The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-07-19

| iightful promenade and nurses throng-
ing the plaza with infants and Older
children. And what q quiet. peacefui
! spot IL was-with all its grim cannon,
ling with muskketry. No fierce
soldier stroked his n muStache. or
shouldered his deadly gun; no obdu-
! rate sentry barred the way 20 the CAL
low courting pair. or the carriage OF
the cooling. blue-eyed baoe-aot until
coming events cast their
before" and the government. alert.
! disturbed and anxious at n something
in the air-like the man who STANDS
| aghas at the snakes deadly rattle.
knowing o whence IL comes-ent n
| garrison 10 this quiet corner OF its po~
sessions.
| or every evening OF Fourth of July
the United States government :reated
the people of Fayetteville TO a display
OF fireworks on the arsenal grounds.
excellent in variety and extent. and
touched Of" with grea, skill. some
of the down town folks were content
to view them from below. though ma
ny came up over the hill and al Hay
mount fiocked To the campus TO wit
ness the brilliant spectacle.
A short time before the civil war the
arsenal was reinforced by a garrison.
a OF light artillery. an ex-
c~eptionally fine corps. / think. COM
manded by Major Anderson and Major
D'Lagnel. The former. according 10
my recollection. was hrst in rank, but
he was seldom here an dthe latter had
the real command. Maj. DLasnel
was a splendid officer. a man OF very
| strong character. n personality OF
4 great polish and refinement, who made
many warm friends here. He was a
firm disciplinarian, and his men gave
the community no trouble, being an
| nnnSrIalv ORDERLY hndv of soldiers
But even the best a will go
astray now and then, and / recall an
incident illustrating Maj. DLagnels
influence over his command.
A private on leave from camp, got
on a terrible spree down town, ard
word thereof was sent UP 10 headquar-
tiers, whence a corpora and two men
We're sent down 10 arrest him. 1 vas
"a school boy, having just come out
from the afternoon session at the Don
aldson Academy. n was on the way
to my theirs store on the corner OF
| Hay and Winslow streets. The Off
Ger and his file had coaXed, led and
hauled the n soldier as far as
the present residence OF Mr.. Walter
Watson. and there he stopped, swear
ing that he would not bulge a step
further. The corporal, his p~atience
worn out, l suppos slightly pro6ded
the man with his musket. The effect
was disastrous. The soldier, 4 very
athletic man. whirled about like an
enraged tiger, and fought like a mad
man knocking the two men to right
and left. and Selling the corporal by
| the throat. Just then, with his digni-
nified, ~leisurely pace Maj. D'Lagnei
| came around the bend of the street in
full uniform. The transformation was
wonderful. The passion ebbed out OF
the soldiers face as neat GIBBS out OF
casting iron; he dropped his arms,
touched his cap in salute and Wen; OIL
quietly to quarters.
When in the spring of 1861 the arsenal
was captured from the United states
by the forces of North C~arolina-con-
sisting of the militia OF Cumberland
county, the Lafayette and Indepen-
dent Light Infantry company, with an
imprCvised section of battered light ar
tinery-one of the men OF DLagnefs
command, Sergeant Whitmore, eluded
the vigilance of the officers and de-
serted, remaining concealed in a house
in the eastern outskirts until his COM
rades were we'll on their way home He
proved very useful in drilling the two
corps which afterwards became COM
panies F and H in the First (BetheD
regiment, entering the ranks of the
former. and subsequently he became
q lieutenant in STAIRS light artillery.
Whitmore was a good drill master,
n machine-Soldier a sort of Dougald
Dalghetty, having no higher concep-
ton of his profession than to obey Or
ders. He had no more sentiment about
the justice of a cause than a hog has
about the antiquity of the oak under
which he is eating acorns-the COM
parisCn is old and burrowed, but apt.
He was of brunted intelligence, almost
illiterate and uncouth n boorisn in
He was captured at Gum
Swamp, below Kinston. where the la
1a.fa 7 NJ wiz IL
lost his life, and where the enemy
fianked the Confederates by passing
through a swamp to their rear. The
rest of the men duly Joined their COM
mand after exchange, but Whitmore
never returned. He had regained
his first love again taking services un-
der the United States flag.
Deep were the excavations of his
comrades when his reason was known;
but, when the matter is duly consid-
cred, he vas not so much to blame
that his conduct was very excusaolf
when we reflect upon the powerful in
fuence of the instinct of self preser-
walton. Whitmore was recognized by
some OF his fellow soldiers in the Old ar
my as soon as he was captured, and hjs
situation was very critical. He was d
deSerter, taken red-handed, bearing
the arms Of the other side; and there
is little doubt that 1t was made known
10 MIN IndI ne WOulu IdTe udhiS uHIcs'
he repaired his offense by returning
to his first allegiance.
It is a little singular that only a Few
years G a western PAPER gave an ac'
count of Sargt. Job G. Whitmore ttht
same name), with a squad of men
fighting his way through a band o.
Indians and making his way to a for
on the plains. The old fellow was Ger
tainly staying long in harness, for M
must then have been quite an old man
If the readers of The Messenger thinl
that it will make entertaining read
ing, 1 will at some future time narrat'
the story of the aking OF the arsena
on Haymount by the forces OF tht
great commonwealth, of which j wa
an eyewitness and a small part. L
has been already written up" bu
it will bear repetition, for it was on
Of the most extraordinary serio-comi'
military demonstrations of all tn
49, oo 70 ~ la nm the history q