The National tribune., 1900-12-13
Innteer.like. IN Regnlar officer ever

| yolunteer-like. NO Regular Offlcer eYel
makes stump speeches to his men,
las you think best, Colonel" said ShaG
deferentially. But as you have discov
cred, volunteer soldiers are quite different
from Regulars, l think that you can gel
much more out of them than you can from
Regulars, and you have to handle them
| efficient"
Lieutenant, | believe you are right.
never would have dreamed it before this
| trip. They are certainly different from the
men we've been getting in the Regular
| Army. They seem to be made of iron and
have hearts of oak. / think ! should be
justified in doing what YOU suggest"
You certainly would, Colonel"
''The idea" said the Colonel. hesitatine
little of an officer of my rank making a
stump speech to his men, Just like enc OF
these political fellows. Why, General
Grant or General Thomas never
General Sherman, Colonel" interposed
| Shad, likes nothing better than to get a
crowd of his men around and give them a
good talk"
VERY well, then, assemble the men
about the capstan there, and Ill speak to
them briefly"
1t was wofully tired, worked-out lot of
boys that gathered forward about the cap
stan. The moment. that they felt that
| they had gained a position of comparative
safety, they realized how terribly ex-
bduStlHS lutiI slIuSBitS udu DttH anu tllrs
| could scarcely drag one foot after an
other, and they looked all that they felt.
I'm afraid you won't have a very en-
thusiastic audience, Colonel" Shad ven
tured to suggest. They're too played out
to even cheer, which a soldier generally
can do as long as he is alive"
Poor fellows, don't wonder" said the
Colonel, mounting the capstan. "Men, ]
want to express the highest thanks Of my
self, and the Engineer Corps, and the War
Department, which / represent for the
splendid manner in which you have con-
Quoted yourselves through the trying or
deal"
"Hooray! Hooray for the Colonelr' said
the boys, trying to force their weary
voices into cheer.
"You have done splendidly, from first to
last. No men could have done better. /
doubt if any others could have done as
well. / am going to embody it all in my
report to the War Department. l am
Klegg, Dye and Elliott for commits
sions"-
.'Hooray, Hooray! HoOray! Tigerw
shouted the boys with far more animation
than before. Bully for you. That's the
ticket. They deserve it."
"And as for the rest of you" continued
the Colonel, fortunately l have the author
ity to show my appreciation of your sery-
ices in a substantial way. l think you
have done enough TO entitle you to long
rest As soon as we arrive at Chatta
nooga, | am going to secure furlOughs for
all of YOU"
The Colonel expected that this would
arouse the wild enthusiasm of his hearers.
But. to his amazement, they shouted back:
I'VE don't want no furloughs. We want
to get to Sherman. That's what we've
been tryin' to do all the time"
Il declare. l can't understand such
men, said the Colonel as, after few
more compliments, he descended from the
by Shad II think it is the first time in
the military history of the world that sol
diers have refused furloughs, and especial
" men in the condition of these"
They only stopped long enough at Deca-
tur to have n surgeon attend to the wounds
Of the Colonel and the others, bury their
dead comrade in the soldiers cemetery,
and take on a new pilot more familiar
with the Upper Tennessee, and who would
relieve from constant duty the one who
had brought them thus far. The Surgeon
urged the Colonel and the other wounded
to go ashore and remain in the hospital.
The boys absolutely refused to leave the
boat or go to the hospital, and the Colonel
got on his high horse at once Mt the
thought of deserving his expedition" no
matter how much his wound needed atten-
ton. Il
.'Thank heavens. you have the pontoons,"
said an Aide, with whom Shad talked. |
''Sherman's been stewing around about
them for about a month now You know |
how the Old Man is. He'll get thing in |
his head and never stop fussing until he |
accomplishes it. really believe that he's
been thinking more about these pontoons
than about Hoods Army, and he'll never
be happy until he gets them. That's his
way"