The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1898-10-09
THE PENSION OF
STEVE CLEMENT

1 used to; want to see if 1 can get PEN
sion; don't reckon can get much, but a
little will help some"
"How long were you in the army, Glenn
ent?" asked Dr. Corbett.
-Four years, from first to last, from Ma
nassas to Appomattox Court House." was
the prompt reply, and there was show Of
pride as the old man made answer.
This conversation occurred in little Vir-
ginia hamlet few miles out from Wash
ington. The applicant for a pension was a
character He was tall, feet at least,
gaunt, stoop-shoudered, blind in one eye,
one leg was shorter than the other as the
result of wound received in one of the
Wilderness battles, and there was a per-
manent crook in his left arm, the result of
a wound received in one of the charges
made at Petersburg in 1864. He was dressed
in gray from head to foot, in clothes that
had served him for years.
Sitting his launches, just outside Of
the Doctors door, was a yellow dog, long
cared dull-eyed and lazy, that follows
Clement from morning till night The pair
seemed inseparable; the dog is as fond Of
his master as his master is of the dog.
They are representatives Clement and
old Tige of the old-time poor white trash
of Virginia. People must not conclude be-
cause element of Virginia in the past,
not to say of the present, is classed as poor
white trash that 1t has no redeeming char
acteristics, no good qualities, no striking
features. Thousands of the bravest and
best soldiers in the old confederate army,
an army as famous for good and brave SOL
diers as any army since the world was
founded, were poor white trash" So
called The term poor white trash" is not
one of reproach. Many of the men who
followed gallant General George e. Pickett
In that never-to- be-forgotten charge of the
Sd of July at Gettysburg-a charge that
stands out so prominently that it is always
quoted when fighting is under discussion
anywhere-came from the ranks of the
poor white trash,' and much of the ma
terial was made up of Virginia poor white
trash" and this old man in gray, physical
wreck and partial wreck mentally, was
of the number.
l watched him as he talked to the doctor
and listened closely to his comments while
the examination taking place. His an
swer to the Doctors question where he
had that leg shortened was: 80, they
Clipped that chunk out at the Wilderness;
at Gettysburg they turned out the light
here, pointing to his sghtless eye, land I
have carried it around a dark lantern
ever since. 1 suppose L have crooked an
arm too often, but those fellows at Peters
burg gave me this crooked arm that will
stay by me to the end. To straighten it
would mean to break it," A scar on his
neck was mentioned by the doctor. 80.
4l,a4 I not hot Of Anti Oh
two minutes after Jackson came up from
Harpers Ferry and saved Lees army from
destruction It bled bucketful, but kept I
right on loading and firing until the battle /
was over, and then didn't go to the hos
pital." II
"How is your head, Clement? asked thft
doctor. 80, they SCARED that at FredericksT
burg" whereupon he lifted his gray SLOUGH
hat and showed furrow that the bullet
had made.
'How many times were you, wounded,
Steve?"
80, by and far, large and small little and
right smart, they whacked me seven times,
but they couldn't kill me- Once our folks
left me for dead, but after l had laid on
the ground four days l came too, crawled
into potato patch, opened a hill and filled
myself with raw potatoes, and the next day
started in search of my regiment, which
found a week later. The sergeant had en-
tered my name on the list as killed In bat
tie, but was worth a dozen of dead john
MES the balance of the war, and am yes,
for that matter
"Why, you ought to have had pension
long ago. old man. said the doctor.
81 know it, doctor but hated to apply,
as there are so many of our boys worse off
than 1 am. I can scratch around and make
a few dollars, here and there, now and
then, but 1t is getting harder and harder
every year, and have taken a gup at
my pride and 1 going to ask for a Wv
sion."
"You ought to get big pension; what do
you suppose you will get?'
1.-THE most 1 can expect is s1.5) a month,
or SIS a year. You know our state of Vir-
ginia is not as rich as the United States
and can't give such generous pensions, but
old Virginia is doing the best she can.
When she finds one of the old boys in gay
falling by the wayside, fatgued by he
hard journey. giving out, she tells him to
come up and get a pension, the best she
can afford, and in these days good many
of the old comrades needing the invita-
ton. What do you reckon I would set,
doctor, if l had been a Yankee soldier and
got all these swipes in battles?"
80, $50 or $40 a month"
"Well, it paid to be union soldier, didn't
it? Twice as much in a month as 1 shall
get in year. but don't envy any of the
old union soldiers ther good fortune. Insy
fought for what they thought was right,
and so did l. I wanted to see a southern
confederacy planted good and strong, and
I did my best to help plant it, but the fates
were agin us, and l sometimes get to
thinking the matter over, now that l am
getting old, and about ready to pull for the
opposite side, that it was just well that
we didn't smash up the old union. When
1 get my pension, doctor, I will drop
around and pay you for your trouble"
md ia
low dog logged down the lane, homewafd
bound.
Last summer while visiting near the Vir-
gina hamlet in question made inquiries
after my old confederate friend, and asked
for another opportunity to meet him, and
while we were talking one of the party
said, ''There he comes now-Clement his
wife and the same indolent, long-eared yell
low dog" Clement is not given very much
TO ion hut his 1afa L. oil IL