The National tribune., 1897-11-18

that it was their duty to carry the information
directly to Gen. Thomas, who had come for
ward toward the Wild Cat Gap to get news.
Gen. Thomas suffused them with pride by
his earnest compliments upon the informa-
ton they had brought. He pronounced it
much the most accurate and authentic he had
yet received He astounded them, however,
bv his disapproval of their firing into the
camp.
Il thought when yo' went t. war yo killed
yo' innimies whenever yo' could ketch them,"
gasped Web Branard.
No" said Gen Thomas, in his grave,
measured way. That is the way savages
fight CIVILIZED men do differently 1t is
not only humanity, but it is the better and
surer way of making war. For example,
you gained all that it is possible to gain when
you got into that position where you could
! overlook the whole camp. 1t would have
been worth while fighting quite stiff battle
to have secured that much. When you fired
into his camp YOU revealed to him weak
ness that he will hereafter guard against, and
you accomplished nothing by it.
Y0u may have killed and wounded few
men, but that accomplished nothing toward
the great end we have in yiew-that of stop
ping his march into Kentucky, and eveItu-
ally driving him back into Tennessee and
crushing his fighting power You rsked
your own lives unnecessarily, which was very
wrong. You must come to think OF your
selves as not belonging to yourselves, but to
the Government. You must be as careful
not to waste yourselves as you would be not
to waste anything else belonging to the Gov
eminent. When it is necessary to use your
selves, give the last drop of our blood without
the slighte,t hesitation. That is the way
soldiers should look at it."
do yo' mean t say, Jineral," asked Pol
lock anxiousiy, . that hit han't right t. kill
rebel whenever and wherever We kin git
the drop on him?"
wei, not exactly that" replied the Cen
eral, smiling gravey at the earnestncss of
the question. There are circumstances and
conditions For example, if you should
come upon a party of rebels doing the same
thing to our camp that you've just done to
theirs, it would be your duty to take any
, risk to kill or capture them, to keep them
from carrying away important information.
But to kill rebel just because ne is a rebel
is not right.
= / want t kill him fur what he has done,
an t keep him from what he's likely T. do"
said Pollock.
That is murder, not war, said the Gen
eral gravely. But I'm AFRAID III never be
able to get out of your minds the lessons that
( have been taught by your Indian-fghting
/ grandfathers. I'll not give any further time to
J it now 1t is more important that you re-
! turn at once to Iollicoffers front and watch
I every movement closely. Keep near as pos
sible to him, without exposing yourselves too
much, and send back all information you
can But give you the most positive orders
to take care OF yourselves. Think. men. BY
your rashness you endangered all the good
you had done. You might have lost your
| selves TO the Government, and still more,
you might have lost your valuable informa-
ton, which 1T was worth several lives to OBJ
] TAIN
g Pm rarnin' something every day about
war, said Pollock, medtatvely, after they
had left the General The ole man thar
has chunks o. hard sense bigger than the
Chilhowee rocks. s'pose ue'uns'll have t.
let some rebels go occasionally, but hit'll be
monty hard"
They hurried back to the vicinity of
! Zolicofer's camp at Cumberland Ford
! Repeatedly they saw expeditions of companies
and giments come out, and they promptly
sent one or two of their number 10 the near
est Union post-Wild Cat Gap-with the in
formation They hung around their TANKS
every mile Of the way, and nothing but Gen.
Thomass stern commands prevented their
frequently picking off men who came within
range of their SpringGelds
They saw more regiments arrive at the
camp, and one eventful Monday they saw
nearly the whole force march out in the direc-
ton of Wild Cat Gap. There was no mis-
taking the fact that the long-expected inva-
sion had commenced
Pollock and his friends hung about the