The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-17
.FRAzER'S BATTERY
JUDGE FlALLdGANT's ELOQUENT AND
HUMOROUS TALK.
BEFORE SONS OF VETERANS.
HUMOR IN THE MIDST OF WAR,
JUDGE FALLIGANT's THEME.

Members of Barlow Camp Listened
to InterestinG-Ma Stories
Judge FalIigant Held "a Commits
sion in the Battery After Gettys-
burG--It Was the Pulaski Guards
of Observation-Disclosures Stories OF
the Camp ana Field-The Fears of
the Brave Sergt. CampbeIl's
Death-The Burial of the Guns.
The meeting of Barlow Camp of Sons
of Confederate Veterans last night was
rendered delightful by Judge Robert Fall
ligant's informal talk upon Frazer's Bat
terry. with which command he served
during a part of the war and of the his
tory of which he probably knows more
than anyone now living.
Judge Falligant was in his best vein
He began by saying that he did not
serve with the battery, which was the
Pulaski Guards. of Savannah, until after
the battle of Gettysburg, but during his
term of service he had heard its officers
and men tell their stories of past ex-
PLOTS and of the humorous incidents that
had come to break the dread monotony
of the strife they were waging.
He had an especial affection for the bat
terry, he said, because it no longer lived
OF the many companies that went out
from Savannah to represent her best In
the battles front, the Pulaski Guards is
of those that have ceased to be. He held
it in such loving memory as is reserved
for those friends who have passed into
the great beyond.
Most of the stories that Judge Falligant
told were humorous, though they found
their setting in the very thick of battle
and some had a tragic aftermath. One
of the stories. Judge Falligant said, was
told him by Col Magruder, of the Eighth
Georgia, as a personal reminiscence.J Judge
Falligant said 1t illustrated the fact that
even brave men may sometimes lose their
nerve in the presence of a great danger.
Col. Magruder said that al one of the
battles he was in command of the rear
guard and was making every effort to
stop fugitives and stragglers. The fight
was hot one and to those in the rear
it seemed thai in their front abe very
elements were wagjng war with each
other. In the midst of it Confederate
soldier, without his rifle, dashed from the
trees and made for the rear.
Stop" called the commander of the
rear guard, but the fleeing soldier paid
no attention to him whatever. A second
and third time he ordered the man to
halt without inducing a response or
checking the fugltives speed Then Col.
Magruder drew his revolver.
"Haltp he called again. Halt, or I'll
shoot" The soldier did not slacken his
pace, but, turning his head, yelled over
his shoulder:
Shoot, and be damned to you. What
is one pistol to a million muskets?" Then
he continued his flight for the extreme
rear, and Col Magruder made no further
effort to check it.
Judge Falligant told large number of
stories, most of them very funny, but
most of them, unfortunately. depending
much upon his manner of telling, that it
is impossible to reproduce them without
injustice to both the stories and the story
teller. He had the members of the camp
and others who were present at the meet
ing conVulsed whenever he would, from
the time he started until he took his seat.
Not all of his anecdotes, however, were
humorous. One tribute to a brave and
gallant man deserves preservation. 1t is
the story of the death of Sergt Sam
Campbell of Frazers Battery, at the bat
tie of Cold Harbor.
"He was a magnificent looking soldier"
said Judge Falligant, land as he fought
his gun on that day he would stand bolt
upright facing the enemy, scorning to
take advantage of the breastworks. Time
and again / warned him of the danger he
was running, but he was unconscious OF
it. ..,, uo,,tarant no vo,,,d cav with
smile, the Yankee bullet was never mold
ed that can kill me
1T came, striking him in the stomach.
and he fell in front of the gun he had
been fighting, mortally wounded. I sup
ported him in my arms and he asked me
the extent of his wound. l told him il
was mortal. There, under the mouth of the
gun ne had fought so valiantly, he lay
breathing out his life. The men hesitated
to fire over his body, and he saw it.
4 have done my duty he said to me.
Then, turning to the men: Give 'em hell,
boys; don't mind me-. They were the
last words he spoke, and, with a gasp,
he died. He was brave man." said Judge
Falligant simply.
Judge FaHigant concluded his talk with
a stirring and pathetic account of the
burial of the guns of Frazer's Battery,
at the conclusion of the war
The men of the battery had fought
through four years of bloody strife and
they were hardened TO look without emo
lion upon most of the tragic and affect
ing scenes of battle. Their eyes were wet
with tears, said Judge Falligant, when
they buried their guns in the soil of old
Virginia.
THE caissons and carriages were dis
mounted and a trench was dug I'm which
the guns were tenderly laid to rest
There, in the shade of the hills over
which the battery had fought so long
and so well, its buried guns he to-day"
Judge Falligant's talk was, one OF he
most enjoyable of the many excellent
ones that have been made the Sons of
Veterans and at it's conclusion the camp
gave him a rising vote of thanks.