Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1900-12-20
SOLDIERS STORIES.
ENTERTAINING REMiNicENcEs
or THE WAR.

Graphic Account of Stirring Scenes
Witnessed ON the Battlefield and In
| camp-Veterans of tho Rebellion Re
cite Experiences of Thrilling Nature.
81 never knew" said the Colonel, "oI
but one case of dress parade under nre,
and that was at the crossing or swift
Greek in the Petersburg campaign. lne
Eighty-first New York, under command
of Col. John D. Raulston, of OsWego,
was under orders to cross to the refers
burg side of the creek The enemy kept
up q constant fire, and Col. Raulston
moved his companies in way to at
tract the attention Of Gen. Butler, who
sat on his horse some distance TO the
| rear, watching the movements OF MS
| own men as well as those of the enemy.
after the first company crossed, 1t
formed in line as a guard for the sec
ond company. When the second COM
pany was across it took the place OF the
| first, which moved forward half COM
pany distance, and SO ON, with the pre-
! cision of parade drill, until all were
across. Gen. Butler was SO pleased
with the bearing of the men, with their
| GOODNESS and discipline, that he sent
| message to Col Raulston, presenting
his compliments and saying in effect
that a regiment which could do SO well
under trying circumstances would find
it easy to go through the evolutions of
dress parade under fire. The Colonel
| accepted this as an order and formed
his men as if for dress parade. At least
for the space of several minutes the
Eighty-first New York stood in line
with guns at parade rest, and then
moved forward as if passing in review
before the Colonel"
81 saw case like that" said the Cap
| tain, 'but it was an accident. Our
| Colonel was given to sort of mechan-
| ical use Of the orders, shoulder arms
order arms and parade rest The
boys often thought he used these
| phrases absent-mindedly, but whether
| he did or did not the regiment was
| brought to a parade rest half dozen
times on every dress parade. On one
occasion, when the regiment was form
ed as part of a long line of battle, it
was reported that the enemy was about
to charge, and the men who had been
resting at will quickly formed in line.
"The ColoneIs voice rang out the or.
der, Attention; shoulder arms Then,
to the amazement of the men, came the
order, Order arms; parade rest The
regiments to the right and left were
standing at ready. The men Of our
regiment were looking steadily to the
front at parade rest. The Colonel
meant to give the order, that it was in
his mind to order the men to get ready
to fire, but instead came out the phrase,
parade rest and he took advantage of
the unexpected to compliment his men
for their GOODNESS in the face of an
enemy"
eve came nearer to dress parade
than that at Shiloh said the Sergeant
"Our regiment and, I think, the Sixth
Ohio were the first of Buell's army to
cross the Tennessee River on the even
ing Of the first days battle. Gen. Mel
son, our division commander, was so
anxious to get the men across that he
ordered that no horses be taken with
the first boat loads. So it happened that
our own regimental officers were not
present when we formed in line. One
OF the senior captains took command
and was forming line on strict parade
principles, when a large officer, taking
short breaths, said: That's right, Cap
tain, straight as a rule; straight as a
rule, men,
'The officer was Gen. William Mel
SON, who had crossed with the first
boat load, leaving his horse behind.
Not one man in the regiment had ever
seen him on foot before, although all of
them were familiar with his appear
aAce on horseback. He seemed so diff
ferent on what the boys called his sea
legs, and was SO different in manner
that at first he was not recognized He
took command of the regiment as soon
as formed and moved along the line as
If he were an inspecting officer. He was
the hardest swearer in the army, and
yet that evening he swOre not once The
men, used to his clustering manners,
were surprised at the look of anxiety
and appeal on his face. He said in low,
soft tones as he moved along the line,
Now, gentlemen, remember what you
have come to do, and do it like soldiers.
Make your line as straight as a rule.
and when you go forward let the line
OF bayonets be as straight as If you
were ON dress parade. This will show
the enemy that you are not afraid, and
1t will give confidence to our own men
who have been fighting all day. And
that night and the next morning the
men Of Nelson's division went forward
with lines as straight with step as reg
ular, as though they were on dress
parade"