The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-03-30
COWARD AND HERO.
The Change that was Wrought in a
Boy when he was Compelled to Face


Fire.
IT was in command of Fort Lamkin,
a mortar earthwork in rear Of Gen.
Bushrod Johnson's lines at Peters
burg in 1864 says George Cary
Eggleston in his book Of Southern sol
dier stories that will be issued by the
Macmillans in few days. 1.-THE fort
was named for our immediate COM
mander, from whose command we had
been detached for this service.
Zone day Lamkin himself came to
me when I was at his headquarters.
He was in trouble.
"'This boy, 81 Tucker he said, is
the son Of one of the best friends l
ever had in the world. The boy is a
coward. He literally lives in rat
hole. I have repeatedly pulled him
out by the legs, only to have him
| crawl back again the moment I let go
of his ankles. / don't know what to
do. It's my duty, Of course, to prefer
charges Of cowardice against him. and
if do he will certainly be shot, and
his father is my best friend
"He paused, and then said with
eagerness in his voice: why can't
you take him?'
II agreed at once. I told him I
would take the boy with me to my pits
and make either soldier or stiff
out Of Linn within the next twenty
| four hours. I was under no obliga-
tions to his father I had never even
met any of his relatives, and I had
seen too many years Of service to have
much patience with cowardice.
'sThe boy was sent for and ordered
[ to 60 with me. We walked down
toward Blandford Church. At the
proper point we turned out of the
Jerusalem plank road across the fields
toward Fort Lamkin. Half way there,
and on top Of little hill, which was
especially exposed to the gaze of the
sharpshooters, [ made ST Tucker sit
down by my side. There we came to
an understanding. told him he had
been assigned to me to be shot out Of
hand, or to be Court-martialled for
cowardice, which, at that particular
juncture Of the war, meant very much
the same thing. I explained to him
that he was about to join detachment
composed exclusively Of men especi-
ally selected for their courage-every
one Of them volunteer for what was
deemed peculiarly dangerous service.
I explained further that I should re-
quire him to do his duty as they did
theirs.
"sYou have managed to make for
yourself, I said, 'the reputation Of a
coward. You have now one last
chance to redeem yourself. You must
do that or you must die
"The sharpshooters were meantime
picking at US most uncomfortably as
we sat there. My experience as an
old soldier strongly suggested to me
that we ought to move. The position
was Of that kind that military men
call untenable. Nevertheless, l thought
it best to keep ST Tucker there min
ute longer, for purposes Of cbserva-
tion, if nothing else.
coat our pits, I said, we have one
uniform rule Of procedure. When a
bombardment begins the men go to
their guns. | take my stand on top
Of the magazine mound to watch the
enemy's fire and direct our own. If |
see that mortar shell is about to fall
into one Of the gun pits [ call out the
pit number and the men run into the
bombproof until the explosion is over.
No man ever goes into bombproof
till this order is given. You must do
as the rest do. If you run to bomb
proof before 1 have given the order it
will be my imperative duty to shoot
you then and there, and I shall GER
tainly discharge that duty. Do you
fully understand that, SIP"
''He thought he did, and as the
sharpsnooters were by this time be-
coming pestilently personal in their
attentions, we resumed our walk.
Half an hour after our arrival at Fort
Lamkin bombardment began.
didn want to shoot that boy. l dis
tinctly preferred to make soldier
rather than Il stiff out of him. So,
instead Of taking my customary stand
on the mound of earth over the maga-
zine, ordered Joe to that post and
placed myself in the gun pit to which
| ST Tucker had been assigned. taking