The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-08-26
DRUMMER DUMPEY.

Z
I toned at one Of the haroor posts in the
east. His descriptive list showed him 5
feet ! inch high, sRllovF compilation, brown
| hair and So years OF age. There were only
| two things he could really do weu-druIn
and drink. So the juniar lieutenant Of
the battery, whe was his 9 good friend - to
use Dumpey 8 owIA words, dubbed him d.
There were a number Of boys in the gar
rison, and we were all on intimate terms
with Dumpey. To US, in spite of his IS
years and the fact that he had served
through tbs four years of the rebellion, he
seemed but 3 boy. He was always good
natured, ready for a swim or fish, ready
to play ball, and sometimes, when in a
particularly amiable mood, ready to give
us a lesson on the drum, which he consid-
cred the king Of Instruments
''Eiddles are all right he said once
when the colonel's son ventured to differ
with him, ''fiddles are all right, but, .
with a superior smile, mot for soldiers
Did you ever hear tell Of fiddler of Chick
anauga? Come, answer me that. -
OF course we sided with Dumpey. What
real boy wouldn'ts
can see hiTa now, with his drum slune
from his neck, his little figure drawn up
to it's full height, proudly showing us how
to make the drum talk
This is what we played at Mission
Ridge, and then he would begin
OA4O ACfkG t4S TRAMP VI 4IdFGnl1R 1885,
the thunder Of cannon, the rattle of mus
kerry, the shouts and hurrahs of the men,
and. above all, the rub-a-dub- dub the rub
a-dub-dub of the drum. 1t sent the cold
shivers down our backs, the blood Jump
ing through our veins and our boyish
hearts thumped and thuInped until we
thought they musE surely burst. Then he
would change, and in an instant all was
different.
The slow and solemn beat of the muf1ed
drum, the long, melancholy, almost hui
man, roll, and we knew that tho battle was
over, and that the dead were being laid
away to their last rest. The tears in our
eyes, a choking in our Threats, and then
They dressed me- up in sojer clothes.
They treated me go kindly,
And yet I never could forget
The girl I left behind me.
And we'd fall in and march behind our
friend until we reached the battery quar-.
tiers.
twas a sad day for the battery, and par
ticularly for Dumpey, when the junior lieu
tenant left our post by transfer The very
next day Dumpey was in the guardhouse
with general charges against him. Inter
cession proved of no avail; the captain was
determined to make an example of him,
but the court was lenienG, so after a
months confinement Dumpey came back
to US, but aA altered man. Not that his
manner had changed toward us-he was
still our friend-but his boyishness and
lightness of heart seemed gone.
He'll get me yet, - was all he said when
we asked kim the trouble ''He,' of
course, meant the captain, who for some
unRccountable reason had taken strong
dislike to the IoHly drummer. Things
went from had TO worse Dumpey was in
the guardhouse continually first for one
thing and then another, which, though
trivial enough in their way, we're rapidly
building up a bad reputation for him,
which he did not really deserve.
The end same when they found him
drunk on guard. The general court, which
tried him, fQ ind him guilty and sentenced
him to be drummed out of the service
The colonel Frote to the reviewing author
ity rather strongly in his favor, but Dunn
pey was doomed. Nothing could save
him, and the sentence was duly confirmed.
Never did sun shine brighter, never were
skies bluer, never was nature more gener-
GUS than on that dreadful May morning
almost 80 years ago. We had all been to
see Dumpey at the gUardhouse the night
before. We had shaken hands with him
and carried him such boyish gifts as we
could to assure him of our loyalty and
friendship, and he, poor old boy, had turn
ed his face away from as and wept like
child.
It was the first and only time had ever
seen a nan OEuLA1QGQ OGb Oh Tie scr VICE. 1
can never again see such a shocking sight
of mans inhumanity to man.
Almost 80 years ago-I was a very
young boy then, still remember that tine
sun was bright and that the skies were blue.
I remember that the air was soft and
balny. I remember shat the flag, emblem
of liberty and equality, threw out the glory
of its stars and stripes straight and STRONG
to the morning breeze. remember that
we all stood huddled together waiting
and-then it came.
First the drums and flies, then two
Elatoons of men fully armed and equipped
their bayonets flashing and sparkling in
ehB sunlight, and between them DuEnPeg,
with head closely cropped and on his back
a board marked Drunkard -
And still-bhe sun shsEe the skies were
blue and the flag hapPed Gayly overhead
On they came, the drums and hfes play
ing the @ Roguss' March. -
Poor cid soldier. poor old soldier.
Tarr'd and isathered and then dFunm d out
Because he couldn't keep sober.
Our hearts were in cur throats, but we
clinohed our hands and held our places
like men.
There was no music in the march. 1t
was simply a Wailing and sobbing of the
druTns-the drums to drum Dumpsy out
of the service; Dumpey, their champion,
their hero, their king
But Oh they came
Poor old soldier. poor old soldier.
Just as they passed US we heard some
one ask:
What makes him walk 50 queer He
seems 20 be hsnping.''
Every boy there could have told him
that it WAS tine bullet he got at Mission
Ridge, which the doctors had never beer
able 70 take out.
And on they came
Tarr'd and feathered and then dxa4nln'd out
At last they reached the sally port
Because he couldn' t keep sober,
shrieked out the flies, and a moment later
Dumpey stood outside the fort free man.