Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1897-12-02
BANTAM In THE ARMY
ONLY ROOSTER IN GEORGIA THAT HAS
TOMBSTONE OVER HIS GRAVE.

n
Enlisting ut Cu1peper, Va, He Served
A Sentinel In = Tree How He betrayed
Jim Nessmith.
"While we were camped near Cul-
pepper Court House in the fall of 1862,
said Major Tom Williams, II becan.c
acquainted with family named Dow
DIV. just before the battle of Culpf pr
paid visit to the farm and found tn
ladies in panic preparing to flee T.
set before me such scant fare -
had left, and after ! had cate II :, ha,
luncheon Miss Mary Dowdy call t,
me and led the way to the back yG
"'There is the last of our Ito, !. g.
poultry, said she, pointing to a IL
bantam cock that was strutting alo
the yard. Il haven't the heart to Kill
him because he Is pet. Ii you want
him. You can take him and do as you
like with him.
During the campaign of 1868 he of
Ucn sdt Oh NY tniouSh bIf
long weary marches end hurried re-
treats, and / shared my rations with
him. One night we had reached the
flank Of the enemy's camp by a forced
march and lay down to sleep on our
arms, expecting to be reused at the
break Of day for sudden charge. had
started off with General perched upon
my musket barrel, and sudden change
in the order Of march had separated us
from the wagons, SO l placed the roost-
er on the limb of sapling above my
head, while lay down to snatch a few
| minutes sleep.
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 /
| flung myself on the grass and leaves
and was soon fast asleep. | was so
weary that l slept profoundly until /
was suddenly aroused by an unearthly
screech in my ear. Raising my head, l
| took in the whole situation at IA glance.
General had dropped down from his
| perch and uttered shrill crow right iii
my ear which had awakened me, and as
| | opened my eyes | saw the flash Of guns
Ms our pickets fired and i'll an instant
| fell back upon us where Yves lay. The
| Yankees had turned the tables ON us
and, discovering our presence, the sur
prising force became the surprised, and
| i'll ten minutes there was an unearthly
racket going ON i'll that pine thicket
Right and left of my position the
| bows came out Of cover and advanced
with yells and cheers, moving cautious
! ly and firing as they moved. 1t bad be-
| come sufficiently light for me to find
my few belongings, and | soon recover
| ed my hat and haversack, which | had
forgotten to pick up i'll the hurry OF the
first surprise, and just at that time
was saluted with II loud crow just above
| my head and looking up / saw General
perched upon his limb, he having flown
back there when the firing began, and
with his head held ON one side he was
Siding along the swaying branch, crow
ing and cluclsing.
I'm spite of the banging of the guns
| and whistling of bullets General stuck
bravely to his perch and never fluttered
during the entire engagement When
l told the story in camp that night,
| General was the toast of the evening,
and he was treated to all sorts Of It'd
bits in recognition of his gallantry
ON the field of action.
"One morning, however, General
played the camp detective i'll most
| alarming manner, which came near
proving d sastrous H. Il fellow soldier of
another mess All fmaging 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
| NeSsnith, who occupied a tent not far
from that of the captain of onr compa-
| NY About 4 O'Clock the order was pass
ed along the lines FOR us to prepare to
march
General was perched on the limb of
bush near me while | sat munching
my hard tack, and all of a sudden he
raised himself on his perch and crowed
| Justify. OF course no cock in hearing
Aphlb lt'iSA ply AAiS w NiiN II 81
and from within the tent occupied by
| Jim Nessmith came the muttied crow Of
an old rooster. Jim made grab at the
| bag and succeeded in choking him OF,
but the noise had reached the ears of
some of the others. and the captain be-
came appraised of the fact that Jim had
been foraging \ hasty examination OF
his tent disclosed the body Of the big
rooster. choked to death by jim in his
anxiety To put stop tn his mtlmely
growing,
Jim was ordered under arrest pend
ing an investigation, but Just about that
time the order came to advance, and We
moved forward and by sunrise VT were
fighting, and the unfortunate officer
who had ordered Jim to be placed I'M
der arrest was borne from the field
corpse after the fight was over. The AZ
fair was forgotten amid the stirring