The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-03-30
COWARD AND HERO.
The Change that was Wrought in q
Boy when he was Compelled to Face
Fire.

II vas in command Of Fort Lamkin,
a mortar carthwork in rear Of Gen.
Bushrod Johnson's lines at Peters
burg in 1864 says George Cary
Eggleston in his book Of Southern sol
der stories that will be issued by the
Macmillans in a few days. 'The fort
was named for our immediate com
mander, from whose command We had
been detached for this service.
Zone day Lamkin himself came to
me when | was at his headquarters.
lie was in trouble.
This boy, 81 Tucker, he said, is
the son of one Of the best friends |
cvcr had in the world. The boy is a
coward. Nc literally lives in a rat
hole. ! have repeatedly pulled him
out by the legs, only to have him
crawl back again the III | let 90
of his anhics. ! don't know what TO
do. It's my duty, Of course, to prefer
charges Of cowardicc against him. and
if do he will certainly be shot, and
his father is my best friend
"Ilc paused, and then said with
eagcrncss in his voice why can't
you take himy
IL agreed at once. | told him |
would take the boy with nc to my pits
and make either a soldier or a stiff
out of him within the next twenty
four hours. | was under no obliga-
tons to his father l had never even
met any Of his relatives, and l had
seen too many years Of service to have
much patience with cowardicc.
THE boy was sent for and ordered
to go with ME. We walked down
toward Blandford Church. At the
proper point we turned out Of the
Jerusalem plank road across the fields
toward Fort Lamkin. Half way there,
and on top Of a little hill, which was
especially exposed to the gaze Of the
s~harpshootcrs, | made 81 Tucker sit
down by my side. There we came to
an understanding. | told him he had
been assigned to me to be shot out of
hand, or to be Court-martiallcd for
cowardice, which, at that particular
j%uncturc of the war, meant very much
the same thing. | explained to him
that he was about to join detachment
composed exclusively Of men especi-
ally selected for their couragc-cycry
one Of them Il volunteer for what was
deemed a peculiarly dangerous service.
l explained further that | should re-
quire him to do his duty as they did
theirs.
"'You have managed to make for
YOURSELF [ said, the reputation of a
coward. You have now one last
chance to redeem yourself. You must
do that or you must die
"The sharpshooters were meantime
picking ut US most uncomfortably as
we sat there. My experience as an
old soldier strongly suggested to me
that we ought to move. The position
was OF that kind that military men
call untenable. Nevertheless, 1 thought
it best to keep 81 Tucker there a min
ute longer, for purposes Of observa-
ton, if nothing else.
cat our pits l said, we have one
uniform rule of procedure. When a
bombardment begins the men so to
their guns. / take my stand on top
Of the magazine mound to watch tho
enemy's fire and direct our own. III
see that a mortar shell is about to fall
into II of the gun pits I call out the
pit number and the men run into the
b%ombproof until the explosion is over.
No man ever goes into a bombproof
till this order is given. You must do
as the rest do. If you run to a bomb
proof before l have given the order it
will be my imperative duty to shoot
you then and there, and l shall GER
tainly discharge that duty. DO you
fully understand that, SIP"
/. "Hc thought lie did, and as the
sharpshooters were by this time be-
coming pestilently personal in their
attentions, we resumed cur walk.
Half an hour after our arrival at Fort
Lamkin ii bombardment began. l
didn want to shoot that boy. l dis
tinctly preferred to make a soldier
rather than Il stiff out of him. So,
instead Of taking my customary stand
on the mound of earth over the maya
zine, | ordered Joe to that post and
placed myself in the gun pit to which
81 Tucker had been assigned, taking
care to stand between him and the
mouth of the bombproof. l spoke to
him as l passed.