The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1901-11-12
THE D[RJy[MLMIIEIR

DSu1e Drawn up TO us Iull uelSuI
proudly showing us how to make the
drum talk"
''TLis is what we played at Mission
Ridge" And then he would begin.
One heard the tramp of marching
feet, the thunder of cannon, the rattle
OF musketry, the shouts and hurrahs OF
the men, and, above all, the rub-a-dub-
dub, the rub-a-dub-dub of the drum. II
sent the cold shivers down our backs
the blood jumping through our veins
/ Then came the slow and solemn beat
of the muffied drum, the long, melan-
choly, almost human, roll, and we
! knew that the battle was over and that
the dead were being laid away to their
last rest. The tears in our eyes, q
choking in our Threats, and then
They dressed me up in sojer clothes,
They treated me so kindly,
And yet l never could forget
The girl left behind me.
It was a sad day for the battery, and
particularly for Dumpey, when the
junior lieutenant left our post by trans
fer. The very next day Dumpey was
ia Illc Will Vial So o3oAAtoa
him for drunkenness. Intercession prov
ed of no avail-the captain was deter.
mined to make an example of him-but
the court was lenient; SO after a
months confinement Dumpey came
back to US, but an altered man. Not
that his manner had changed toward
us--he was still our friend-but his
boyishness and lightness of heart
seemed gone.
Hell get me yet" was all he said
when we asked him the trouble. "He,' .
Of course, meant the captain, who fol
some unaccountable reason had taken
a strong dislike to the lowly drummer
Things went from bad to worse. Dunn
pey was in the guardhouse continual
", first for one thing and then another
which, though trivial enough in theiI
way, were rapidly building up bad
reputation for him, which he did moi
really deserve.
The end came when they found him
drunk on guard. The general court
which tried him found him guilty and
sentenced him to be drummed out OF
the service. The colonel wrote to the
reviewing authority rather strongly in
his favor, but Dumpey was doomed
Nothing could save him, and the sen
tence was duly confirmed.
Never did sun shine brighter, never
were skies bluer, never was nature
| more generous than on that dreadful
May morning. We had all been to see
Dumpey at the guardhouse the night
before. We had shaken hands with him
and carried him such boyish gifts as
we could to assure him of our loyalty
and friendship, and he, poor old boy
had turned his face away from US and
wept like a child.
1t was the first and only time had
ever seen man drummed out of the
service. 1 can never again see such q
shocking sight Of mans inhumanity tc
| man.
was very young boy then; still
remember that the sun was bright and
! that the skies were blue. 1 remember
that the air was soft and balmy. l re-
member that the flag, emblem Of liber
| ~ IhLCW OuI LAC SAOlJ VI
its stars and stripes straight and strong
to the morning breeze. l remember
that we all stood huddled together
! waiting it came.
| First the drums and flies, then two
| platoons of men fully armed and equip.
ped, their bayonets flashing and spar
king in the sunlight, and between
them Dumpey, with head closely crop
ped and on his back a board marked
"Drunkard."
And still-the sun shone, the skies
We're blue and the flag tapped gayly
overhead.
On they came, the drums and flies
playing the "Rogues' March"
Poor old soldier, poor old soldier,
Tarrd and feathered and then drumm'd out
Because he couldn't keep sober.
Our hearts were in our threats, but
we clinched our hands and held ouI
places like men.
There was no music in the march. II
was simply a wailing and sobbing OF
the drums-the drums to drum Dunn
pey out of the service; Dumpey, theiI
| CHILL pun, IuSlI uSAO1 IAClA Ming.
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 limping."
Every boy there could have told him
that it was the bullet he got at Mission
Ridge, which the doctors had never
| been able to take out.
And on they came
| Tarr'd 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 8
! 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" off his
back, and, barring his close cropped
head to the morning sun, looked up to
ward the flag and bravely cried out:
'Three cheers for the stars and
stripesw
l have never forgotten it. Please
God, never will.
The Water CnrnivOra.