The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-02-28
ANECDOTES OF SHELBY.
An Old Comrade Tells of the Famous
Confederate Fighter.


Kansas City Star: mo man could
ride with 10 Shelby for four years and
be worth his salt at anything else.4
said Major J. F. Stonestreet today. II,
did it. and ought to know. have not
been worth killing since"
Major Stonestreet was an associate
of General Shelby in his boyhood. and
was with him through the war Per-
haps no man in Kansas City had a
more intimate acquaintance with the
dead general.
Shelby was essentially military"
Major Stonestreet went on He. loved
the life. Its dangers. labors. rough
living and brilliant successes suited
him down to the grourd. II he had
been so placed that of his years
could have been spent in war he
would have been the happiest man on
earth. To him the soldiers life was
the happiest of lives; the soldiers
death the death of deaths. He was
fond of his men. but he did not spare
them. In his four years of campaign
ing many, very many, of them were
killed. He was not sentimental about
it. They took their chances. ne used
to say. He exposed them to no dangers
that he did not share himself. He,
too. took his chances.
He was morbidly sensitive about the
conduct Of his men-the more so that
they bore the reputation OF raiders
which, it must be confessed. they
earned. Hard riding and fighting
make hard appetite. and they were
no respecterS- of other peoples pigs
and poultry Once we We're half
starving in Arkansas. Shelby and I
rode down to the White river to water
our horses. A detachment of the
troops was doing the same thing just
below thorn DIClr
Gentry. now of Kansas City. He was
a gallant private and a good fellow.
Slung across his saddle was a sack.
carefully tied and bleeding at one end.
What you got there?' demanded
Shelby.
=" Been havin' my clothes washed
said Gentry.
You'd better get back to camp
said the general, or your clothes will
bleed to death
Gentry was put in the guardhouse
That night a quarter of fresh pork
found its way to Shelby's tent. I
haven't an idea where this came FROM
he said, as he looked at 1t hungriiy,
but go round TO the guardhouse. order
ly, and tell EN- to turn Gentry loose.
There's no use in keeping a man shut
up all of his life for little laundry.
We were down in Texas" continued
Mr.. Stonestreet, when we got the news
of Lincoln's assassination. The men
were on review, and the intelligence
of them foolishly cheered
Boys, said General Shelby, sitting
erect on his horse, with one hand
raised in air and his head barred, this
is the heaviest blow yet dealt us. Lin
coins slaughter was the act of a mad
man. If he had lived he would have
/ been just and generous to the south
50 Ma 1Or-(TonaTal Holmes in,
mand of our part of the transmissis-
| Sippf department. He was a West
pointer. President Davis was a West
I pointer also, and thought that no man
could be a soldier unless he bore the
hallmark of that academy. There
fore, he appointed Holmes. who was a
gentleman and well-n1eaning, but stiff
necked and dull Holmes sent for
Shelby
General he said. when the cavalry
leader appeared, your men have been
stealing, and it must be stopped They
are thieves
Sir said Shelby. whoever told you
so lies
g I believe it is true said Holmes.
'Why?' asked Shelby.
Z" Because everybody says So
Do you believe thing when every
body says SOP
''1 do
DO you know what everybody says
about your
e I do not. What do they say?'
They say that you are a id old
fool and Shelby walked out.
What is more" continued Mr.. Stone
street, Shelby was right. Men can't
fight and starve. too.
General Shelby was a soldier only.
As a man of business he was a fail
ure. Into business life he brought the
same bold policies that distinguished
him in war times, the same dash and
the same recklessness. and they
wouldn't do. He would lend money to
anybody who asked for it. taking no
security. and to have served in his
command was an open road TO his
purse To the day of his death he was
beset by hangers-on who had known
him in war time. He seemed never to
weary of them or to learn that thew
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