Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1895-06-15
BRUIN JONES.

| ~ TO captain DrO10uSn, Jne 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, hardly know" was the re-
ply, but l can tell you very easily who
was the best fighter l ever knew"
whats the difference?"
"Thero's a great deal of difference.
To be good soldier one must have
courage, patience and endurance, disci-
pline and great many other things. To
be good fighter one only needs to have
plenty of the devil in him. l can t say
in regard TO the best soldier, but the
best fighter ever knew was undoubted-
| ly man named Jones. l have no idea
what his first name really was, but our
men all called him Bruin, for reasons
that I think you can guess when you
hear the story. He was member of my
company, but 1 have no recollection of
how or when he joined US. The first
day l remember ever to have seen him
was the 10Th Of August, 1862, 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 all 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 devilr'
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 n countenance
like that of Mephistopheles, until the
laugh had subsidized, and then he re-
marked:
HE voted for 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 a man of about 80 years
of age, below medium height, slender,
clean shaven, dark complexion, and was
very much like q 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
"Ee 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 to
it was one day in camp, when the sol
diors happened to be discussing the char
acter of Abraham Lincoln, and one Of
them forcibly expressed the opinion that
no was the greatest scoundrel that ever
lived.
"Yes" exclaimed Jones, with pro-
fusion Of lurid language. "There's only
one more contemplate hound in the
universe than Lincoln"
WHO'S he?"
JEFF Davis, he replied, with all the
whitening contempt he could crowd into
the words. From this speech it may be
imagined that while MIR Jones hated
the Union he did not adore the Confed-
eracy. The boys ii camp suggested that
he wore the gray merely because he had
more men to shoot at than if he wore
tho blue. There was no duty too hard
for him, no night too cold or rainy fol
him to stand guard, no fight too danger.
| fpr hin, 1N,,pKriyla1 1vy hn oil
lowed to have his fill Of profanity and
abuse for the world i'll general Once
when it was limited that the artillery
was not strong onoagh to dislodge Ger.
tain battery belonging to the enemy
some one suggested:
Put old Jones up in front and LEI
him cuss at 'em. IL that don't clean ZEN
out there's no use to try bombshells. ,
He would not only curse the Federals
but the COnfederates also, the officers al
we'll as the men. Several times he wa
known to knock his messmate down Will
the fiat side Of q spade, and then if h'
was so inconsiderate as to remonstrat,
to threaten him with the edge Owing
to such traits i'll him as these, the mel
gradually grew unwilling to eat will
} him, SO that for months he was Il veri
table hermit, though surrounded by men
No one spoke to him or had anything o
any kind to do with him when it coult
i'll amy way be avoided, and this seemed
to be exactly what he wanted Abou
this time he was niclmamed Bruin,
not only on account of his bearlike tenn
per, but also because the solitary figure
squatting about by his campfire, eating
his own food and holding converse witt
, no one was very much like that of
bear Gagged by itself to prevent it iron
, injuring anything
In this way things worked tolerabl
smoothly for awhile, but before lon