The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-02-07

| to their fathers, most of whom were the
| fraction Of a second too late in spontan-
| iety of temper and revolver.
The capitol at Frankfort, also the towns
Of Manchester and Wild Cat, some thirty
or forty miles from Cumberland Gap. re-
| cali IN memory of old soldiers Of Nor
gan's army over bridge of nearly forty
years. From cary in the spring of 1S6:
| Garfeld's old regiment, the Forty-second
| Ohio, IN brigade with the Twenty-second
and Fourteenth Kentucky, sbrnishe6
and fought here and there until June
when they got possession Of Cumberland
| Gap. By strategy and tactics and some
! engagements the enemy were forced
south of the gap and the Cumberland
mountains. In August, however, the reb-
els had increased their armies and came
back at u.s. They closed IN on US south
and hanked US IN the west with more
| than twice our number. Our brigade
| slipped past their flank to the northeast
and bivouacked at Manchester, KY. We
had lived for weeks on less than half IA
lions before we left the Gap. The rest OF
Morgan's army reached US at Manches-
ter about September 10, Just one year be-
fore the battle Of Chickamauga-
Here occurred an incident that impress
cd US amid the daily skirnishing and hall
starvation. Two privates got into quar-
rel-propably not pohucal-when one OF
| them ran to stack of guns, grabbed one
out, ana shot his connrade.
Both were the same kind Of men they
have IN the mountain Kentucky counties
now. He threw down the gun and ran
towards the picket ltne mile away and
tried to dodge through but was caught
and returned, surly and silent, under
guard A drurn-head court rharttal was
convened. bass drum was provided TO
write on as there were no tables nor type
writer's. It took one hour to make the
record TO conform to military law. No
exceptions were made and there were
none to over-ruIe.
The whole little army Of nine thousand
men almost surrounded by Kirby Smith
army Of twenty thousand rebels, aided by
John Morgan's active cavalry, wasted no
time Before the verdict of the court
Martial was published, grave was dug
and a rude box Of boards was made and
stained with lampblack to command re-
spect for the majesty of military law
When the verdict was rendered, the Gull
prtt was marched, headed by the dead
march of fife and drum, to the open
grave The brigade was drawn uo at pa
rade rest on three sides of a. square. The
grave and rude coffin were on the fourth.
A squad of twelve soldiers formed six
PAGES away. An officer and sergeant
loaded twelve guns behind them, six with
ball and six with blank, and then gave
them back to the firing squad.
Meanwhile one or two chaDlains were
with the doomed man, but he gave only
short and surly replies to their admoni-
hons and questions. Just before the
cords were tied to fasten his elbows back
he reached into a pocket, and remarked
to a conrade:
"Jim, give this to my boy" handing out
a pocketknife His hand went again into
pocket and brought out comb. Jim,
give this to my little girl Again he
fshed out an old pocketbook. Jim, give
this to my wife. She was been a good
wife to me- Still again he went into a
packet and brought forth a plug of to-
bacco. Jim, you may have this, I
spect won't need no tobaccer from now
on"
In five seconds the elbows were fast be-
hind him. He was told to kneel onthe box
before him. The open grave was a few
feet in front. He knelt on the coffin:
sandy Kentuckian he proved to be; stood
straight upward upon his knees, and at
the command, Ready, aim, fire." he
never finched, but fell forward, pierced
in breast and neck by six balls.
The surgeons ran UP and pronounced
him dead. He was lifted into the box,
the boards were laid on top, and he was
lowered into the grave. With the first
sound of clods shoveled on the box the
command rang out in the gathering twi-
light: Attention. BY sections right
wheelr And then we began our long
march Of $50 miles without food and ha-
raised in front. flank, and rear, outnurn-
bered by an aggressive foe, till they were
worn out and conquered more than two
years thereafter at Appomattox-
The same blood is in Kentucky and Ten
essee today 1t is summed up in three
words: 'They will fight" They like to
live as well as other people do, but they
were born and reared in condition Of
life or semi barbarism, call 1t what you
will, of a gun to resent an insult or
wrong. Why is this differerce in Ken
lucky and the Southwest from the states
north Of then7
The only solution is the character Of the
men and women who landed at Plymouth
Rock, and those who peopled the colony
at Jamestown: Puritan North, the cavi-
lier South. The one to praise God on
high. the other to seek the hfe'of another
to avenge an insult and keep his shield
of personal honor bright.
Among the foothills Of the Cum berlands
and Alleghanies in Kentucky. Tennessee.
and North Carolina we find curious and
strange people. Along the narrow val
leys of Goose Creek, Beefhide, Marrow
bone and Sinking creeks are thousands
of log cabin homes, with their joys and
They love peace and life and
happiness as well as We do. But they
were born and obliged II grow up within
their social environments
As illustrative OF their daily life a
story was told of traveller who hated
at a log house by a creek A frowsy wo-
man was at the door
Where is your husb9nd?' said he.
Hes gone down the creek TO N.Y. dads
she replied
''when will he come back?
AZ reckon he won't be back"
why"
wei. he called dad a hog thief, and
dad heard ont. and ] reckon husband
Won't be back. for dad is the 'sAeotenest
man about these parts. No. I reckon
husband won't come ba,.k