New-York tribune., 1902-08-17
A HOLMES STORY REVIVED
"MY HUNT AFTER THE CAPTAIN" WAS
ABOUT THE NEW SUPREME
COURT JUSTICE.


has not changed the habit of some Of his old
Grand Army friends, who call him Captain
Holmes
I'VE have called him Captain" said one of
them. ever since his father. who first made
the name of Oliver Wendell Holmes famous,
wrote the story. entitled, My Hunt After the
Captain / believe Of all that DR.. Holmes
wrote. there is nothing which the son prizes
more than this simple narrative And well he
might, for 1t tells how the father at the news
Of his sons wound at the battle of AntietaIn,
where as captain in the Goth Massachusetts, the
boy fen with bullet through his neck left his
home in the far North and hunted from city 10
city in quest Of his child, the Captain
Judge Holmes has been a Supreme Court Jus
tice of the State Of Massachusetts for the last
twenty years, but throughout all that time his
friends continued calling him Captain Holmes
And SO it is thought improbable that even his
elevation TO the federal supreme bench viii eild
such an old established custom.
My Hunt After the Captain which is re
called by American readers with such interest
at the present time, first appeared in The Al
lantic Monthly shortly after the end Of the
Civil War It is the story of fathers love for
his son and while infused with a parental ten
derness il is at the same time iliumined and
frightened by the Wit and fancy so character
istic Of DR.. Holmes.
The hunt begun, in DR.. Holiness own
words as follows:
In the dead of night which closed upon the
bloody field Of Antietam. my household Was
startled from its sumbers by the loud summons
Of a telegraphic messenger Ihe alr hda D.
heavy all day with rumors OF battle, and thou-
sands and tens OF thousands had walked the
streets with throbbing hearts, in dread aht!cI-
patton Of the tidings any hour might bring
We arose hastily, and presently the mes
senger was admitted. l took the envelope from
his hand ned
---'-1 - .-IIagerstoxn, 18th.
To-
captain ii wounded: shot through
neck; thought not mortal; at Keedysville
"WILLIAM g. LEDtC.
Through the neck"-no bullet left in wound
Windpipe. f0Odpipe, carotid, Jugular' nan a
dozen smaller but still formidable vessels; q
great braid OF nerves, each as big as a lamp
wick: spinal cord-ought to Kill at once. II al
all Thought not mortal" or not thoughI
mortal"-which was it?
The father then tells how he learned that
neighbor had also received a telegram from
son wounded even as desperately as his own.
and then he relates how he and his companion
both wrung with a fearful suspense, fastened
South with all speed. Their arrival in New
York is briefly told in the following sentences:
My companion proposed to stay at of the
best known and longest established of the New
York caraVansaries, and / accompanied him.
We were particularly well lodged and not un-
clYlly treated
They stopped at Philadelphia and Baltimore,
and as they went they fell in with many more
on similar missions Passing the -'perilous bor-
oeTs," the father began to see signs Of the de-
FaStations Of war, the pOignancy of which had
ATst been brought home to him in the wounding
9I his son He had left his first companion be
hind in Baltimore, for the latter had learned
mat his son dead. The suspense thus be-
came still more appalling. and he hurried on
alone
Dr. Holmes took a wagon and a team of horses
d Frederick He had heard flying reports of
us son from time TO time, but nothing certain
After many adventures and thrilling expert
ehces DIR. Holmes entered Keedysville, from
which a telegram of warning had been sent.
hut the Captain" had left the town only the
udy before for Hagerstown-in a milk cart.
mere was one great consolatiOn-he was alive.
IN telling Of the battlefield where his son had
ialen, DR.. Holmes wrote:
"A long ridge OF fresh gravel rose before
a BOARD stuck up in front of il bore this in
scIlplon, the first part of which was. believe,
not correct: The rebel General Anderson and
oIshty rebels buried in this hole" Other
smaller ridges marked with the number
vas strewed with fragments OF clothing. haFer-
S@chS, canteenS, cap boxes, bullets, cartridge
tSoAeS cartridges. scraps Of paper, portions OF
bread and meat
Back again to Frederick and 10 Philadelphia.
out no Captain Then TO Harrisburg. but
OILY this clew, which DIR. Holmes tells Of