The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-12-05
A PATCH or
MOONLIGHT

A Soldier on Picket II Fright
ened to Death.

l
cowardice, and you felt nothing but con-
tempt for him. 1t Is human nature to
despise coward. No dog will own a
master who shows the white feather.
Cowardice in citizen is bad enough. but
when displayed by one who is paid, drill
cd and equipped to fight our battles and
who has been passed upon us brave
man you Gun find no excuse for him. You
condemn him offhand and remember only
to avoid him. You go too fast. Soldiers
have been disgraced who would have
made proud records il circumstances had
been little different. For every cow
ard weeded out thousand have been left
In the ranks.
Did you ever go to war expecting to
be killed? OF course not. There would
be dead and wounded. but you would not
be among them. No one had cause to
wonder whether you were brave man or
a coward until your first battle. Then
there were hubbub and confusion, and IL
your nerve gave way you had plenty Of
company, and 1t was not commented on.
You were afraid, mortally afraid. Don't
! deny it, for no one but buffer will be-
| lieve you. Shot and shell and bullet and
roar Of battle, with men finging up their
hands and screaming in agony, benumbed
you. 1t was horrible nightmare, and
you deserved neither praise nor ccnsure.
You carried yourself better on the second
| occasion, but don't say that on the third
you felt no trepidation. That would be
! false and find no believers. How many
Of us took in all the big battles, from Nc
Clellan's first to Grants last, and vet did
we sweep forward under Custer at Sail
! or's creek without fear Of death2 There
were pale cheeks and chattcring teeth
and choking hearts as we went, and there
was cause for it.
But II soldier went through his first
battle with credit his courage was not
put beyond question There was a hard
er trial in store for him. 1t was the pick
ct post at night, with the enemy's posts
only half mile away, and day of bat
tie was not to be compared to a turn Of
two hours in the darkness under the
trees. Here is post No. Z in the far edge
Of a piece Of forest. A quarter of mile
in rear Of it Is bivouac of the reserves.
In front is an old cotton field. On the
far edge Of the field is farmhouse, and
beyond that the enemy may be found.
The view by day is peaceful and pleas
ant, and it Is hard to imagine that war is
upon the land. When there Is NO sharp
shooting, the day plckets are rather bored.
They smoke, cut their names on the
smooth beeches and write letters to wives
and sweethearts in pencil. They feel al
most as safe as il at home on village
street or farm. But when night comes
oil is changed. There are bushwhackers
prowling about by night; there ure scouts
seeking information; there are spies try
ing to penetrate the camps. Under cover
of darkness the enemy may advance in
force to new positions. Gaunt and saw
age dogs, driven from home by battle,
skulk in the thickets and are desperate
with hunger, and at the lonely cry of the
midnight owl the buzzards roosting in the
dead trees wake up and utter such
strange sounds that the picket's heart
leaps into his threat.
There was something like pity in the
corporal's heart as he relieved post No.
at 10 O'Clock at night and whispered in
structions to the smooth faced boy who
was to enter into battle with the night.
A boy he was, and yet be had come out
of his first battle with good word from
all and had st d fire on the skirmish
line aud with the wagon train. 1t was
his first picket post at night in face of
the enemy. He had given the matter no
thought. He was cool and collected as
he took the post, and he laughed as the
corporal warned him against getting over
excited and raising false alarm. In
three minutes the footsteps of the relief
could no longer be heard, and the picket
tLa
and watch and commune. There was
home to think of-father, mother, broth
er and sisters. While his thoughts were
busy he could also watch and listen. 1t
was not against orders to smoke his pipe.
For ten minutes the boys thoughts
s.re so pleasant that he almost forgot
where he was. Then he was suddenly |
aroused by a gust of wind which moaned
through the branches above his head
and rubbed two limbs together to make
an uncanny creaking. 1t was moth !
ing TO alarm, and yet it set his heart to
beating at furious rate and brought him
to his feet to look about him as il expect
Ing blow. Loneliness, darkness, gust
of wind-that was the beginning of it. |
Before 80 minutes had passed the boy
was trembling in every limb. He knew
he was scared. He feared for his cour-
age, and yet he could not help it. He
sank down and had fight with himself.
He argued that there was no danger;
that it was only the darkness; that it was
foolish to get ratified over nothing. He
might have fought his fears back. but
the night had only begun to toy with him.
Some animal-dog, fox or rabbit-was
moving about in the forest to his right.
There was pat, pat, pat, on the dry
leaves. with now and then the breaking
Of stick. The boy felt chill from head
to heel as the sounds reached his ear.
He magnifed them into the tread of a
man. His wide open eyes transformed
every tree and bush into the form Of
human enemy stealing upon him. Run
AWAY from the post? No! Only half n
dozen such cases were ever known, and
the men were babblng lunatics or dumb
idiots when they came back to the re-
serve. Standing with his back to the
tree, his musket ready and his eyes
searching the darkness, the boy waited.
II the danger would only come! II the
skulking bushwhacker would rise up and
strike at him and break the spell and
give him the smallest show to fight for
his life! But there was darkness, and
The wind moaned like Il wounded man,
and the forest seemed alive with uncan.
ny noises. The boy threw his musket
away from him and sank down and wept
ike a child. He knew that he wept, and
le cursed himself. He realized that his
nerve was gone, and be called himself
eur and coward. But he could not
.h0ke back his sobs or bring the strength
pack to his limbs. He fought - God
inows how hard he fought--but there
,ame a new fright over the knowledge
hat he could not conquer. When On owl
II thorn tree down in the field sent
orth his dismal boot, the picket grovclcd
With his face In the dead leaves and
prayed God to have mercy on him.
The clouds were racing overhead as the
10Y sobbed and prayed and cursed. BY
md by they broke UP to let the moon
asst her light at intervals. From clus-
rI OF bushes on the far side of the old
irld u man began creeping and hating.
n hilp tho Mucu was hidden ho crpnt !