The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1901-05-29
= F1'ER THE BATTLE.
A VETERANS STORY OF A TAsSeLep
TURKISH FEZ.

The GrcwEomc Incident In which He I
Participated mt the second Hattie /
of Mnnnssns-A Brave Boy and His |
Dying Request.
Whenever l see tasseled Turkish |
fez," said Confederate veteran whose |
attention had been attracted by
smoking cap of that pattern In Canal
street window, Il am reminded OF q
curious and rather grewsome incident
of my campaigning days. 1t was or
the morning after the second battle OF
Manassas" he continued In response to
II request for the story, land several OF
us from my company had gone over to
the field In the hope of picking up IA
few things that we badly needed and
for which the dead had no further use
-waterproofS, for instance, and sound
canteens.
During the previous days engage
ment you may remember that n regi-
ment of freshly recruited New York
aouaves held the crest OF n hill and
were charged and almost annlhllated
by Hoods brigade. They were moved
down Ike ripened grain and fell so
thickly that their corpses literally car
peted the earth. dare say 1t was rs
awful slaughter. considering the
number engaged, as occurred anywhere
In the course of the war.
We'll, we hadn't gone very far when
we came TO this hill and began TO get
among the dead men. The poor fellows
had been mustered into service less
than week before. and they We're said
To be the most gorgeously uniformed |
military troop ever organized, They
wore scarlet Turkish trousers, blue
jackets embroidered with gold bullion
braid and purple fezes with long pend
ent tassels
"Being Just from the outfitters, all
this fine regalia was perfectly fresh
and rev, and somehow or other II
added to the ghastllness of the specta-
Gle on the hillside. The cOrpses were
In all sorts of strange postures, and
their fantastic costumes gave them an
air OF horrible grotesqueness that l
couldn't begin to describe in words.
However, TO come TO my point. |
had picked up fez TO carry away rs a
relic and was about to leave the spot
when | happened TO notice n much
handsomer specimen on the head of
little zouave stretched out, stltr and
stark, a few yards away. with n hand
kerchef over his face. | stepped up TO
make n swap but had barely touched
the tassel when low. sweet toned
voice under the handkerchief said,
Please dontn
For n moment" continued the yeter-
an, that unpleasant protest, coming
from what | had supposed to be
corpse, made my hair brlstle on my
head. Then lifted the handkerchief
and was shocked TO see the delicate,
refined features of boy not over 10.
He was pale ns death and evidently
desperately wounded. but he looked nj
me calmly My God | exclaimed.
What n lad you are to be hereI I'm
afraid I'm dying unless ! have help
he replied DO you think the surgeons
will he around pretty soonY The Lord
knows" grouned for the boys cour
ngc touched me 10 the heart Your
surgeons have all run away. and we
only hive n few. With more wounded
than they can attend to- Then guess
all can do is TO He here quietly and
die he said In the same gentle voice.
Can you get me n little water before
you gor
II took his cnnteen and hurried down
%, mt Of hn
where the first thing / saw. by the
way was the corpse of II Zouave font
Ing I'm pool | went up the stream fnr
enough to get OUT of the horrible denth
zone, filed the canieen with pure wa
ter aud was soon back ut the boys side
gave him drink. and he thanked me
Is there nothing else ! can dor asked
awk wardly. because | knew our com
pany was under early marching orders
that morning and that II would be In
possible for me 10 lnger much longer
Nothing NJ all thank you he replied
No message to anybody No. moth
Ing. thanks.
Il turned away most reluctantly aud
had gone only few yards when |
heard his thin voice calling me back.
'EX, use me he snid, but | want YOU
to accept rhis IA present. and lie
handed me hs tine pniplc fcz 80, no
| exclaimed greatly embarrassed, i
couldn't think uf tuking IT, When |
started 10 n little while ago. thought
you-yon' Thought | was dead. OF
course he interrupted Well | soon
Will be. and that Other feZ viii do me
just as well Please put II on my head
and take mine saw that he would
be burt unless did as he desired, so |
took the fez aud went away.
"ln less than half an hour our com
pany was on the march. and. needless
TO say, ! never heard anything more OF
the little child zouaye. He was badly
wounded and undoubtedly died where
! left him kept the fez a long time"
added the veteran. but II was finally
lost, with other odds and ends IN the
general confusion following the war.
I'd give some money for II today
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