Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1904-11-04

brasses and feathers-the headgear OF
the regulars at the time-and were
dubbed the BLACK Hats" by envious
comrades of other commands. Their
original field officers had disappeared
somewhere about the time of that ini-
tial battle, and in their place ad come
stocky little black-bearded West
PointeB as colonel, with a most sol
dierly ex-captaip of state militia as
his second, and then the whole brigade
had to be fitted out with white gloves,
and some nearby regulars were de-
tailed to show them how best to polish
their belts and boxes, and great was
the competition among the four reg1-
ments to win the honor of headQuar-
tiers guard and orderlies.
Then, as freezing weather set in with
December and it became possible for
carriages to come humping and sway
ing over the icy powders and ridges
into which the almost liquid mud had
been transformed, many generals OF
rank, and statesmen by the score, and
even the president himself, began pay-
ing visits to Arlington and bringing
| curious and distinguished foreigners
| with them.
There was one visitor who could not
come too often. He came, however,
only twice or thrice. He never left
his carriage, but sat there lounging
comfortably on the back seat, usually
with Secretary Seward by his side, just
| as he used to come to nearer kalO-
rama, and. after he had chatted with
| the general a while. he would drive
through the regimental camps to re-
ceive the tumultuous greeting of ''the
boys to wave his hat and smile at
| them, and sometimes, when they
crowded about him. to stop and shake
| hands with the nearmOst, and once or
twice to tell some whimsical story
| that would set his hearers shouting
with glee.
But if the rugged features beamed
with kindness and sympathy early in
the December days and had ever
| smile in return for the greeting of the
| shouting boys in blue, senior officers
| who best knew him became aware of
a growing anxiety and Impotence on
| his part ere Christmas came in, and
the crowded camps were jubilant with
feasting and good cheer. The beloved
| little commanding general had been
1
his bed. The president to whom he
owed his appointment had as yet no
| information as to that generals plans,
| and, strange as it may seem, the two
or three men in his. McClellan's. con-
fidence were strangers at the white
house and the departments. When,
| in his anxiety and sympathy, the pres
ident called in person at the invalid's
house, he was neither asked to the bed
side nor given Information as to when
the general would be able to resume
duty. AS consequence the president
had to turn to other sources, and
Fred's division commander, Mcdowell,
| was the first he sought. He was for
ever asking questions as to the con-
dition of the roads, the possibility of
moving guns and trains, and showing
not little eagerness when told that
through January. at least, they ought
to be hard and firm. but rough.
And yet, save for more drills and
ceremonies, and in spite of the clamor
| of the nation, the press and the gov
eminent, the army moved not, and the
| fine weather of December was gone
and January came, and stories went
from fire to fire that the president and
the people had become irritated at the
| long delay, and that Little Mac was
being urged and importuned and even
blamed. Let Little Mac alone" said
the boys. He knows what he's
about" for even in their Impotence
| nothing could shake their loyalty.
At last the president took the law
into his hands and issued his first Or
der directing the advance of an army
in the field. And at last. its corps or
ganization completed now-though
with generals not Of McClellan's choice
to the glorious music of the innumer-
able bands, in splendid weather and in
splendid spirits, the long blue columns
filed out from the shelter of the cir
cling Notifications and took the road
to Centreville.
Promotion had by this time carried
] Fred's division commander to the head
of corps and his brigade commander
to the head of the fine division, in
which until now the wild western
ers had been numbered as the
First brigade. Now they became
the Third, and were both aston
ished and disguised to find that
their numerical destination de-
| pended not, as they were inclined to
say, on their soldierly superiority, but
upon the relative rank of the brigade
commander. 1t CALLED them, to tell the
truth, to find that the promotion to
division rank of the West Point SOL
der who had organized, drilled and
| taught them from the start, involved
a corresponding setback for them
selves. Some Badgers took the matter
so much to heart as to declare that
the general should have declined pro-