Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-24

Copyright, 1897, by S, s. Mcclure Company
In the good old days OF our grandfather
in Ohio. general muster was a great event
Twice each year, in April and in August
the law required the men OF each county t
assemble for general training in 1.-THE manua
! OF arms" as 1t was often called. And the
order was pretty generally obeyed.
1t was chance for the jockey to trade
horses; an opportunity for the women tC
! gossip, day of rest for the hired hands
| nesting place for lovers; a fair and Fourth
Of July with gingerbread and cider for the
| boys. To the soldiery 1t was a jolly farce.
On the morning of August 20, 1874 the
| worm-eaten drums and the moldy flies awoke
and uttered such martial noise as they could
| and from every nook and corner of the
wooded land, on foot and on horseback the
| sturdy farmers and villagers of Brown county
| took merry way toward Russellville where
| on a broad. smooth field, the training was
| such military accoutrements as he had, and
| various and exceeding sorry were the uni
forms which came from garnet pegs and out
OF chests on this great day.
Guns of all eras, rifles of all lengths, shot
guns, carbines, nint-lOcE muskets Spanish
blunderbusses; anything with lock, stock
and barrel was considered worth bringing.
Those who had no guns waggishly caught up
and carried WORKOUT brooms or stout corn
stalks, and so it was that they were called
1.-The cornstalk brigade"
The officers, pompous as turkey cocks in
their continental uniforms, as colonies and
generals struggled with fortitude to keep
the exercises keyed to their martial dignity,
which was hard task, indeed.
However. the Mexican war was brewing
IN 1874, excitement was running high, and
an unusually large turnout of able-bodied
citizens filled the lanes and the borders of
the training field with crowd of people,
rather more martial-minded than of won't
The lanes in every direction were fenced
in with horses and trading went on in a
score of places at once. Thrifty souls went
through the crowd selling gingerbread and
cider to the young beauX, and big copper
cents changed hands wherever they went
Cider and gingerbread were the treating
delicacies of that day. And in the midst
of all the fife squeaked and walled and the
drum uttered its rafting roar
There was another matter Of great inter-
est which many, both old and young, were
discussing. Ulysses Grant, the tanners son,
was just returned from West Point as brevet
second lieutenant, and as this was such an
important occasion, he had been asked to
drill the regiment.
Many of the young men had known the
tanners son when he was bashful and re-
ticent schoolboy, and they wondered how he
would succeed with the drill.
Some OF them had caught glimpse of
him in his neatly-fitting dark blue uniform
and his white trousers and gloves, and 1t
was freely stated that he was presumptuous
to say the least.
At last the hour came for the marching
to begin The soldiery moved into the broad .
smooth lot. The officers woofed ana /
grumbled their uninteligibe orders; the
men marched in comical disarray in position
the wags all carrying their brooms or corn
stalks and grlnning behind the officers
backs. They seemed a sorry regiment.
Then the people all began to look for the !
cadet He kept position in one corner of
the field, modcstly waiting till the general /
should call him and turn over the command |
10 him. He sat on his horse quite calm and |
graceful.
The signal came the slender, beardless
Young fellow galoped across the field, refined |
up and saluted in splendid style. for it was
The men peered curously and somewhat
at the pale, slender youth in
lis long blue coat and big epaulettes. He
wore a cap, and around his slim waist was a
ed sash. He looked to be only a boy, but i
lie astonished the men and won the admira-
lion Of the boys and girls by his fine horse
and by his complete mastery of the
men.
"ATTENTION. BATTALION"
This first order made every man straighten
Up. 1t was the voice of q trained soldier.
The old officers barked out their commands,