The Monmouth inquirer., 1897-05-27


to see an infantryman from the main
camp coming to the cavalry bivouac with
dispatches. His cap bore the characters,
"142nd-Vols .
There was rift in the cloud at once.
Fortunately two of our guard were
strong willed and humane and ready to
favor us with kindly offices They fed us
and took our last messages for friends and
directions for our identification, and from
them I learned that the One Hundred and
Forty second regiment was all in the camp
five miles distant. asked to be conducted
there, but the acquaintance which | claim
ed was so slight that the commander de-
INJURED and declared it was simply anoth-
er trick to gain time. Our kind advocates
then took it up and offered to investigate
the case, and soon Joseph Pennington was
brought to our prison glen. Pennington,
too, shook his head. When he last saw me,
the pallor caused by pain and the blight of
wound and fever were upon me. My re-
counting that affair with the hucksters in
Baltimore shook him a little, but one OF
the guard who was Jealous fer our destruc-
tion broke the force of its influence most
skillfully. He said ''Oh, this fellow may
be only Baltimore secesh who was hang
ing around that time. Come to think,
have seen him sneaking around the depots
and wharfs in Baltimore and Alexandria,
spying out the movements of our troops
Settled prejudices are hard to uproot Pen
nington quit the scene, and we were told
to get ready. Some prayed, some cried. /
paced the ground like a Gagged tiger There
was not guilty one in the party-that is,
guilty of the crime charged or anything
like it, although there were some night
riders in the crowd-some of Mosby S ran
gers. l could see innocent written upon
every pallid countenance, and emotions
stirred by my own grief and my sympathy
for my fellows, as / thought of this useless
and cruel execution, moved me beyond con-
troll. / burst into tornado of vehement
appeals aimed at any who would listen.
Some cars were open. / pleaded against
the shedding of innocent blood, pictured
the calamity to be visited on SO many
homes, foretold the narrowing thoughts to
arise some day in the minds of our beloved
friends when they should learn the story
of our vain and shameful deaths, and at
last came to the point of fastening upon
the would be perpetrators a lifelong re-
morse.
My eloquence-forw who could not be fired
with logic at such a acrisis2-comlnandcd at
tention and several of the guard withdrew
from the sound of it, The leader STOOD
near gloomy and cold. All this time my
Bible in its close wrapper had remained in
my hand, pressed instinctivcly 10 my
heart, and as a last argument ! t.sned TO
it to try if l could not move those olitllIatc
hearts by reading from God IS ov worG.
AS | turned the covers nervously.a 70 blge
irclosure fell out and Il pregnant thought
g that stamp and Pennington rushed
to my mind. Here is proofn' ! cried.
Let me sec Joseph Pennington againlN
The hour was up, but Il respite was allow
cd and Pennington came snllenly back.
My game was desperate. | showed him
that fragment stamp and told the whole
story without a break. He scanned me,
still skeptical, but | had put in 4 wedge
Doubt had arisen. After hasty consul
tation the execution was deferred until
daylight and my own was then to be sub
ject to approval Of council from the main
camp. OF course | was u hero among the
doomed nlen A About midnight word came
that Ice had surrendered his army. The
startling tidings instantly disarmed the
passionate prejudices of the fratricidal
strife. The stern judgments and fatal yer
diets of martial courts were off forever, and
every man of us went free, filled with a
gratitude words failed to express.
The little faded fragment Of a stamp is
now mounted OH blue silk, framed and
hangs over my cabinet. | prize it as the
choicest Of my collection of relies of the
war.