Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-17
When Johnny Came Marching Hems
A True Story Of AS War.


are very deceiving. though. when it comes
to a question of bravery. 0eY
Johnny lived In an alley with his parents
and several brothers and Sisters. There
was a ramshackled house, where the fami-
~ retired to sleep on cold nights. but dur
ing the waking hours thel children sat on
the curb, and played IN the dfrty. foul gut
tiers until any self-respecting child would
shudder to touch them 5ta
The reason things were so had with the
McFaddens was that Johnnys father. Tim
McFadden was a drunkard, spending what
he earned In saloons instead of uBon his
family. His wife was not strong, and had
grown discouraged with her struggle with
dirt. disease and poverty
greatly at the state of things around his
home He tried to help AFFAIRS by selling
newspapers. but the little NE earned did
not seem to better the llves or the famiiY
on s.Staryatio alley" That is until John
ny made friends with the firemen around
the corner. a.
Like all boys. the engine house was an IN
enchanted spot to Johnny. He had all
the small boys love for horses and fires,
but had never crossed the rope barrier
until he began to bring the Dogs theif
evening papers Then his, cheerIui man
ner. and willing offers to heip ABOUT one
thing and another, interested the fire lad
dies, and first thing Johnny knew he was
allowed to spend his spare hours in the
engine mouse instead Oh III tifc Suttci
How proud Johnny was! HOW the othef
boys in the alley now looked up to and re-
spected him. Nobody attempted to can
him names or throw stones at MIN AFTER
this fact became known.
The Defender Engine Company had
several musicians among its num-
Der. Every evening they had little prac-
| tice until they played very nicely together:
As the civil war had Just broken OUT, an
| their selections were of patriotic char
acter and many volunteers from the neigh
borhood were stirred up to enlist by the IN
| spiriting strains Of my Country, It's of
Thee" as played by the engine house band.
Johnny was perfectly happy to be allowed
| to listen to the music. One day his JOY
knew no bounds, when the man who played
! the drum offered to show him how to drum.
| To beat drum and to play one were two
different things. Johnny soon learned. A
| drummer in band had notes and mu-
sic. just like the cornet player and the
| others. Johnny proved an apt pupil. He
practiced and practced until he became
| quite an expert. When John Cline. one of
the boys, enlisted for soldier 1t left a
| vacancy in the engine house band. The
| drummer who could also play the cornet,
took Cline's place, and invited Johnny to
become the official drummer.
Wasn't this an honor for a starvation
| alley rat Johnny had often been
called?
Meanwhile, the war between the north
and south grew more and more serious.
What every one had thought would end
after a few skirmishes. was now running
| into its second year. with ne sign of abat-
| ing. A call for more soldiers was made in
Pttsburg, where Johnny lived. The fire.
men talked it over from one viewpoint and
another, until Jim Croogan. the chief, said:
| Boys, our country is in more danger
from bullets than it is from fires Just now.
| l am going to enlist. You fellows can do
| as you please. 1 would suggest, though, that
| the married boys stay at home, and let us
| single ones do the fighting" O.,
thr,c; G,aI
| another. Before the evening was over
| twenty of the boys had Joined him in his
determination.
Johnny, though but twelve, and not over
strong. wanted to go, too. AT first he was
| AFRAID to even hint at such thing, lest the
| men would laugh at him.. Then the idea
| came to him that he could golf not as
soldier, as drummer boy-and he mustered
| up courage to tell the chief, At first it was
| treated as joke, but Johnny's eager face
| and resolute look told the man that the boy
was in earnest. The plan wasn't so foolish
| after all. he concluded, and he knew that
Johnnys drum would cheer and stir up the
| men more than anything else would The
! result was that when the little company
left for the scene of battle, July 4. 1861.
| Johnny McFadden was with them, In all
| the glory of a blue upiform gold buttons
| knapsack and drum strapped over his thin
| little shoulders. Beneath that uniform
beat the proudest, bravest heart, the heart
| of Johnny McFadden of Starvation alley
no longer. F-. .1t-
For four years Johnny followed the COM
pany through the fortunes Of war, its pr1-
| vatiOnS and its glorieS Through them all
| did the drummer boy beat his drum with an
| enthusiasm that communicated itself to
| every member Of the company. Johnny be-
came a great favorite at the barracks
where the soldiers and officers were quar-
| tered, for in addition to being the smallest
| and youngest drummer boy in the ranks,
he was regarded as the best drummer.
1t was during the last days of the strug-
| erafI in
| Gus encounter. that Johnny won his great
est honor. For time 1t looked as II our
| men would have to retreat, so thick and
| fast came the bullets from the confederate
| attack. The soldiers in the rear, seeing the
| hopelessness of their defense, shouted to
! Johnny to run.
| Its no use for you to be killed. We've
no chance at all, but at least We can die
| fighting. You have no arms; so run, lad,
run
Did Johnny run? I guess not. That
wasn't what he had enlisted for. The more
| the soldiers advised the stancher stood
Johnny, beating his drum like mad all the
while. The corps with him caught his en-
thusiasm, and played as they never before
had played The Star spangled Banner
| The soldiers in the rear caught the inspir-
iting strains Of the melody. and gained new
| courage and hope Instead of retreat1ng,
| they began another advance Those d.
| rectly ahead of them, seeing their determi-
nation, pushed forward thus renewing the
attack when the enemy had thought them
whipped. Through the attack which fol-
| lowed Johnny kept on drumming, and
| as on that glorious day. 1t beat hope into
the soldiers when they had given up hope;
it beat vgor into their bodies when ex-
! haustion had overcome them; it beat calm
ness into their heads and steadiness into
| their hands. where confusion and disorder
had reigned; it beat victory for our side
and defeat for the other. and the crisis OF
| the battle was passed.
Afterward. when the battle was being
discussed by the men as well as the Of
ficers the company to which Johnny be-
longed carried their drummer boy on their
shoulders back to camp, where he was
! treated like the hero that he had proven
| himself to be. One after another con-
fessed that hope sprang anew In his sink
ing heart as he heard Johnny Mctadden
| resoute beating of his drum, just as care
! lessly as If bullets and death were the
very thing he was working for.
| When the war was over Johnnys COM