Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1904-11-12
A FAMILY AFFAIR:
copyright, 1903, by c. B. Lewis.1

about forty years old named Reuben
Hardman, and he was the only man
among us who kept close mouthed
about his identity and his family his
| tory. Some of the men thought there
was good reason for this, but it didn't
transpire that Hardman had anything
| to be ashamed of. The truth came out
one day as he was marching and STUN
| bling over a bad road, and when his
patience had become exhausted he
| said:
"Gaul durn Dan'ps hide, but if I had
him here I'd wallop him till he couldn't
boiler! What on earth did he go and
do it for and bring all this trouble on
me?''
Some of the boys asked him who
Dan'l was, and then the mystery was
solved. Dan'l was brother who had
gone south and enlisted in the Confed-
crate army and was then known to be
in among the troops confronting us.
| If Reuben was a good Union man
Danl was no less a good Confederate,
| and if Reuben cussed Dan'l for the war
his adjectives were supposed to be re.
| turned with interest.
We wondered if it would so happen
that the two would meet in battle, but
time went on until we got around to
Petersburg. AS our regiment took the
| rifle pits in the center of Grants lines
one day Reuben was one of the men
detailed for the pits. At this point
| Union and Confederate pits were not
more than hundred feet apart, and to
show head above the earth was sure
death. Reuben had high pitched
voice, and any one having heard it
could identify him in the darkest night.
It began raining soon after he and a
comrade had reached the pit, and the
brother soon began the same old trade
| against Daniel.
Suddenly voice from the Confeder-
ate pit opposite shouted out:
"Say, now, but shuck my hide if I
don't know the critter who owns that
voicey'
"Who be you over there" called Reu-
ben as he started up.
! "I'm Dan'l, Of course"
"You don't mean itv'
eyes, do, and you are Reube. I'd
know that voice Of yours if I heard 1t
in Chiny. Say, old man, how are We,
and how are all the folks at homer"
"I'm we'll huff, and the folks are well
huff, but I'm powerful mad. What
did you go and turn rebel for and make
all this trouble? You. hain't got a
spark of decency about you, Dan'l
| Hardman"
"I'm as good as any old Yankeew re-
piled Daniel.
| "You amt either. Just let me git
holt Of you, and you'll sing different
| tune. I want you to come right over
| here and surrender and behave your
self. Do you hear me?"
Their conversation in the pits was
heard by score Of men on either side,
| and first one would cheer and then the
other. When there was break in the
| talk, a Confederate would shout across:
"Hey thar, Reube, come over to the
house and see Dan'l"
'You bad boy, Dan'l, come home and
be lickedv' a Federal would shout in
answer. And for an hour the firing
from half a dozen rifle pits was sus-
pended. When Reuben took his Sec
ond trick in the pit he was so eager to
open communication that he exposed
his head, and bullet sent his cap fly
ing ten feet away.
| "Durn your hide, but that was you,
Dan'lv' he shouted as he crouched
down. eyes, I'll bet it was. You hain't
| got no more sense in your head than to
go and shoot at your brother, though
you couldn't hit barn ten feet away"
THAT you, Reube?" called Daniel.
."Of course it's me. What you askin'
such silly questions for? You never
did know beans, even before you ran
away and joined them rebels
"Don't git mad" said Daniel. 81
thought it was some other Yank. Say,
Reube did you say that all the folks
at home was we'll? l hain't heard from
them in hull year."
"None o. your business how they
are. Anybody mean huff to go off and
| JUL IdC LCOCA dLiuJ uCCuu Uc dSh1A
about decent folks. I've got a heap
o. things laid up ag'in you, young man,
and you'll do lot of Begin when I
git holt of you."
"But you'll never git holt" replied
Daniel while all those around him
raised cheer.
eyes, will. Grant is goin' to cap
ture your old army for sure, and then
me an you will settle things
"Tell General Grant to go to grass"
It was funny what influence that lit
tie thing had on the opposing rifle
pits. 1t came to be known to hundreds
of men on each side that Reuben and
Daniel were brothers, and their names
became household words. They were
on duty only three times before their
respective regiments were relieved, but
the men who came after them had
something to talk about. All of a sud-
den there would come a lull in the
| m1rderOuS firing and Confederate