The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-12-31
THE DRUM ~ Err.


terry of the United States artillery sta
toned at one Of the haFbor posts in the
| east. His descriptive list showed him
| five feet one inch high. sallow complexion,
brown hair and thirty-six years of age
[ can see him now, with his drum slung
from his neck. his little figure drawn M
10 its fun height. proudly showing Us
how to make the drum talk.
This is what we played AZ Mission
Ridge And then he would begin
one heard the tramp of marching feet,
the thunder Of cannon, the rattle OF mus
kerry, the shouts and hurrahs of the
men and, above all, the rub-a-dub-duD,
the rub-a-dub-dub Of the drum. 1T sent
the cold shivers down our backs, the
blood jumping through orr veins. Then
came the slow and solemn beat Of the
muhfied drum, the long, melancholy, al
most human, roll. and We knew that the
battle was over and that the dead were
being laid away 10 their last rest The
tears in our eyes, a choking IN our
Threats, and then
They dressed me up in sojer clothes,
They treated me SO kindly,
And yet 1 never could forget
The girl ] left behind me-
It was a sad day for the battery. and
particularly for Duinpey. when the junior
Lieutenant left our post by transfer The
very next day Dumpey was in the guard
house with charges against him for
drunkenness IntercessiOn proved OF no
avail-the captain was determined TO
make an example OF hir-but the court
was lenient; so after months con6ne-
ment Dumpey came back TO US. but an
altered man. Not that his manner had
changed toward us-he was still o'r
friend-but his bovishness and lightness
Of heart seemed gone.
He'll get me yet was all he said
when we asked him the trour'-. "He,
OF course, meant the captain who for
strong dislike 10 the lowly drummer.
Things went from bad to worse. Dunn
pey was in the guardhouse continually.
first for one thing and then another,
which though trivial enough in their
way, were rapidly building up bad zen
utation for him, which he did not really
deserve.
The end came when they found him
drunk on guard. The general court which
tried him found him guilty and sen
fenced him to be drummed out OF the
service. The colonel wrote to the review
ing authority rather strongly in his IA
vor. but Dumpey was doomed. Nothing
could save him. and the sentence was
duly confirmed.
Never did sun shine brighter. never
were skies bluer, never was nature more
morning. We had all been 10 see Dunn
pey at the guardhouse the night before.
We had shaken hands with him and car
ried him such ooyish gifts as We could TO
assure him of our loyalty and friend
ship, and he, poor old boy, had turned
his face away from US and wept like a
child.
Il was the first and only time l had
ever seen a man drummed out of the
service. 1 can never again see such a
shocking sight OF mans inhumanity to
man.
I was very young boy then; still I
remember that the sun was bright and
that the skies were blue. 1 remember
that the air was soft and balmy. 1 re-
member that the flag, emblem of liberty
and equality, threw out the glory of It's
stars and stripes straight and strong to
the morning breeze. 1 remember that we
all stood huddled together waiting-and-
then It came.
First the drums and flies, then two
platoons of men fully armed and equip
ped their bayonets flashing and sparkling
in the sunlight, and between them Dunn
pey, with head closely cropped and on his
back a board Marked .'Drunkard.
And still-the sun shone, the skies were
blue and the flag tapped gayly over
head.
On they came the drums and hfes
playing the "Rogues' March
Poor old soldier, poor old soldier,
Tarr'd and feathered and then drummd
out
Because he couldn't keep sober.
Our hearts were in our threats. but
we clinched our hands and held our
places like men.
There was no music in the march 1t
was simply wailing and sobbing Of the
9 H..
of the service; Dumpey, their champion,
their hero. their king.
But on they came
Poor old soldier. poor old soldier.
Just as they passed US we heard some
one ask:
What makes him walk so queer? He
seems TO be Lmping."
Every boy there could have told him
that it was the bullet he got at Mission
Ridge. which the doctors had never been
able 10 take out.
And on they came
Tarrd and feathered and then drumm'd
out.
At last they reached the sally port.
Because he couldn't keep sober
shrieked out the flies. and a moment
later Dumpey stood outside the fort
free man.
And then this worthless outcast, this
drummed out drunkard. this limping.
hating, wounded ex-soldier, who had
played a mans part in the bitterest war
the world has ever known, this drunken
Dumpey. halted, quietly took the board
marked "Drunkard' of his back. ana.
barring his close cropped head to the
morning sun, looked UP toward the flag
and bravely cried out:
Three cheers for the stars ard
stripes"
! have never forgotten it. Please God.
I never will-Bunalo Review
d Valuable Handsbake