Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-11-15
CHEAPER XxvIr.
LoUNsBERRY's LAST STING.

LOUNSBERRY'S LAST STING.
 Gettysburg had thinned the grand old First corps into the proportions of small division. Consolidation be. came the watchword, and, with Rev. holds dead and his successors devoid of influence, it had none in power to pre- serve its autonomy. The Second, Fifth and Sixth corps retained their badges and their name The Eleventh and Twelfth, sent to the west, were tstele- Scoped".and called the Twentieth The Third had lost it's grip, with Sickles' leg, ct Gettysburg way, with it's place and name-being distributed to fill the gaps in other organizations. As for what was left of the First, most of 1t, under gray-headed Wadsworth, went as the Fourth division to the Fifth corps, our old friends of the Iron Brigade ruefully shedding the blood-red disk and decking their caps with the Maltese cross. And so, faithful to the end, they hewed their way through thet wilderness, hard hit many time, but ever landing, catlike, on their feet, even though so many of the old eaders were gone. Brave, silver-haired Wadsworth, after heroic effort against Longstreet, died at their head in the crash of the sixth of May Cutler talk Ing the division, and Bragg, another graduate of the Sixth, the brigade
 and holding it longest of all Few they. were when they reached the James, mourning with all their hearts for Haskell, killed in command of his new Badger regiment in the awful attack at Cold Harbor. With Warren they rounded the gray line at Five Forks Hallon Richardson, heading the Sew snth, receiving the shot meant for their major general-and finally, bursting from the southward woods below Ap-; pomatox, they helped bar the last gateway of Lees beaten army. Then they marched back to droop their rid dled, crape-laden colors for the last time before the head of the nation in. the grand review at Washington and, with final handclasp from Hoosiers and Wolverines at the parting of the ways, went home to lay those tattered flags within the walls of their own white capitol, with never stain or shadow on the record of their defenders.
 But the story of several who set forth with them was still unfinished. Fred Benton, who had ridden with their bat tling line on many a bloody day, came not homeward with the few survivors
 A strange fortune had been his after Wadsworth fell. There had been many , reason, as has been told, for believing that the tall Virginian, Jennings, had played double game from first to last. Benton's evidence had little helped the prosecution, however, and when the young officer was again summoned to the war department and again ques- .ioned as to his relations with the Chiltons, he finally fired up,'' and de- clared the line of inquiry reflection on his loyalty and integrity. Stanton so hated the rebellion that he seemed to hold no officer above suspicion who did not hate everything connected with it, and Benton could not be made to hate the Chiltons-any of them-or to look with anything less than love on the memory of Paul Ladue. So he came back from Washington In time for the Mine Run affair, boiling over with wrath at the way he had been badgered. Stanton as much as intimated that Benton knew Jennings to be false to his obligations, and was shielding him as he had striven to de- fend the Chiltons and Ladue. "No man can serve two masters young sir," said the stern secretary land you can't ! properly serve your country and shield those in rebellion against it. I've seen too much of this disposition on your part, and if see any more of it-Pn break you."
 Words were these to be well remem-
 bered in the light of later events.
 No wonder Benton was afame with
 indignation, and narrowly did he es- i cape court-martial for the hot wrath of his reply. He demanded a court of inquiry but to no purpose. There was
 little evidence but his own. He con- tinued to serve with Wadsworth, who, rom having been more than half in- clined at one time to share Stanton's $
 views, had now reasons of his own for differing radically with that tremen-
 dous power, and took up the cudgels for Fred in his vehement fashion, and
 might have gotten into serious trouble
 of his own had 1t not been for the shot that ended it all that bitter day in
 the wilderness. Then Benton was transferred for time to the headquar-
 ters of the cavalry corps. and rode with Sheridan to. Yellow Tavern, where the plumes of Stuart went down