The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-12-30
.qnL Isss, " As.ueeIHeary .sens4sx,

ond choice to sheol. 1t was the winte
. of 1901, as black and dreary time a
ever the army knew, for congress ha
telescoped 45 regiments into half tn
,, number and blasted all hopes Of promo
tion-about the only thing the soldie
has to live for.
And that wasn't the. BLACKLIST thin,
, about the buainess by any means. TIL
!, war had developed the fact that we hat
thousands Of battalion commanders TO
whom the nation had no place in peac,
times, and scores Of them, in the hop
: and promise Of a life employment in al
honorable profession, accepted the ten
der Of lieutenancies in the regular army
! in 1866, the war having broken up ali
their vacations at home, and now, hav.
ing given four years more to the mill.
tary service-taken all those years out
of their lives that might have been
given to establishing themselves in bust.
ness-they were hidden to choose be.
tween voluntarily, quitting the army
with bonus Of o years pay and re-
naming with no hope Of advancement.
Most Of them, despairing Of finding en-
ployment in civil life, concluded to
stay; 60 other methods Of getting rid Of
them were devised, and, to the amaze
Of the army and the dismay Of the VIC
Tins, a big list was published of officers
rendered supernumerary" and sum
marily discharged.
| And this was how it happened that q
gallant, brilliant and glad hearted fell
/ low, the favorite staff officer Of d glori.
! GUS corps commander who. fell at the
bead Of his men after three years Of
equally glorious service, found himself
in faraway Texas this blacklist of black
Fridays, suddenly turned loose on the
world and without hope or home.
Cruel was no word for it. Entering
the army before the war, one of the
few gifted civilians commissioned be.
cause they loved the service and then
had friends to back them, Edgar Law.
renee had Joined the cavalry in Texas,
where the first thing he did was to fall
heels over head in love with his can.
tains daughter, and a runaway match
resulted. Poor Kitty Tyrrell! Poor Ned
Lawrence! Two more impractical peo.
ple never lived, She was an army girl
with aspirations, much sweetness and
little sense He was a whole souled.
generous, lavish fellow. Both were ex.
trayagant. she particularly 90, Thew
were sorely in debt when the war broke
out, and he instead of going in for the
volunteers was induced to become aid.
de.camp to his old colonel, who passed
him on to another when he retired, and
when the war was half over Lawrence
was only captain of staff, and CAPTAIN
he came out at the close, Breyets of
course he had, but what are breyets hut
empty title? What profiteth it a man
to be called colonel II be have only the
pay Of a sub? Hundreds of men who ca
gerly sought his aid or influence during
the war "held over him" at the end Of
it, Another general took him on his
staff as aid-de-camp, where Lawrence
was invaluable. Kitty dearly loved city
life, parties, balls, operas and theaters,
but Lawrence grew lined and gray with
care and worry. The general went the
way OF al hesh' and Lawrence to Tex
~ unable 10 gee announcer staf biilet.
dhey SET MN al court martial duty at
san ANTONIO ior several months, Tor
lezas 1urhisned cuiprlts by the score IN
1ne Gays thaG IolloWed the war, ana
many an uhpronlsing army career was
ou' shorc ny the tribunal OF whlch Zap
IAN ana breVet Lieutenant Colonel
Lawrence was Judge advocate, but all
tne tme no mad q skeleton IN his own
oioset that by ana by ratified It's way out.
Inns was III the war Gays When
ihahy Oh the men OF the headquarters
escort banked their money with the be-
loved and popular aid. lie had nearly
vi, 2O0 when the long columns prObed
the wilderness In 1854. 1t was still
WIN MN when he was suddenly sent
PACK TO washington with the body OF
his beloved chief, but every cent was
gone before he got there, stolen from
MN on the steamer from Acquia creek,
and never trace was found OF it there.
After. For years hewas paying that off,
making 1t good III drlblets, but while
10 was serving faithfully in Texas.
scout that took him
niles and miles AWAY over the Ilano
Istacado, there were inimical souls
Who worked the story of his indebted.
less to enlisted men for all IL was
worth. and. aided nv the comnlo;nts of
ONE Of their number. to his prieyous
disadvantage. He came home from a
rilliant dash after the Kiowas to find
,imself comnl;mented in orders and
onfronted nv charges in one and tbo
anne breath. The court acnnitted him
nd cent" his accnsers Init the shame
nd humiliation Of IA all seemed to nrev
non his spirits. and then Kitty Tvrreil
led.
eff that had onlv hannened veors be.
,re j" said the colonel ait would have
een far better for Lawrence for clio
believed herself the hest
life in the world and snent every cent
his income in dressing nm to her con.
,ption of the character -" Once the
ost dashinp and dehonair If canta;ns {
nor Ned ran down at tho bool onI 1
emed unable To rollv- New command.
"a came to tbo den.rt,ont +o lie ron;
-. -, q, -, .