Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-06-27
THE BOOMING CANNON
REClTALS OF CAMP AND SAT-
TILE INCIDENTS.
Survivors of the Rebellion Relate
Many Amusing and Startling Incl
deI;ts of Marches, Camp Life, Forag-
ing Experiences and Battle Scenes,


the old fellows stick TO their boards |
noticed on Sunday when the posts were
going to church that nine-tenths of
the marchers wore full boards and
many of them very long, full boards.
Among the older men of the posts the
full beard seems 10 be the rule. have
thought sometimes that this clinging to
a war style habit was pure obstinacy.
Most Of the soldiers returned to civil
life with an ill-concealed contempt for
many of the convieniences of polite
society, and l did not expect this class
10 yield TO any demand OF fashion.
This theory of mine would not hold
water. l found many of the general
officers Of the old volunteer army IA
vorites In society, and still they chung
TO their boards. l found many of the
senior officers in the regular army al
ways proud of their social standing
clinging TO the full beard, and l came
TO the conclusion that general and colo
mel and captain and private who wore
full boards were influenced consciously
or unconsciously by association with
the events of the civil war. When the
Cleveland administration came in, with
its beaTdless President and its beard
less Secretary of State, l expected to
see the generals at least yield a point.
They did not.
Il night have accounted for this on
the theory of stubbornneSs again, but
the rule would not work. In fact,
have framed dozen rules to apply to
the situation, and none of them fits the
case. The full beard so common In the
army during the war is still worn by
majority of those who participated
and yet there are thousands who bore
leading part in the war whose faces
are smooth and who are as much con-
trolled by sentiment as those who wear
a full beard. General Crook, one Of
our greatest Indian fighters, wore a full
beard 10 the last General Miles, also
a great Indian fighter, has not worn a
beard for years.
General Crooks beard was asso-
ciated in the minds of soldiers with
some of the most daring enterprises
and some of the most highly colored
adventures of the war 1t was associ-
ated in the minds Of the Indians and
of the Western frontierSmen with per-
sistence, courage and tenacity Of pur-
pose. 1t would have been convenient
for him, in his long campaigns, to have
had that beard shorter. There were
times in the hurried rides and charges
heep II out of the way, but he wore II
to the end, although the barber who
performed the last services after his
death trimmed Ii, and | remember well
that when man who had followed
Crook in dozen campaigns came TO
the casket, looked down on the face of
the old general and saw his beard
trimmed, he said: why couldn't they
have let it aloneT He associated that
long, full beard, as did the Indians,
with some of the great exploits in
Western campaigns"
Certainly" said the Captain. mo
one Is complaining about the old sol
diers wearing full boards. l think my
self they would look better II some of
them had them trimmed. | concede,
however, that they have a right to
wear them as they please, and think
the people very generally feel that
way. The clinging to the long beard
with many of these old veterans is like
q fixed habit of mind. 1t Is sort of
principle. They do not want to make
themselves conspicuous. They do not
care much for what they call STYLE.
But they do care for the associations
Of old army life. Some Of them re-
gard the full beard very much as they
do the SLOUGH hat of army DAYS. /
know men of the highest social stand
ing who have money to buy what they
wish who 90 into a hat store and prowl
around until they find hats that look
like the hats they wore In the army.
mo one can quite understand this
except the soldier. The pictures Of
army life are full Of men with full
boards / remember in one Of the
battles, in which our regiment was
roughly handled, the colonel's horse
was shot and the two went down. The
boys thought the colonel was dead and
they began TO waver. Suddenly there
came an order that was like a roar.
The men turned their heads. saw tho
colonel struggling 10 get up. StH on
all tours, he looked, with his full. red
beard and his heavy head Of turning
hair, like a raging lion. He could not
get up, but, crouching there Ike lion.
he roared out his orders that brought
the men around him. Sitting on the
ground, wrathful and furious. he lit
orally drove those men into the very
faces Of the enemy. Now, you can
never get that picture out Of the minds
Of the men who made that terrific
fight. They may remember Colonel En-
yart In a dozen different moods. not all
Of them TO his credit, but they will
never forget the time when he looked.
with his tawny hair and beard, like a
lion In a fight.
when General Stanley came to the
command Of our division he wore the