The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1899-05-18


ed three months longer yo' would have
been brigadier general"
| bowed and passed along the con-
juice.
The wah is over, kurnel. but we
cannot forget our gallant leaders,
| bowed again.
"Yo' led the charge at Iuka-yo'
broke the enemy at Franklin-yo' were
left for dead at Nashville"
Once mo- i bowed.
And now, sah," says the captain,
as he extended his hand, 1.-The men Of
this senatorial district, who know
yo'r bravery as n soldier and yo'r ster-
ling integrity as a citizen, desiah to
eyince their appreciation of these at
tributes. / am heah, Kurnel Bunker,
on behalf of the voters to ask yo' to
accept the nomination Cor senatorship
in the state legislature
For a moment | was overcome, sab
regularly overcome. l had an ideah
that Capt Taylor had come over to
borrow money or to ask me to indoTse
q note 1t took me some time to pull
myself together and answer him:
Capt. Taylor, I will leave my military
record to history and my standing as
citizen to my friends. l do not seek
honahs and emoluments, but if it is
the wish 81 the majority 1 will accept
this nomination with pleasure"
He assured me that the desiah was
unanimous, and as an individual he
INDUCED in further words vi praise
which my native modesty forbids me to
repeat heah. 1t was an occasion, sab
the captain had created an occasion
but kurnel Bunker had risen to it as
the eagle rises from his perch to greet
the golden sun. Three days after my
interview with Capt. Taylor Judge
Davis rode up to the plantation. The
judge was smiling and serene, and
hope | was the same. We had nip
together and talked OF niggers and the
cotton crop, and L was wondering
where the judge was at when he sud
denly says to me:
''Kurnel Bunker, the seventeen
wounds which yo' received in as many
different battles are an inheritance to
be proud Of"
| felt it my duty to bow.
'.As u soldier yo'r fame will go down
into history, and as a citizen yo'r name
will be craven on the tablets of our
memory"
| bowed again.
"Yo' have reaped all that can be
garnered, sah," continued the judge,
and now l am heah to-day to ask yo'
to help me reap little myself. L have
been asked to take the nomination for
state senator of this district, and l
wish yo' to open my campaign with
Il speech
That was Judge Davis, sab, and
that was Kurnel Bunker, sab. Judge
Davis had created another occasion,
and it was Kurnel Bunker's duty to
rise to it; and when he did rise it was
like the uplifting of an island from
the depths of the sea. Withdrawing
into the house for moment | returned
with my pistols, and handing one to
the Judge l said:
Judge Davis, the lawn is befo' us,
and the distance between those red
stakes is exactly ten PAGES. Make yo'r
choice of either stake--of either stake,
sah-and | will count one-two-threc
and we will open tiah."
The Judge is a brave man. saba
brave man and q gentleman, but lit
tie slow to grasp the situation. 1t was
two or three minutes before he solved
the puzzle, and then he rose up, tears
sprang to his eyes, and reaching for
my hand he said:
"kurpcl Bunker, thought had been
asked to take the nomination for the
state senatorship, but | reckon l must
have been dreaming. Instead of yo'
opening the campaign for me l will
open it for yo', and if we do not sweep
earth and carry our banners to victory
then we shall have died in the cause
of glory and honah."
That was Kurnel Bunker, sab, still
holding those deadly weapons in his
hands, and that was Judge Davis, sab,
speaking from the fullness of his heart;
and it is needless to add that my mig
ger presently appeared with two clean
glasses and a demijohi of con juice,
and that a quantity of the said con
juice was speedily imbibed. Later on,
sab, at the district convention, several
truculcnt individuals opposed my nom
ination on the ground that [ was no
orator-no orator, sab. In one sense
the point was well taken-in another
it created an occasion for Kurnei Bun
ller to rise to. He rose. Stepping to
the front platform where all might see,
and drawing himself up to his full
height. lie spoke about as follows:
Gentlemen: 1t is true that am no
orator At the battle of Antietam ]
placed myself at the head of my glo-
rious old regiment and simply said:
Heroes of the Tenth, to-day we die or
win a glorious victory At the battle
of Cedar Creek / only waved my sword
and said: There is the enemy-we are
here II annihilate him Again, at
charlottesville, instead of falling into
oratory, l made my way through sing
ing bullets and screaming shell to the