The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-03-07
A soldier of Truth.

AS the reporter was rapidly nurrylnS
past the door of saloon he was met
by an old soldier. who suggestively tipped
his hat. says the New York Sun.
rIf you will tell me a story" remarked
the reporter accepting the tip an pay
for the potations I have a thirst for a
story, you have a thirst for drink. Let
us exchange"
The veteran was quick to respond, as
the parched soil responds to the grateful
rain, and, opening the door, he bowed the
reporter in and escorted him to a table
in a quiet corner. where presently the
potables were served.
Il don't think l could have earned what
/ am now so greatly and gratefully en-
joying," said the veteran, with a glow
ing cheek, as he set down his glass after
a long swallow, had it not been that to-
day 1 met an old comrade from Ken
lucky a state, you will remember, which
had soldiers in both armies, and good SOL
diers, l may add. This man, who is now
merchant and comes to New York to
buy goods every year, was in the federal
army, and he had a nephew in the same
regiment with himself and another in the
confederate army The young chaps were
brothers, and they were mighty fond of
each other, but they were fonder of their
principles or patriotism or politics or
whatever you may call it, so they agreed
to disagree and each one go to the side
ne thought was the right Slue-
ut was a sad parting, for they had been
closer together than most brothers, and
before they separated they fixed up kind
of signal to Identify themselves by, so
that if one was wounded and left on the
field he could notify the other If it happen
ed they were on the opposite sides in that
particular fight 1t was a boyish kind of
a lottery chance of one in a million, but
it suited them, and that's all they cared
for. The signal arrangement was to be
a light chain with a note fastened to 1t,
and the whole thing was to be fastened TO
the bullet and dropped into the old mus
kets they had in those days. This was to
be fired at random up into the air to fall
among the soldiers of the opposite side
10 be picked up as it might and taken to
the man whose address was in the note,
along with other instructions to be fol-
lowed out by the brother who might be in
condition to do it. You can see how child
ish and almost impossible it was, but there
was just that chance in it that made it
| attractive to the boys. and they told each
other good-by and went their ways, the
one to the north, the other to the south,
each bearing with him his chain and note
of identification attached to the bit of lead
that some day might bear on its wings the
| message of DEATH"
The veteran was becoming poetic and pa
thetic, and the reporter suggested re-
| filling of the glasses, and the suggestion
met with Immediate and pleased approval.
For the first two years. continued the
veteran, ''the boys hadn't any occasion
| to use their signals, for they had gone
| through unscathed and, besides, they were
| serving in sections of the country widely
| separated but in 1863, in the fall, they were
with the armies lighting through Tennes-
| see, though they had lost track of each
| other except in a general way. Just what
| they knew of each others whereabouts
I know m NIL pr
there was a skirm.sh somewhere in the
| neighborhood of Knoxville, in which five
| or six hundred men on a side were en-
| gagged, without result, and both sides had
settled down for the night to wait and
| fight 1t out by daylight. There were
| lot of wounded men and dead ones, too,
| for that matter, scattered through the
/ woods, where most of the fighting had
| been. There was a cornfeld about
quarter of mile wide separating the
woods, and there had been some scrap
! ping in this open ground, though most of
| the fighting had been done from cover,
as these small skirmish line fights gener-
| ally are.
Il was corporal of the guard that night
and by O'Clock there was only an occa-
| sional shot, as if each side was quitting
| reluctantly and by inches / am not posi-
tive, but it seems to me that 1 heard the
last two shots before stiffness settled over
| all. What the details of the romance or
the tragedy, or whatever you want to call
it. are, 1 don't know. 1 know, though
that during the night we had reinforce
| ments, and when we began to cautiously
| peep around, as soon as the day began to
break, we discovered that the enemy had
| by some hook or crook taken alarm and
| departed in the night, leaving their dead
on the field, and among them, when we
sent out our burying party, we found
one of those boys with a bullet through
&c md laao ~ira ,,I,a 4
a note, buried in his brain. On our side
we found the other nephew with both legs
broken by ball, and bullet, through
his heart with a chain and note attached
to it,
Tho reporter threw up his hands in
amazement, not to say doubt.
Il don't try to explain it," the veteran
hastened to say alphabetically. 81 know
it is hard to explain; it is even hard to
believe, but what is q man to do or to say
when he sees such things with his own
eyes?''