Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1897-08-19
WAR "REMINISCENCES.
A QUEER ADJuTANT.
An Army Incident Interesting I'm
More Ways Than One.

An Army Incident Interesting I'm
More Ways Than One.
"It has never been in the newspa-
pers," remarked the retired army Off
Ger, referring to something he had
been saying as the reporter joined the
group.
1T must have happened a thousand
miles, from printing press or post
Office, then" yentured the reporter, who
has an idea that everything worth
knowing is to be found in the newspa-
pers.
II was just on the point of telling a
story" said the officer, "of peculiar
happening which occurred some 20 odd
years ago in Montana. To make it a
hit clearer / may say for the benefit of
those not posted on military matters
that the country is divided for military
purposes into departments and dis
tricts, having major general, let us
I say, in command of department and
some subordinate in command of the
district. In the department are sew
eral districts, and in the district are
several posts; the post commanders be-
ing of still lower rank. In this in
stance colonel had been given the dis
trict of Montana, and as was custom
airy he had appointed the adjutant of his
regiment, a West Pointer, by the way,
as his acting assistant adjutant gen
eral, whose chief duty it was to promul-
gate the orders of his chief, said orders
always being signed: Col. Blank, dis
trict commander; Lieut.. Blank, acting
assistant adjutant general; and it was
obligatory, of course, upon anyone in
the jurisdiction of Col. Blank to obey
these orders without question.
''As time moved on under the new
commander and his A. A. A. g., we be-
queer spells and acted strangely, but
it was not quite enough to cause alarm,
and we gave it no great amount Of
thought until one day he left the post
with q detail of men, four-mule team
hauling their stuff, and driving along
with them lot of government horses
and mules. The colonel commanding
had left the day before for ST. Paul to
attend court-martial, and the officer
In command during his absence had
nothing to say because the adjutant
showed him the orders of the district
commander to the effect that he take
such detail and the stock and GO on
an expedition to the south to deliver
| them at another post. That's all any
of us at the post knew, and whatever
we may have thought of it, it was none
of our business to. question orders
which were as plain and regular as ap-
parently were those the adjutant was
acting on.
NEARLY three weeks after the adju-
tant's departure the detail of men and
their four-mule team returned to the
post in command of the sergeant, who
reported that he had been ordered by
the adjutant to return to the post with
the men and team and he would report
later. This was the extent of the Off
cial report, but some of us concluded
we would make some further inquiry,
which developed the rather startling
fact that the adjutant had proceeded
south for two weeks at very leisurely
pace, selling as he went along to anyone
who would purchase at any price he
could get the horses and mules he had
with him in his train, and he had kept
going as long as his stock lasted. AS
soon as the supply was exhausted the
detail was ordered back to the post.
son this information the colonel, on
his return few days later, made an in
vestigation of the adjutant's books and
papers and of those officers who had
furnished him with all he took away