The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-10-05
uANTAM IN THE ARMY
.ooosTER IN GEORGIA THAT HAS
wv -ouesToNE OVER HIS GRAVE.

..,,sting at CuipePer' '"'
r,der Major Williams In Many Battles
.,.., I'm n Tree-How He Betrayed
jim Nessmith.
.,uhile we were camped near Gull
or Court House in the fall of 1862"
p i.id Major Tom Williams Il became
S's .o;nted with family named Dow
acq' Inst before the battle of Culpeper /
@: = visit 10 the farm and found the
pau S;as in a panic, preparing to flee. They
na'I hofore me such scant fare as they
se' ioft and after / had eaten hasty
aau Miss Mary Dowdy called to
iun. ond led the way to the back yard.
~. There is the last of our stock of
.o,ltrv' said she, pointing to q little
P~,or, cock that was strutting about
Oar" ord Il haven't the heart to kill
w., because he is pet. If you want
~, vou can take him and do as you
like with nm ,oco,e
..r sat on my shoulder through the
,ono weary marches and hurried re-
rs and | shared my rations with
s;m, One night we had reached the
eonk Of the encmy's camp by forced
march and lay down to sleep on our
arms expecting to be reused ut the
hrook Of day for sudden charge. | had
,torted off with General perched upon
nv, musket barrel, and IA sudden change
IN the order Of march had separated us
from the wagons. so l placed the roost-
or on the limb of sapling above my
head while | lay down To snatch few
inmates sleep
general did not utter single cluck
in nrotest. although he must have been
very hungry from long fasting, but
ouietlv squatted on the branch while ]
aupg myself on the grass and leaves
and was soon fast asleep was so
weary that slept profoundly until l
was suddenly aroused by an unearthly
screech in my ear Raising my head,
took in the whole situation at glance.
General had dropped down from his
nerch and uttered a shrill crow right i'll
nv ear which had awakened me, and as
opened my eyes | saw the flash of guns
as our pickets fired and in an instant
fell back upon us where we lay. The
Yankees had turned the tables on us,
and, discovering our presence, the sur
prising force became the surprised, and
in ten minutes there was an unearthly
racket going ON in that pine thicket.
Right and left of my position the
boys came out of cover and advanced
with yells and cheers, moving cautious
" and firing as they moved 1t had be-
come sufficiently light for me TO find
my few belongings, and | soon recover
ed my hat and haversack, which | had
forgotten to pick up i'll the hurry of the
first surprise, and just ut that time |
was saluted with a loud crow just above
my head, and looking up l saw General
perched upon his limb, he having flown
back thcro when the firing began, and
with his head held on one side he was
siding along the swaying branch, crow
ing and clucliing
In spite of the banging Of the guns
and wListlug Of bullets General stuck
brayely TO his perch and never fiuttered
during the entire engagement When
told tho story in camp that night,
General was tho toast of the evening,
and he was treated TO all sorts of It'd
bits IN recognition of his gallanuy
on the field of action.
"One morning, however, General
played the camp detective in most
alarming manner, which came near
proving disastrous 3D. fellow soldier of
another mess. All foraging had been
strictly forbidden, and no man was al
lowed to leave the ranks under the
heaviest penalty of military discipline.
There was fellow by the name of jim
Nessmith, who occupied tent not far
from that OF the captain Of our compa-
ny About 4 o o'clock the order was pass
ed along the lines for us to prepare to
march.
General was perched on the limb of
push near me while sat munching
my hard tack, and all of sudden he
raised himself on his perch and crowed
Justify. Or course no cock in hearing
0ouiu resist replying to such challenge.
anu from within the tent occupied by
jim Nessmith came the muffled crow of
sn old rooster. Jim made grab at the
Vas ana succeeded in choking him off,
ou1 the noise had reached tho ears of
some OF the others, and the captain be-
zane apprlsed of the fact that Jim had
oI ioraglng. A hasty examination of
MS tent disclosed the body of the big
iooster' choked to death by Jim in his
anxiety to put a stop to his untimely
Growing
jim was ordered under arrest pend
,i s an investigation, but just about that
uio .he order came to advance, and we
moved aVved forward, and by sunrise we were
"sn'ing, and the unfortunate officer
S Sno mad ordered Jim to be placed un-
WI arrest was borne from the field
81 ,pse after the fight was over. The af-
al. .air was forgotten amid the stirring
scenes that followed.
4. seeing that the end was near, |
;, ,OOllu an opportunity to send General
~ .ne rear, and placing him in cage
S"n nm ON the long journey to the
nO o~e Oh nephew in Georgia He had
"oV Ueen long ON the for,,, hofo,.o bo 10