The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1903-01-01
A WARTIME MEETING

MY dad brought me down here to Wash
ington from Detroit to enter me at George
town university in the year 1860 was then
bit more than Is years old. l liked the life
at the Georgetown university until the war
broke out. Then there were too many roll
licking soldier boys camped around in the
neighborhood of Georgetown for me to pre-
serve my contentedness. They all looked to
me as if they were enjoying picnic, and
l made up my mind that I'd have to get
one of those blue uniforms on myself or
shrivel up.
Shortly after the beginning of the war
| wrote home to my dad in Detroit-he was
then organizing Michigan regiment, which
he took all through the war, and it was cut
to pieces several times, too-and told him
that l thought would like to join the army,
The phrase wasn't in use then, but he wrote
back something to the general effect that
had another think or two a-coming. He
wrote that didn't know when was well
off, and saM that, as he was getting together
1000 men for the big conflict, he figured
that he could come pretty near doing all
the soldering necessary in our family. |
remember thinking that this was pretty
selfish on the old gentleman's part. re-
Elected that he had been in the Mexican
war, and that therefore in wishing to do all
of the soldering in the civil war, too, he GER
tainly was showing disposition to hog
things.
However, studied my lessons and went
along all right at Georgetown university
until early in 1861, and then couldn't stand
it any longer. So one afternoon l just cut
out through the big gate, made for the rail
road station and established connections
with freight car tackled on to freight
train that found was booked to 60 to west
ern New York. Inside Of three or four days
l was incontinentally dropped at Lockport,
N.
at didn't take me long there to fall into
the hands of substitute broker, and two
days after | arrived at Lockport | was duly
logged out in a government straight uni
form that, as | remember it, was the baldest
kind of a joke as fit. Somehow didn't
feel half so cheerful over the prospect of
rolicking military career when, with about
100 other young gossoons, | was herded in a
corner of an old storehouse, near the rail
road, and kept there under guard until the
train was ready to take us to the front.
Naturally enough, | was pretty curious
to find out to what part OF the front we
were going, but never a line of information
could | get from anybody about it until
we were well past Baltimore. l don't sup
pose any of the others knew any more than
| did
when we got beyond Baltimore, how
ever, found out, all right, whittier we were
bound and the news made me almost wither
up.
We're going to Giesboro' Point! one of
the young officers announced when the train
got outside of Baltimore. Now, only few
days before I'd jumped the Georgetown uni
versity I'd received letter from my dad
in Detroit, saying that he'd be over to the
university to see me presently, as his reg-
ment was going to be stationed only little
distance away from Washington-at Gies
boro' Point! None of the terrors of battle
or sudden death looked half so fierce to me
in prospect as my dads discovering me in
misfit uniform, and right in his own camp,
too, after he'd SO expressly forbidden me
to have anything to do with soldering.
81 well remember the night we were
dumped at Giesboro Point the little place
down the Potomac a bit on the Maryland
side-l drove over there yesterday to have
a look at the old grounds. | made up my
mind that the best thing for me to do would
be to look up the old gentleman the very
first thing on the following morning and
take my medicine-l was too tired to think
of anything but rolling up in blanket on
the first night we got m.
81 found my dad in his tent along toward
10 o'clock on the next morning He had
no idea, of course, that wasn't right over
the river at Georgetown Gonjugating Latin
verbs, and on that very day, in fact, he
was intending to cross over to Georgetown
to look me up
Hello, pop said l, strolling into his
tent and endeavoring to look as rakish as
l could. How are they all at home|
"Well, the old gentleman looked at me
steadily for a good three minutes before he
said word or before knew what was going
to happen to me. put in the time shifting
from one leg to the other. Then my dad S
countenance broke into a grin.
That's a queer-looking uniform, son,
he said You'll have to be looking up your
company tailor to have it whitfield down to
your proportions
THAT was all. He didn't roast me at all.
and had been expecting him to swoop upon
me like thousand of bricks. Not ques.
ton did he ask me as to why I'd disobeyed
him and jumped the university. I'm not GER
tain that the old gentleman wasn't just a bit
tickled inwardly that one of his cubs had
taken the bit in his teeth in that way.
WELL pretty nigh four years after that,
in the month of March, before Appomattox,
| was dumped, along with many scores of
others that had been pretty badly hit, into
boat on the James river bound from there
to Washington hospital. l had got mine
in a skirmlsh, and yet it was bad enough
piece of work for a man to have got in the
biggest pitched battle of the war. Down
the James and up the Potomac was the
course of the boat, and when | came to
found myself on cot in an institution called
Campbells hospital
Il was still there when Lincoln was as
sassinc'"d, and ! can remember how |
pitched and tossed around in hostile humor
because wasn't in shape to get up for the
grand review of the army My dad, who'd
been through the entire war with his Michi-
gan outfit, came to see me at the hospital
] hadn't clapped an eye on him since leav-
ing Giesboro' Point, nearly four years be
fore-and he inquired of me which appealed
to me the more-the life of soldier or
STUDENT He got me out of that place when
| was just able to walk and, with lot of