Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1900-08-15
BLUE AND TIE GRAY
BRAVE MEN N.iO MET ON THE
FIELD Or BATTLE.
Thrilling Stories OF the Rebellion
Old Soldiers and Sailors Relate Remi.
niscences of Life in Camp and on
the Field Incidents of the War.

the fteAd-Inctdcnts OF the war.
Log shouldering used TO be a regular
guardhouse punishment when | was in
the regular outfit" said an old soldier
Of the regular army. "A man sentenced
to ten days in the guardhouse would
either be sent out to work in the morn
ing, policing around the post, or he
would be given his wo-hours-on-and-
four-hourS-off tours of log humping.
He'd have to carry his log Just as the
men on guard carried tn rifles, in SO
far as hours of duty were concerned,
except that he was permitted to sleep
in at night The logs weighed from
so TO 100 pounds when the punishment
was first employed in the regular army,
but this was finally considered too
much of good thing, and when the log
humping punishment was abandoned
the chunks of trees only weighed some
thing like fifty pounds. But 1t was no
soft snap TO pack even n ffty-pound
log up aud down in front of a guard
house, in the hot sun especially, for two
hours at stretch. as happen to know
In truth, the punishment was CALLING
and not so many men drank and fought
themselves into summary courts mar
tial when the log punishment was in
vogue as is the case now, when policing
around posts is the guardhouse punish
ment of military offenders on minor
scale.
When l was stationed at Fort
Leavenworth in IT, Chief Douglas, one
of the high DGck-a- mucks of the frac-
tious Nez pcrcc tribe that had recently
been rounded up. was put IN the guard
house for safe-keeping. The whole
tribe of Nez Perces was eorraled and
under a strong chain guard back of the
post, and at first Douglas was permit.
ted to remain with he tribe. But he
was an Indian of the agitating kind
was Douglas, and he caused so much
mutiny among the pent-up bucks that
the commanding officer thought itwisel
to put him away from the tribe. So he
locked him up in the guardhouse. Doug
las wasNa magnificent specimen of a
brave, and after he had been in his
guardhouse cell for a week or so the
officer of the day recommended to the
commanding officer that the Indian be
given some log exercise 10 keep him
from plning away. The commanding
officer agreed, and Douglas was led out
of his cell to the porch running around
the second story of the guardhouse and
shown the log he was to carry. -Four
or five soldiers, serving guardhouse sen
fences. We're humping their logs some
| distance away, under the eye of sen
| try. Douglas looked at the log will
an expression of contempt, grunted as
| If to say, Not much, | WON'T! and the
officer Of the day, seeing that the chic
didn't want any exercise, had him takeT
| back to his cell.
after thinking it over, however
Douglas sent for the officer of the da!
| and told him that he was not only will
ing TO pack log up and down tn
| porch, but that he was anxious to d
| so. So he was given an eighty-pount
log, and began his march up and down
The sentry parolllng No. l post, II
front of the guardhouse, was told Il
| watch the Indian, but the sentry didn'
| anticipate any treachery, and so ht
| didn't pay much attention TO the strap
ping chief walking up and down the
| porch above with the log on his shout
| der. But about ten minutes after
4, L.. l., l.
sentry saw n dusky figure flying
| through the air from the porch above
and by the time he had got his wits and
| saw that the dusky figure was Douglas
the Indian had picked himself up and
was off for the woods. only 100 yards
or so away, like deer The sentry
gave whoop, and he yelled after the
| living Indian to halt. There wasn't any
halt In Douglas, however, and he kept
right on like a racehorse. The sentry
fred after him twice. but the indian
chief disappeared In the push Fort
LSavenworth was a big post Mt thai
time. for II was the national school OF
application. and there was over 1000
troops there. They Were all turned oui
within six minutes after Douglas made
his leap cavalry and infantry. but fl
was no go. although the sun shont
brightly for six hours after the chief
made his escape They got Douglas
just four months later In Oregon. q
good $500 miles from Fort Leaven
worth. - Washington Star.
The Captains Story.
81 met the other day" said the Ma
jor. "a man whose rank aud record in