The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1901-08-01
THE WANDERERS.
Confederate Flag and Grave on
Navigator Islands.
BY COL. THEODORE F. ALLEN.


The four years of civil war, with its
Kaleidoscope changes, wrought marvellous
effects upon the young men of those days.
One of the results of this service IN the
army, especially in the cavalry, was to
produce a sense of unrest in many of the
boys of '61-'65, and this effect was pro
duced in a marked degree upon my old
friend and comrade, Capt. Martin Schuy-
Ter. of Co. c, 9TH Ohio Cav, who, in the
the SO years since the diSbanding of the
armies of Grant and Lee, has circled the
globe three times, and there is scarcely a
habitable region on the face of the earth
that has not felt the imprint of his foot.
j never know when to expect visit from
Capt Schuyler, but at long intervals my
office door flies open with bang, and the
CHEEKY, hearty voice of Schuyler Is heard
as he grasps me with both hands and says:
Here | am again." The Captain is now
about 50 years of age, and has such large
repertoire of stories of adventure that an
hours visit with him gives you three
months enjoyment. He wears deep
saber scar extending across his face, TINS
being the mark of one of his adventures
in the cavalry service. In response to an
inquiry as to how large a scar the other
fellow wears, the Captain laughingly says:
'Oh, well, it's about as large as the one
he gave me-" He also has n perceptble
limp from bullet wound in the right leg
received from one of Forests cavalry
men. while resisting the advance of
Hoods army on Franklin, Tenn, Nov.
%, 1864.
1t had been nearly three years since
j had a visit from my old comrade, but
recently, while travelling from Norfolk, en-
route to New York City, on board one of
the steamers of the Old Dominion Line,
L.. E,--4 20. mo nj SphnVipT
Having q q hours run between Norfolk
and New York, we had ample time for re
calling the events of the past. In reply
70 my inquiry as to what he had been do
ing since / saw him last, the Captain told
me he had but recently returned from
the Philippines, where he had served as
an officer in one of the volunteer regl-
ments, the 39th, if l remember correctly,
and in this connection he told me an ex-
ceedingly interesting narrative, which 1
will undertake to relate, using his own
language as nearly as possible.
AT the expiration of our term OF sery-
ice in the Philippines" said Capt Schuy-
Ter, Il decided to return to the United
States at my leisure, and visited many in
teresting points on the way, my tour tax
ing in some fields heretofore unknown to
me- and altogether outside of the usual
line of travel.
Il was in no hurry, and as you know
Il nave NISlleu uSdIIi every ndblNdbl1 ~
gion on the earth, had some difficulty in
finding new fields, but as l had never
made an extended tour of the Navigator
Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean, l
concluded to visit that region. | spent
several months in this interesting part of
the world, and while there singular cpl
sode occurred which carried me back to
the far distant past, to the time when our
blessed old 9TH Ohio Cav. was having
jousts with "Morgan's men," when We
tilted with both Duke and Cluke and Pc
gram, and others of the Blue Grass crit
ter companies during the immortal Six
ties. l was spending a few days on one
of the islands, the sea In front of me be,
ing dotted with sailing craft, manned by
the natives who are superb navigators
and great fishermen. 1t is the custom
among these people to fly flag on each
boat.
There were all sorts of flags, as each
native feels it encumbent on him TO fly
his colors, and many of them are grotesque
and not in the least attractive.
'One evening, while wandering along
the beach, / observed a fisherman stand
ing in towards shore, who carried on the
mast of his boat a flag quite different
from anything l had ever seen
In that part of the world, and
upon inspecting the same with my
field glass it looked like one of the old
Confederate flags. 1 kept my glass on
this fisherman as he stood in towards the
shore and made for the point of his land