Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1902-01-28
THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.

The above caption was the subject
of the Rev. Fr FRANCIS c. Kelley, who
delivered the second lecture of the
Y. M. c. A. course at the opera house
on Tuesday evening last. Mr.. Kelley
is pleasant speaker, whose words are
audible to the entire house, but his lee
ure is not as scholarly as that of DR..
Bristol or the ones delivered by the
Rev. FIR. Nugent. The speaker stated
that all the great battles fought fer 10
erty from the commencement of the
Christian era were won by volunteer
soldiers They have always proven
themselves the best soldiers, and of
these the American presents the finest
type. The American volreteer is not
fighting machine, as is the drafted
soldier of Europe, but is man who can
turn his hand to anything. As an ex-
ample of this he gave little incident
that happened when his regiment, the
23d Mich, was returned home from
the Spanish h-American war. The gov
ernment contracted with the railroad
company to send the regiment home
in four sections, but on arriving at
Louisville the railroad company vio-
lated its contract by trying to force the
men outof one section and making them
double up. The colonel, who had back
bone, decide,. not to be over ridden
and was on the point of taking the
matter in his own hands and running
the trains through to their destination
with his own men. When he made in
quiries to find out if there were any
railroad men in the regiment lie
found a great many trades represented
for there were engineers, firemen,
brakemen, telegraph operators, one
man who had held the position of chief
train dispatcher on road, doctors, law
yers, ministers, and other trades and
professions without number.
The American, he said, is supposed
to be an irreligeous fellow, but to dis
prove this he gave incidents of large
meetings he and other chaplains had
conducted in the South each Sunday
that were attended by thousands of
men. Captain Clark, an Englishman,
wrote of the American volunteer that
he was a sullen and morose individ-
ual, who marched in silence and died |
in heaps without sob. This, Mr., Kelley !
claims is untrue, for his experience in |
the field proved to him that the Ameri. |
can soldier is full of spirit and life,
always ready for joke, and who aupre
ciateS one when it is well play ed. As |
tN his bravery he gave medicines of the |
civil war, to attest to the sterling quail
tiles of this individual. AT Fredricks |
burg the Confederates were entrenched |
in an inpregnable position. Brigade
after brigade had been hurled |
against that position from early morn
ing until noon, only to be hurled back |
with terrible loss. The 29th New |
York regiment at last made superhu-
man effort to carry the breast works
were forced to retreat, only to reform
and try again. When the day was |
over it was found that of the 1900 men |
of the regiment who went into the fight
but 900 ever came back,
Mr., Kelley told several amusing an
ecdotes during his lecture that kept |
the audience In good humor and taken
as whole his story of the volunteer
was well received. By request, the day
following, he lectured to the students
of the high school, selecting as his sub
ject, Quebec"