Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1898-12-23
COLONEL DREW'S ONLY COMMAND
The Story Of Bones Of the Hospital
Staff
By n. QUAD.

NATURALLY enough, we were all
IN down on the noncombatants. Ii
IS always so in the fighting lines. The
teamster enlists as teamster, and 1t
is very useful and necessary adjunct
of an army, but yet when the fight is on
and you think of his being safe in the
rear. there is a feeling against him. So
with the hospital staff and others.
We had other reasons for being down
on ''Bones," however. In addition to
being out of the row, he was the man
who examined us at sick call half the
time, or when the regimental surgeon
had all excuse for being absent.
There is programme about sick
call, "anditwas only one variation whe1.
the hospital steward is the man you
run out your tongue at. When the
bugles sound the call, the ailing form
In line and march up to be examined.
So do the shrinkers. There are gener-
ally three shrinkers to one sick man.
There is widespread idea that neither
the regimental surgeon nor the hos
pital steward is on to this fact, but that
is one of the first things they discover
When we came up before "Bones" the
programme was:
"Sick, eh?"
Eyes, sir"
''What's the matter?"
"Had fever all night and was out
of my head most of the time"
run out your tongue SO I can see it. -
eyes, SIR
''Take three of these"
The looks of the tongue settled it
About one in six was excused from duty
for the day; the rest were pronounced
fit for drill and work. 1t was because
we couldn't beat Bones that we called
bin Bones" 1t was because he saw
through our little game that we would
have made his daily life miserable if
we had known how.
1t was because the regulations of war
put "Bones" to the rear when a fight
was on that we hoped stray bullet
,Would search him out some day. In
time Bones came to realize that he
had no friends in the rank and file Of
the Seventeenth, but must do him the
with him. He neither prescribed more
nor less physic, neither excused more
nor less men from duty. He went right
along doing his duty by the United
States, and looking serious and con-
scientious over it, and this was another
cause for complaint on our part.
BY and by, when we were hatins,
"Bones'' with all our hearts and things
had gone so bad that the sight of him
set men to yelling, we marched away 20
outfiank Jackson. as he had outf1anked
Pope at Manassas. 1t was sharp fight
ing along the front from the start, and
after two days march our corps went
knew that there was host of the enemy
in our front.
4 brigade was detached to reconnol
ter the woods to our left. and later OH
our regiment was detached to deploy
as skirmishers and draw out the con.
cealed strength of the enemy. Away we
went with yell. glad to be in at last
and it wasn't five minutes before men
began to fall pretty fast. We pushed or
up to the woods, drove the gray ski1m.
ishers back, and then massed on the
center to hold gap between the hills.
Troops were moving up to support u;
and hold the ground we had gained
when the enemy came swarming out
Then for ten minutes the old Seven
teenth made its war record We heit
full brigade. We did even better tina,
that-we repufsed three determined
assaults by four times our number, ani
we killed and wounded almost as man,
men as we had in the ranks.
But there was blunder somewhere
Our supports fell back, the enemy wa
reinforced. and we were left there to b,
sacrificed. There was panic-no re
treat. 1t was simply that the lone regi
ment. realizing that il had been aban
doned, broke up into detachments an,
fought almost without leaders and eac
man for himself.
Again whole brigade moved u
against us, and, though we were on!