Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1904-10-20

UEWN-FFrNI - ~ - eaSN HAHNNNhaNb ~
Sj a dag OF truce, to attend upon
the wounded General Mercer, the
igency of his pursuit of the flying Brit
ish and their subsequent pursuit of
him having preeluded him from giving
to his old friend that personal atten-
ton which would have 50 accorded
with his kindly heart and the long af-
lection In which he had held the old
Scotchman. Seymour received permits
sion TO accompany Lewis, in order TO
ascertain, If possible, what had become
Of Talbot.
The men of MERGERS command re-
ported that they had seen the tive Of
fcers dismounted and fighting bravely,
after having refused 10 retreat. The
two young officers were very melan-
choly rs they rode along the familiar
road. Lewis belonged to a Virginia
regiment and had known both Mercer
and Talbot well, and, in fact, all the
officers who had been killed. The of
flcers OF that little army were like a
band of brothers, and after every bat
tie there was a general mourning
for the loss Of many friends. The
sharp engagement had been unusually
severe and entirely disproportioned to
the total loss; the bulk of the loss had
fallen upon MERGERS brigade.
They found the general in Clark's
farmhouse, near the field Of battle,
ItnUartnn In nrAut main aud slnu-lU 1u-
ing from a number Of ferocious bayo-
net wounds. He was attended by his
aid, Major Armstrong, and the cele-
brated DIR. Benjamin Rush came espe-
cially from Philadelphia to give the
dying hero the benefit of his skill and
the greatest respect by the enemy, for
CORVALLIS was always quick TO recog-
nize and respect a gallant soldier. The
kindly Quakers had spared neither
time nor trouble to tighten his dying
hours. and the women of the house
hold nursed him with gentle and as
siduous care. He passed away ten
days after the battle, leaving to his
descendants the untarnished name of
a gallant soldier and gentleman, who
never faltered in the pursuit of his
high ideals of duty. Brief as had been
his career as a general in the Revolu-
ton. his memory is still cherished by a
grateful posterity as one Of the first
heroes of that mighty struggle for
liberty.
Details of the British were already
marching toward the field Of action to
engage In the melancholy work OF
burying the dead when Seymour, u N
der Major Armstrong; guidance. went
over the ground in a search for Tabor.
He had no difficulty In finding the
place where his friend had fallen. The
field had not been disturbed by any
one. A bloody frozen mass of ice and
snow had shown where Mercer had
fallen, and across the place where his
feet had been lay the body of Talbot.
In front Of hin lay the lieutenant with
whom he had fought, the sword still
buried in his breast; farther away were
the two men that the general and be
had cut down in the first onslaught,
and at his feet was the corpse Of the
man he had last shot, his stiffened
hands still tightly clasping his gun.
Seymour with a sad heart stopped
and turned over the body of his friend,
lifting his face once more to that heav-
en- he had gazed upon so bravely a few
hours since-for IL was morning again,
but oh, how different! The face was
covered with blood from the wound in
the forehead, by which he had been
beaten down. Sadly, tenderly, CRATE
fully, remembering an hour when Tai
bot had knelt by his side and perform
I'd a similar service, he ~endeavored to
wipe the lurid stains from off his mar
Bile brow. Then a thought came to
him. Taking from his breast Katha-
rine's handkerchief, which had never
left him, he molstened II In the snow,
and, finding an unstained place where
her dainty hand had embroidered her
initials tx. W." he carefully wiped
clean the white face of his dead friend.
There was a little smile upon Talbot's
lips and a look Of peace and calm upon
his face which Seymour had not seen
him wear since the sinking Of the frig
ate. His right hand, whittier than tie
lace which dropped over ii, was press
ed against his heart, evidently as the
result of his last conscious movement.
Seymour bent down and lifted il IN
gently; there was something beneath
1t inside his w%aistcoat. The young
sailor reverently inserted his hand aid
drew il forth. 1t was a plain gold
locket. Touching the spring IT opened.
and there were pictured the faces of
the two women Talbot had loved-on
the II side the mother, stately. proud,
handsome, resolute, the image of the
man himself; on the other, the brown
eyes and the fair hair and the red lips
Of beautiful Katharine Wilton. There
was n letter. too. In the pocket. The
bayonet thrust which had reached his
heart had gone through 1t. and 1t, and
the locket also, was stained with blood.
The letter was addressed to Seymour.
Wondering. he broke the seal and read
1t. 1t was a brief note, written In
camp the night Of the march. 1t would
seem that Talbot had a presentiment
that he might die In the coming con-