to fallen foe, yet has all the fire and dash of a cavalier when engaged in Subduing that foe. He is growing old now, but he has the confidence, love and respect of all who know him. The writer sometimes wishes that such men as he could live on as long as time shall last but the life and good deeds of such a man will live long after he shall have passed away.