The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-06-25
THE LATE::.CONFLICT'.
"reminiscences of a Campaign
Along the Mississippi.
ADvENTuREs 5oF A.YETERAN.

lNNtSSNA <hANi' illsliI lSGoo WO-
MEN-TIIE STAMPEDE OF HILL.
DEBRAND's BRIGADE AT sHI.
LON LANDING-wHERE THE
{ DISTRESS OF WAR CONES IN
JPN. In New York Post, SENT
mcnt may make volunteer, but 1t ruins
soldis." said an officer to me before
] had moulted my parade-teathers and
shed my, plpe-clay. 1t was rough. but
true enough. as l found out, But scnt-
nentalists DO enlIst,t for enlisted. When
! think It ali over now. l wonder that
the sentiment was not all pounded ou.
OF me before got through. war is go
different In the concrete from war in
the abstract. III
When tho civil war broke ont l was
one OF thousands who felt that. In en-
listing they were escaping from some OF
the restraints that society puts upon
the natural masculine impulses. We
came out OF inconsplcuous humdrum In
TO parade. We were specialized by uni
forms and accompanied by applause.
We had banners OF silk and the music OF
our own bands, and we went away
through salvos Of appause. At first the
camaraderie and the boisterous loose
ness more than compensated for the
few hours OF rigid discipline. We no
longer had to pick our language or walt
for napkins. Twas soldiers privilege
to violate or at least to disregard the
small proprieties and there were no soft
voices OF reproach or mild looks oe
depreciation to pull US up. twas really.
as the phrase then went "a ninety
day picnic"
I shall never forget my first awaken
Ing to a full realization OF what war
really Is. Several Of US were detailed
TO serve upon. an extemporlzed gun
boat on the Mississippi in the place of
marines. We were to patrol Island
Number Ten. That meant to paddle
and puff ten miles down the river in a
b.oiling sun. and then strain and snort
and paddle ten miles up. day after day,
and night after night. until the monot-
ony Of 1t. in spite OF seven up. and
dominoes. and trolling for catfish. ate
into the souls OF us. II we had any in
ternal resources. we exhausted them in
4 week, and went sullenly about, yawn-
ing and Elowerlng at each other, and
wishing that somebody would blow US
up. III
After a while the rebels got some big
guns masked along the shore. and be-
gan to drop shells at US at long range.
That was a relief. At first the report.
the scream, and the final explosion
made every man strike an attitude OF
suspense. We used to hold our. breath
between the initial and the concluding
noise. But after a while this expert
ence fell into a prosalc phrase OF lis.
own, with subject and object and u
futile predicate. and when we heard the
scream IN our sleep we accepted the
dull logic OF the explosion. without
thinking about It, and went on sleeping.
was detailed as stewards assistant.
and one morning was leisurely' straight
ening UP what we called. for recula-'
TONS sake, 'the ward-room," and Won
derlng II a certain little girl, away off
somewhere on the edge tof! 2 pastures
green. was thinking OF her, soldier boy.
and II so, II she was not thinking of him
in cuirass and feathers. with his con-
Querins foot on the neck OF the BASTARD
lyifoe. instead of sweeping up cigarette
ends In white apron--when, in.
twinkling. the boat blew ~. and We
were all hurled into eternity.
Iput It that way, because that is the
way my senslbllties instantly inter.
preted 1t. Such are the lightning con-
vIctions that come of shock, shock that
IS indescrtbable, and that, to the SUBJ
consciousness, ends everything. Deaf,
blinded. and partly paralyZed, 1t was a
minute before realized that was still
alive, and began TO see that was in
the centre Of a network OF enormous
spllnters. twisted beams, and torn
stauchions.
1t Is In such experiences as these that
the senslbipties make summary and
sweeping deductions Ny hrst conclus-
ion was that this ended the war. It was
impossible for me to conceive OF any
thing beyond the present shock. It was
fnality, and curious consciousness
came over me that now. II we could get
ashore. there would be no more patrol
ling or anything else, In fact. but uni
versal peace and brotherhood. Two OF
my front teeth were knocked out, 4
sharp pain began to assert itself in my
arm, one eye was closed. and / saw. with
the other my own blood dripping from
q rent girder intfront OF me. How
freed myself and got to the companion
way, do not know, but it.was with the
distinct impression that events had
reached the ultimate crisis.
You can but !mperfectly understand
the revelation that war made of itself,
as emerged upon the deck and heard
the regular heave and throb OF the
hgh-pressure engine, and saw that We
we're still patrolllrg; that the officer of
the deck was looking calmly throuGh a
glass at the shore, and heard him say:
TAKE that man for'ard and pull the
splinters out Of him. and pipe all hands
TO repair damages" In one brief min
ute that war paid no sort OF Difference
10 my feelings; that 1t was our. business
TO patrol until we were sunk. and when
we were sunk some other boat would
take our place. After all. It was only n
shell that had exploded In the ward
room, and Just as likely as not the next
Shell would explode In the boiler-room
What did you expect?" asked nm old
SAT-, as he pulled a splinter out OF me !;
they alnt firing peach dumplings."
The inevitable lesson was that war re-
ducts. the individual to an unvolitlonal
atom and that the aggregate Is every