Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-07-30

teer1ng for this
- sss1sA- or that hazardous
service smacks Of the bombastic, an
itching for notoriety Good soldiers
wait to be invited to volunteer In the
civil war the men for forlorn hopes
were picked" by their commanders
Really it is difficult enough to be equal
to the emergencies cut out by fate with
ont seeking emergencies.
"Hold the Fort" Corse was ordered
by his superior to go to Allatoona pass
and keep it for Shermans coming.
Cushing's battery happened to be in the
line of guns charged upon by Pickett's
column at Gettysburg, and won imper-
ishable glory by giving the Confeder-
ates tho best it had in its gun chests.
STANDARDS Vermont brigade marched to
the battlefield in rear of the whole ar
my, doing the thankless duty of wagon
guard Hancock ordered it to go at Pick
ett's tanks simply because it CHANGED
to be on the spot in time of need. The
same with the First Minnesota regi-
ment, which at Gettysburg, also by
Hancock's order, performed lone of the
sublimest deeds recorded in history.
Longstreet chose Pickett's division for
the grand assault on Cemetery Ridge
because it happened to have been rear
guard ON the march, reached the field
late, and was fresh.
Don't volunteer but once, young gen
tlemen, is the advice of an old cam
paigner who often missed the chance
he wanted by looking for it in the
wrong place, and he saw others commit
the same folly General Slocum, who
held every command from a company
to an army, said that the highest tribute
he could pay to body of soldiers was
this, lyon were always ready and could
be depended upon for any work asked
of you" Given an army and fight in
hand, the chief anxiety of nation, the
chief anxiety of q leader, is, "Can the
men be depended upon?" II so. all is
we'll
The dull routine Of soldering and
mechanical obedience to orders may be
very unpicturesque, but in the grand
aggregate they are glorious The aver
age soldier has no prouder boast to
make than to say, az did my duty"
but the pride that goes with that makes
q man of him for oil his life. The old
campaigner cited here was one Of those
complimented by General Slocum at the
end Of his service in the words above
given. He waited % years for civilian
tribute the equal Of that. It came from
q man whose position in life the old
campaigner envied until the civilian
said he would give 1t all up to be en-
titled to wear G. A. R. button. Now,
the G. A r. button simply means that
its wearer placed himself under govern
ment orders If he never fired a shot,
the glory of the achievement of an army
is shared by every man in it. But an
honorable discharge and G. A. r.
button was all that 90 out of every 100
veterans had to show for their years Of
devotion to the flag
It is for the honor and glory Of the
company and regiment that the soldier
snuffs out his individuality. Where the
company goes the soldier goes to fight
with it, TO suffer with 1t, to die with it
and even to retreat with it if retreat it
must The man who refuses to retreat
when his company is ordered back is a
conceited upstart and might just as con-
sistently refuse to go forward when
told. Never deliberate; always obey, !"
is the maxim of the soldier. This is
very hard lesson for a soldier TO learn
in theory before getting an object les
son, but the whole art of doing the duty
for which a man enlists lies in his apti.
tude for subordination. 1t is said that
the tom Brown" books stirred up a
widespread spirit Of personal emulation
and loyalty with respect to the particu-
lar school where ones lot is cast Books
of that nature for would be soldiers.
where the company or regiment would
take the place of the particular school,
would have a good effect.
The company of 100 men is the unit
of a regiment and the regiment of /, 900
men the unit Of an army. A man counts
as nothing by himself in battle, but
he counts as a host if he keeps touch Of
elbow through fire and blood with 90
or 800 as devoted as himself This work
Of effacing oneself and melting into the
mass may be begun and even carried
out to the full in the training camp and
rendezvous. Every soldier should eat
what is set before the company and take
all the hard drills and exercises set for
the mass
1t is start in the right direction to
have the company rollbook kept with
the last name first. Two or three times
every day in the year Adams finds out
that he is only Adams and Baker that
it is Of no consequence that he was
christened George Washington Baker,
the two Browns are likewise Brown,
James. " and Brown, John. So also
Jones, Samuel" and Jones, Will
liam, Robinson, Peter, " and Rob
inson, Paul, until one Of the pair
drops out Then it is Brown or Jones or
Robinson, but which individual of the
great family the army doesn't care ex-
cept four times a year at the pay table
or at final DISCHARGE