Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1897-10-28

ing to be reused at the break of day
for a sudden charge. had started off
with General perched upon my musket
barrel, and sudden change in the or
der of march had separated us from
the wagons, so placed the rooster on
the limb of sapling above my head
while lay down to snatch few min
utes' sleep preparatory to the surprise
planned at daybreak.
General did not utter single cluck
in protest, although he must have been
very hungry from long fasting, but
quietly squatted on the branch while
l flung myself on the grass and leaves
and was soon fast asleep. l was so
weary that slept profoundly until l
was suddenly aroused by an unearthly
screech in my ear. Raising my head, l
took in the whole situation at u glance.
General had dropped down from his
perch and uttered shrill crow right in
my ear which had awakened me, and as
1 opened my eyes l saw the flash of
guns as our pickets fired, and in an
instant fell back upon us where we
lay. The Yankees had turned the tables
ON us and, discovering our presence, the
surprising force became the surprised
and in ten minutes there was the most
unearthly racket going on in that pine
thicket that you can imagine.
Right and left of my position the
hove Of nj nfl, 1nI
with yells and cheers, moving cautious
ly and firing as they moved. 1t had
become sufficiently light for me to find
my few belongings, and 1 soon recov-
cred my hat and haversack, which 1
had forgotten to pick up in the hurry
of the first surprise, and just at that
time 1 was saluted with loud crow
just above my head, and looking up
saw General perched upon his limb, he
having flown back there when the fir
ing began, and with his head held ON
one side he was siding along the sway
ing branch growing and clucking as
big as if he had taken part in the fight.
'In spite of the banging of the guns
and whistling of bullets, General stuck
brayely to his perch and never fut-
tered during the entire engagement.
When told the story in camp that
night General was the toast of the
evening, and he was treated to all sorts
of tidbits from the haversacks of my
comrades in recognition of his gal
lantry on the field of action.
Zone morning, however, General
played the camp detective in a most
alarming manner which came near
proving disastrous to u fellow soldier
of another mess. All foraging had been
strictly forbidden and no man was al
lowed to leave the ranks under the
heaviest penalty of military discipline.
There was fellow by the name of Jim
Nessmith, who occupied tent not far
from that of the captain of our conn
pany. About four O'clock the order was
passed along the lines for us to prepare
to march, We had not been allowed to
kindle our campfires the night before,
so that our breakfast consisted of bits
of hard tack and such other scraps of
IOONl dS lluu DGCll lClU III Oul lltlN Il ottCiNS
General was perched on the limb of
bush near me while l sat munchinS
my hard tack, and all of sudden he
raised himself on his perch and crowed
Justify. OF course, no cock in hearing
could resist replying to such a chal-
lengc, and from within the tent occu-
pied by Jim Nessmith came the muf-
fled crow of an old rooster Jim made
n grab at the bag and succeeded in
choking him off, but the noise had
reached the ears of some of the others,
and the captain became appraised of the
fact that Jim had been foraging. A
hasty examination of his tent dis
closed the body of the big rooster
choked to death by Jim in his anxiety
to put stop to his untimely Growing.
Jim was ordered under arrest pend
ing an Investigation, but just about
that time the order came to advance