The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-06-17
he soon made friends Of his fellow

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colonel commanding the prison. With
the artlessness and simplicity of a
child, and a child-like joyousness that
was forever bubbling up he had an
"open sesame" that unlocked all
hearts to him. He was the life of the
prison as he had been of the camp.
He was always stirring about among
the prisoners, and everyone had a
smile and good word for him as he al
ways had for them. One day the
commandant of the prison came in
and called for Cassidy who was
very quickly there. "Cassidy," he
said, 81 have some good news for you.
Your father and mother have come on
from New York, md are at the prison
gate waiting to see you and take you
home with them He was wild with
delight. 1t had been seven or eight
years since he had left them, a boy to
come to his uncle in South Carolina,
and in all that time had never seen
them, nor did he know whether they
were dead or living, aud only a short
time before that had written to them
that he was alive and a prisoner,
where I do not remember. Loving
son that he was there could have been
no more welcome news to him than
that his father and mother still lived,
and were waiting at the prison gate to
carry him home to see his brothers
and sisters if they still lived. ooh,
Colonel" he said, II must 60 to my
father and mother" "That is with
you, Cassidy. You know it is not al
lowed to prisoners to go to the prison
gate to talk with anybody, not even to
see and talk with father and mother.
If you'll take the oath Ct allegiance to
the Union I'll carry you to them, and
be next glad to you and to your father
and mother" "Is taking the oath
my only chance to see them?' "Your
only chance. 1t is not with me to set
aside the strict orders under which l
an acting. If you are not willing to
take the oath I'll go and tell them and
they will 20 off without your seeing
them" Here Cassidy broke down and
wept aloud like a heart broken child,
saying: ooh, my father and mother,
must it be so that you are SO near me,
and have to go back without seeing
your long absent son! What would
be sweeter to my eyes and to my heart
than to see myfather and my %mother?'
An awful struggle was going on in
his soul between love of father and
mother on one side and what he felt
to be his honor on the other side.
Many of his fellow prisoners and some
of the prison guard who stood around
were deeply moved. 1t was a scene to
touch the hardest heart, and to make
eyes grow moist unused to weep.
There were other tears shed besides
his own. '"Take the oath, Frank
said one of his fellow prisoners, "for
mother is more than country" "But
not more than HONOR said Frank.
''Take the oath, Frank" said another,
''for you have been a good soldier,
and have fought and suffered long
enough to quit the war now "That :
the very reason" said Frank, Chat !
have been a good soldier, chat | should
continue one. 1t doesn't belong to
my blood MOI to my race to desert a
friend or my country, in the days of
their misfortune and when they most
need me-" Others said, "Take the
oath, Frank, for the wal will soon be
over, and then we'll have to take the
oath and 60 home" YES" said
Frank, "and when it does end, let
that be soon or late, l want it to find
me in this prison or filling a. soldiers
grave, or living an bonored and honora.
Bile man, with the proud feeling that
had done all that l could do for the
cause I believed to be right
The agony was over. His decision
vas made. Brushing the tears from
his honest face, he said: Colonel, &c
tell my father and mother chat | a
see them now-that [ cant take the
oath" The colonel looked at him and
said: "Cassidy, you are a noble fellow
and may we live to see happier times,
and straightway went to announce his
decision to his father and mother,
who were waiting anxiously at the
prison gate.
1t matters little on which side such
a man fought. Whether his side was
right or not, who can deny hat he
was right. and that he was unsur.
passed by any of Greece or Romel
When the flag under which he fought
was furled to wave no more, still q
hero with a brave and cheerful heart
be began poor the struggle of life te
make an honest living and to helI
to build up the waste places of his
county. 1t is ouch as he, men and
women, who hold what they conceive
to be their duty and honor clear, that
constitute the true glory and great
ness of a State and nation. May theil
number be greatly multiplied, for he
roes are needed even more in peace
than in war. 1t is said that truth is
stranger than felton, and it could be
said with equal truth that fiction is
more interesting and takes a stronger
hold on most people than truth
the reality-for which reason l feal
that the true stories of my 1.-TWO He,
%roes," which I got in both cases from
eye-witnesses, will be less interesting
than if they were the pure creation Of
some story writer.
Over the grave of Frank Cassidy, il
Barnwell County, there ought to be q
monument raised, and on it inscribed:
Go, Colonel, tell my father ano
mother that [ can't see them now
that I can t take the OATH
JOHN G.. WILLIAMS.
Allendale, S. G.
M No,occor;1y Hnnop1inonforV