Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1900-09-05

arlac ana the dispersion of the in
surgcnt troops, these unhappy folks
began to return to their homes, and
on my expeditions I would meet
bodies OF men, women and children,
from half-a-dozen to one hundred in
bunch, coming back. They had
been living in any way to preserve
bare existence, most of them in carts,
and their clothes were exceedingly
ragged and dirty, though many bore
evidence Of superior culture and
standing. They always had num-
Der of white flags on poles, and usu-
ally . little child walked some dis
tance in advance of tho party, carry
ing tall reed of the fishpole kind
with handkerchief attached to it.
The infant would toddlc through the
mud, hold up the reed, which was
ten feet long, perhaps, and present.
ing one aspect Of war that might
VOL bring tears to the eyes even of
the most hardened veteran.
FUNSToN's HEROIC DEED.
One of the most heroic deeds /
saw during my campaign in the
Philippines was at the Bagabag
river We were trying to get a
body OF troops across the stream and
were experiencing very determined
opposition on the part of the enemy,
which was in strong force on the
further bank. 1t was difficult 30.
sltion, for our forces were exposed
to a scathing fire of artillery and
small arms. Nevertheless, under
this destructive fusladc, two of onr
men swan across the river with
ropes and tied them to poles on the
other side, thus enabling Funston
and his men to pull a raft over with
twenty Americans on it. This soon
wound up the fight, the Filpinos
taking, as usual, to their heels.
PERSONAL COURAGE in WAR.
The modern system of warfare
has tendency to discourage ind
vidual hcroisn. Acts Of personal
daring are necessarily exceptional,
because it is demanded Of troops
tat, in all ordinary cases, they shall
act as body. Our diciplinc and
dill encourages both officer and
soldier to do their duty on certain
definite lines and in accordance with
prescribed rules, an army operating
like single machine under the di-
rcctlon Of one mind-that of the
general commanding. What | adj
mlrc III our officers and men is not
only their courage, but also their
dcmcanor, which has so great an in
iluencc upon the morale of troops
IN the field. Both in Cuba and in
The Philippines have had oppor-
tunltics of observing officers whose
cooi and determined bearing has
extended over raw recruits an in.
|lucncc almost doubling the cfficncy
OF the entire fighting force.
Certainly we know, to our great
satisfaction, that the American sol
iler has not retrogradcd. AS vetc-
ran o. three wars, in each of which
my part has been such as to enable
NJ to overlook the activcness of /
great numbers Of men, | am able to
assert that he is as capable fighting
nan to-day, as brave and efficient as
ne has ever been. Taking him from
Ill points OF view, have no hesita-
ion in declaring him to be the best
soldier in the world at the present
.lmc. AS brave as the bravcst, he
'dds to the quality Of fearlcssncss, a
,oolncss, a stcadincss and a subiec.
,lon to discipline which make him
-hc beau ideal OF battle winner
| lie will prove it in the future as he
has done in the past.
NOBLE CONFEDERATE SCOUT.
Every war has its heroes. TO nv
lotlon the hero of the Civil War
III t. Confederate side was Sam
Davis, tn" scout. lie was caught in
tennessee, with papers Of impor-
,ancc on his person, and arrested. A
'onng fellow and of fine appearance,
MS case excited sympathy on the
oart OF the Federal authorities, and
ne was informed that if he would
ell who gave him the paper, thcy
would give him fine horse, with
and a pistol, and send
nm under safe escort through the
ines. lie refused and was sentenced
% death as spy. Up to the very
'caffold they begged him to Weld,
Urging that a mere boy like him
ought not to sacrifice his life for
such trlllc; but he shook his head
and was hanged General DODGE,
who was in command Of the Fcdc-
rails, was 50 struck with admiration
o' such noble rorttudc that he sent
his own check for $25 as a contribu-
Lion ia q funI for K, ,a,,...