Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-18

| drew blood made this" Here the senator
| showed me the third finger of his right
hand, which is half inch shorter than the
others. 1t is stiff and bends slightly inward
| toward the palm. As l looked at 1t he con-
tinued:
THAT finger was struck by bullet at
Wilson's Creek and broken and part OF II
! carried away. When the surgeon treated
1t 1 told him / wanted him to set 1t in the
position it would have when the hand IS
used for writing. He asked me why: l
told him I expected to do a great deal OF
writing after the was over and did not
want a stiff finger to prevent me. He
laughed and set the finger on the curve, as
you This makes the injury almost I'M,
perceptible. My hand is In its natural
shape, and when / wear gloves no one can
tell that there is anything the matter with
it. Had that finger been set straight 1t
would have stood out stiff whenever bent
my hand, and would have been deformlty
and obstruction all my life
How It Feels to Be Shot.
where else were you wounded. SENATOR
Il was once shot through the fleshy part
of the forearm, but this was not serious ana
/ was able to go on until the battle was
over l was shot through the leg at the
battle of Franklin. The ball went through
my right leg near the ankle, breaking the
small bone. About the same time a ball
went through my left leg not far from the
ankle, Just grazing the bone. When l got
these wounds l was with my troops, right
at the front and in the thick of the fire
tried my leg and found l could manage TO
walk upon it, Notwithstanding the broken
bone so | hobbled off of the field. Had
stayed 1 should have been riddled with bull
let's
How does it feel to be shot, SENATOR"
1T comes like a great blow. The pain is
not intense until afterward. This second
wound, that of my left leg, did not know
about until the surgeon began to set my
broken bone.
How Cockrell Returned to the Union.
You were one of those who accepted
the inevitable when the war closed?'
YES, when 1 was in prison toward and at
about the end of the war 1 settled my fu-
ture. l saw that we must lose, and debated
where the lines of my life should be laid
after the over. l canvassed the
other countries of the world as places 1or
life work. l thought of Mexico, but l did
not like Maximilian, who was then trying
to be king, and told my friends in prison
that that / hoped the United States would
send 100000 men there to drive him out OF
the country. / thought of Brazil, but that
was under Dom Pedro and had also mon
archical government After careful con-
sideration / came to the conclusion that
the United States was the only country
for me. 1t was my country, and in most
respects it had what | regarded the ideal
government. 1 wanted to stay with it and
| would go home as soon as l got out OF
prison, and take my punishment, what
ever it might be, and then become sup
porter of my new country. This l did
and have never regretted it.
How One Man Was Pardoned.
81 applied to the President for pardon,
and here, by the way, is my pardon paper
With this the senator took official docu
ment, copy of his request for pardon,
which had been furnished him from the
War Department, from one of the pigeon
holes of his desk and read it to me.
The letter was addressed to President
Andrew Johnson and in it General Cock
rell stated that he had gone into the con-
federate army from feeling OF duty, be-
lieving that the principles of the confeder
ate government were right, and that he
had tried to do his whole duty as a soldier,
faithfully and fearlesSly, until the time OF
his capture. He said that he had done all
he could since the surrender to restore
peace, quiet and order throughout the
land; inasmuch he felt that the prin-
ciples cOntended for by him had been
finally settled by the decision of arms in
which it was his duty to acqu1esce. He
asked to be restored to the full rights OF
citizenship. and said that if he was so
restored he would feel the United States
to be his government, and that he would
support and defend it he had tried to
support and defend the confederate states.
The petition requested that executive
clemency be extended to him with full
amnesty and pardon and restoration of the
rights of property, and 1T was closed with
the signature of F. NJ. COckrell, brigadier
general, late provisional army of the con-
federate states.
NV pardon was granted" said the sena-
tor. as he folded up the paper, and since
then | have dore all l could to fulfill the
rights and duties of my United states cit
izenship.'
A Speech That Made a Senator.
How did you come to go to the Senate,
Mr.. Cockren?'
II had refused to be a candidate for sew
eral offices. and in 1874 was brought forth
by my friends is a candidate for the nom
ination as governor of Missouri. The con-
test was a close one, although perfectly
friendly. There were but two candidates
before the convention, and my opponent
beat me by one-third of one vote. Each
county has a certain number of votes al
lotted to it, but in the polling the whole
county counted as one, so you see how the
fractional part came in. L am not sure
whether it was sixth or third of vote
which constituted the majority against me-
AS the result was announced arose IN the
convention and made a speech asking that
nomination be made unanimous. L
congra tulated the delegates upon their Sc
lection of a candidate who was a better
man than | was and who / knew, would
run well before the people. i said wished
to repeat what L had said beforehand, that
if he We're nominated l would be glad to do
all / could to aid in his election, and closed
my speech with saying that l. for one, was
glad to throw up my hat and shout, Three
cheers for candidate, the next gov
ernor of Missouri ! had my SLOUGH hat
in my hand at the time, and, in the en-
thusiasm of the moment, it somehow left
it and few up to the roof, and with that
the convention broke out in cheers. You
must remember that half of the men were
my friends who had been fighting for me-
and that campaign had been so con-
Quoted that the remainder, although they
preferred their own candidate, did not OBJ
ject to me. AS it was, l captured the con-
vention. My friends were still enthusiast
cally for me and my opponents were sorry
that l had to be defeated in order that
their candidate might succeed. They gath
cred around me and said: Well Cockrel
well take care of you; We'll make you SEN
ator' This they did, and l have been in
the Senate from then until now"
Some Elements of Success.
How did you get along in the Senate,
Mr.. Cockrell?"
Il was green at first, but I took up the
work that came to me and did it as well as
| could at the same time trying to fit my
self for that which might come. This has
ia I