Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1902-04-05

tNfE bAhioN. ago In Texas,
where the blue and gray had met In
deadly encounter for the last time. a
soldier turned In his saddle. and after
repeating the words of the great French
marshal. he threw his gun to his shout.
der and fired. II proved TO he the last
shot Of the last battle. and II was Ger.
tainly the last shot OF the long war.
The man who describes this event and
who claims he II entitled to the dis.
tinction contained In being Its central
figure II =. H. Barton. OF Del Rio. In
western Texas. where he owns fine
ranch lie was captain In the Con.
federate army, and he was held In high
| esteem by his supcriors and dearly
loved by the brave Texans. whose dan.
| gers and privations he shared on the
| march and In the trenches where balls
| fell like hail. Promotion sought him
many times after the smoke of battle
had cleared from a red field and sol.
diers were talking Of his dauntlcss
courage. but he preferred TO serve with
the comrades Of his boyhood.
The story OF that last battle. which
was fought on the 18th OF May, 1865,
after the war was ended and peace de.
clnrcd, has escaped the attention that
Il merits, for 1t was an affair Of no lii.
tie Importance. Gen. Egbert Brown,
who recently died ut West Plains. Mo-.
wns In command of the Federal troops
In southern Texas, and he was doubt
less well Informed concerning the
termination OF hostilitles. Gen. J. r.
slaughter. who commanded the Con.
fcdaret troops encamped. ut BraZos
Santiago. had heard rumors Of the sur.
render Of the armies commanded by
Lee. johnson and other generals, but
he had received no official notice Of
these facts from the War Department.
Gen. Brown. under q nag of truce. In.
formed the Confcderatcs of the state
Of affairs about Washington and Rich.
mond. at the same time inviting them
to come In and lay down their arms, rs
the war was certainly over.
| Gen. Slaughter refused to act In an
affair Of such Importance until he was
better Informed. Thereupon Col. Bar.
ret, Mt the head Of a considerable force,
was dispatched to break up the rebel
camp. A hot battle cnsued. and curl
ously enough. most Of the fighting was
done on the old field Of Palo Alto
where Gen. Taylor achieved victory
over the Mexicans nearly twenty years
before. The French soldiers encamped
on the southern shore of the Rio Grandt
were In sympathy with the southerners
and they kept Gen. Slaughter and Col
Rip Ford posted as to the movements
Of the Federal troops. Several spirited
encounters occurred and the loss sus
tained by some Of the negro regiments
must have been severe. While the bat
tie raGed the COnfederares were FIRE
qucntly Informed by some bold cavalry
, men In blue that the war was over
One daring fellow shouted: Lee sur
rendered month ago. The war Il
| ended. Why don't you go homer"
, When the engagement was hotties
Gen. Slaughter received dispatches ant
, the French sent him bundle of news
papers. Fully satisfied that the caus,
for which they were fighting was for
, ever lost, he ordered the firing to cease
At that particular moment neither sid,
could have claimed any advantage owe
the other, but both armies began to re
/, tire from the field at the same time. A
Capt. 8. II. Barton. In command Of tn
|, rear guard, was slowly riding away
! stray ball struck a young man by hi
side and he fell from his saddle. Tha
, was certainly the last man killed In tn
long war. Capt. Barton was unable t
recall his name. II thought that wa
/, hard luck" says the old soldier. 9TH
4 young man had served four years an
, never got a scratch. The last buue
= that came our way killed him. Prompt
n cd more by spite at fate than bittel
I ness toward the enemy, turned In m
q saddle and fired toward dark blu
4 line which I hope was out of rang,
!. That was certainly the last shot of tn
. great war"