The National tribune., 1899-06-01
PICKET SHOTS
From Alert Comrades Along the Whole
Line.
WAS lie MAJ. HOWE?

rFOm Alert SOMrdueS Along tne Wn0l
Line.
| WAS lie MAJ. HOWE?
/ J. c. Major, Sergeant, Co. l, 1st W. Va
Cav, Maize, Kan, noted in the issue O
April 20 a communication relative to ar
officer buried near AppomattOx, and say.
that Maj. B. Howe, 1st W. Va Cav, wa.
wounded about 10 p. M, April 8, 1865
between AppOmmattox and Lynchburg
carried back a mile or so, and died on tn,
morning of the 9th. He does not know
whether the Majors body was buriet
there or not. He was probably the las
commissioned officer of the army to be
killed in action. He was the last of the
family of a father and four brothers VIII,
lost their lives in the war
W. X. Brown, Co. C, 1st W. Va, Nc.
Alpin, W. Va, also believes the officer wht
was killed was Maj. S. B. Howe, list, I'd
and Sd W. Va. Cav and 1st N. Y. Lincoln
Cav, which constituted the Third Bri-
gade of the Third Division of Cavalry, com,
manded by Gen. Custer. They made a
capturing two trains of cars loaded with
provisions, a large wagOn-train, and %
pieces of heavy artillery. 1t was while
| this was being accomplished that Mai.
Howe was shot. A more gallant man
never welded saber. After the cap
tuISu tTdlIS were StCuEcu
and the excitement had subsided, his
comrades shed sympathetic tears over
his remains and consigned them to the
earth. They buried him in the woods,
near the edge of field, and after burying
him the writer remembers building a pen
of logs around him. The writer says he
will use his endeavOrs to secure the white
slab suggested.
B. F. Jones, 1st W. Va. Cav, Ladona,
Iowa, writes, referring to the same epi
sOde, that the body must have been that
of the gallant Maj. Howe, of the writer s
regiment. His old comrades should make
sure of it.
ABOUT REBEL SPY.
p. d. Hall, 18th Ill. Cav, tells some
thing about James Johnson, the man
who was mentioned recently as having
been executed at Gorinth, Miss, in the
Summer of 1863, as n rebel spy. COmrade
Hall says that johnson left Eoddy's com
mand and enlisted in the 1st Ala. Cav. at
Glendale, an outpost of Corinth. He re-
mained with the regiment until May or
June, when he deserted Immediately
after the writer's command started on
reconnaissance. Johnson was on out
post duty and. the Union party passed
him. ROddyS command came down on
the party Hall was with so fiercely and in
such numbers that they had to burn their
wagons and retreat When next he saw
johnson he was being led out to be shot.
THE FLAG OF THE SD ILL.
D. l.. Holder. SD H., MattOOn, n,
writes OF the capture of the flag OF the SD
H., concerning which DIR. J. p Cannon
spoke in his TTnside of RebeldOm. 1t
happened on July ,12, 1868. Gen. Lau-
man had been ordered by Gen. Ord to
straighten the lines of his division. Gen.
Lauman ordered one brigade, consisting OF
the SD ILL.,, 41st ILL.,, 2Sth H. and Sd Iowa.
to charge the rebel works. They met with
a bloody repulse. The Colonel of the SD
was killed, the Lieutenant-C Colonel wound
ed, and the acting Major mortally hurt.
Ole of the Color Bearers was killed. The
flag can now be seen in Memorial Hal at
Springfield, Ill.
ON MISSIONARY RIDIE.
F. NJ. Estes, Sergeant, Co. ID, 10th Ind.
jackson, WyO., has noticed the claim of
John Barnes, Co. f.. 23d Ky, that the 23d
Ky. consolidated with the 1st Ohio, of
Brigade, and were the first troops
on Missionary Ridge. "He surely is mis-
taken" Comrade Estes says. Tclaim that
the 10Th Ind. consolidated with the ssth
Ind, commanded by Col. Fred Knefler,
was first on the Ridge. If not, why did
Gen. r. J. Woods come to us and accuse
us of taking the Ridge without orders'
He told us in a jollying way we had taken
did not hold it he would have us all
ourt-martialed."
SCATTERING.
w. ". Cole, Sabula, Pa, saws that a
Captain or a Lieutenant was killed in the |
clover field near BinghamtOn, N. Y, on
June IA, 1865, by some soldiers, on ac-
count of the officer striking one of the |
men with his sword for misbehaving and |
singing songs. The comrade would like |
10 read about the case.
W. II. Whisel, Everett, Pa, has bronze
medal presented by the State of West
Virginia to Calvin Daily, Corporal, Co. L,
I'd W. Va.
J. d. Flick, Co. d, 7th Pa. Cav, Van
cOuver, Wash, wants to hear from the
of his old regiment.
Geo. w. Tibbetts, Commander Wash
ngtOn and Alaska, G.A.R., Issaqual,
Wash, would like some cOmrade to write
lin what Indiana regiment was camped
n Clinch Gap, on the top of Clinch Mount
inns, Virginia, about Jan. 1, 1868, and
ater went to Strawberry Plains.
Prof VIM. j. Dews, Lock box q, Wash
ngton, ID. c., would like to hear from Mai.
Drake, Provost Marshal at New Creek
Turing Summer of 1864. Maj. Drake was
Drmerly editor of a paper at Parkersburg,
Y. Va. Also, of Capt. Purdy, Chief of
scouts of the Department of West Vir-
ina, who was in Cumberland, Nd, in
S64, with Mai.-Gen. Kelley, commanding
Department of West Virginia.
J. W. May, Co. E, SD Ind, Asherville.
nd, complains that he seldom sees any
hing from the SD Ind. He recalls sew =.
raj stiff fights they were in, but says he ;;
as read so much about the fighting in :
'uba and the philippines that he is
ather ashamed Of having been in such
Insignificant affairs as Fort DonelsOn, {
nashville, etc. lie f. afraid the old boys 9
'ill have to step down and out. He says !
hat at Fort Donelsbn they didn't have !.
AIMED beef, good or bad, but only a few .
eas that they "swiped." He was inter :
sted is reading, Comrade |. r. Black
'elIs story somrtime ago about the 117th ;
H.. as his regiment was in the same bri- ;
ade, and remembers experiences of :
'hich the cOmrade told. He would like to !
ee something frim the 49th III. men, too. y =
N. F. Alexander, Co. E, lst Tenn, Era, :
ex., says when Buell. went on his race 9
lth Bragg for Louisville in the Autumn =
b2, communications were cut off, ra- y
ons got scarce, long rolls were plentiful, !;
Dmetlmes two orJthree times a day, often -
by vOlleys of musketry. If .
orrid bacon and hardtack, as some of :, y
lie modern volunteers called their ra- +
ons, they would have been thankful. m
G remembers when a forage-train was q
red into at Hyde's Ferry. The shots !,
ime from a cedar brake. Privates
ynch and George Foster Immediately
turned the fire, and others joined in, II
1d they saved the train, the officer in =
'mmand having run away. Il
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "