Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1898-06-23
IL can't shoot that mani"

dQlcT-
..You idiot, but why didn't you
shoot?" shouted the indignant general.
as he stepped forward.
at is cold blood, sir-cold bloodi"
whispered Davis, who trembled in
every limb and was as pale-faced as a
dead man.
You poltroon-you coward!" ragged
the general. Here, you man-cut the
stripes from his sleeves, and you, cap
tain, see that he is reduced to the ranks
on the company rolls! He ought to be
court-martialed and driven out of the
army in disgracei"
\ soldier stepped forward. and with
his pocket-knife cut the chevrons from
the corporal's sleeves, and poor Davis
SUNK away in disgrace. Here was
strange thing. A soldier who did not
hesitate to put himself in position to
be killed could not be induced to fire
upon the enemy His soldierly qualities
were such that he had been taken out
of the ranks, and yet he refused to
carry out a soldiers first duty-to kill.
We could not call him a coward-no
man is coward who will face death
but we called him strange and Won
dered what was back of it all. The men
of the company fell away from him.
and in few days he stood almost
alone. When we followed up the enemy
after Yorktown there was some heavy
skirmishing with the rear guard. Ann
brose Davis was with his company, and
upon one occasion, when the hunderd
charged and captured a gun, he led us
all in the rush, and was the first man to
put a hand on it. After that we said
it was case of nerves." or that he
had hereditary fear of shedding blood,
and he was looked upon more favor
ably.
We saw nothing more of the
Z" strangeness'' of Ambrose Davis until
the battle which drove Mcclellan to
make a change of base. For half day
our regiment stood in battle line. wait
ing to attack or be attacked, and dur
ing this interval our company lost two
men killed and three wounded. It re-
Guired all the nerve the men could work
up to stand there and be shot at with
out firing a shot in return, but Davis
showsd no more nervousness than any
of the rest. When at length we moved
by the left flank for a quarter of mile
and then dropped down to open fire and
hold our ground, Davis was the man
on my left, and as loaded my musket
noticed that he was firing high. Five
minutes later a lieutenant came creep
ing along in rear of us and warning
each man to aim low. I heard him
cursing Davis, and twice after that, ere
we fell back, / saw the man firing into
the tree tops.
The enemy crowded us back day by
day ana mile by mile, and there was
fighting over every foot of the high
ways. We had fierce grapple at Fair
Oaks, and again at Savage Station, but
all I knew of Davis was that he was
with us. It was only when we turned
at bay at Malvern Hill that found
myself beside him again. He had been
three times grazed by bullets, and that
was proof that he had stood up to a
soldiers work. Our regiment was sta
toned at the base of the hill, strun 6
along in the bed of dry creek, and the
banks gave us protection and a rest for
our muskets. As the enemy came
swarming across the open every man
was a fair target. l had fired three OF
four times when my musket fouled, and
as waited to clear it watched Davis
He was firing over the heads of the
enemy by 80 feet. Our position was
one which could not be carried. The
enemy realized this at last, and the
battle began to die away. On our front
we had only dead and wounded men, a:
far as we could see, and all firing had
ceased, when a man suddenly rose III
from the ground about a pistol shot
away and stood staring at US. A thou
sand men shouted at him to come anC
| surrender, but after a moment be
| turned his back and began moving
away. 1 do not know why any of the
hundreds OF men who had him in rangt
| did not fire, but they did not Som,
| were even cheering the man. when al
| officer of artillery jumped down amonz
US and shouted:
"Shoot him-shoot him-why dom
some of you bring him DOWN."
His words were heard by so men
| but not gun was raised. The officel
was storming at us when Davis sud
| denly lifted his musket and fired, ant
the retreating man flung up his arms
whirled about and sank down. Curse.
| and groans followed, and Davis threw
! down his gun and hid his face in hi:
| hands and sobbed.
"a splendid shot!" cried the officer
"and if were your captain you woulG
| be a corporal tomorrow"
| Davis had done a strange thing. W:
| looked at him and wondered over it
| The heat of the battle was yet strong
upon us, but the killing Of the maj
| seemed little short of cold-blooded muir
| der.
| Did kill-ki1 him? ?" asked Davis o
a man beside him when he could con
! troll himself.