Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-19
STRANGE QUEST.
Of an Old Confederate Soldier Who Is
Seeking Yankee 'Bunhie.''
From the Los Angeles Tines.

Among the strange quests that men have
undertaken In an effort To satisfy an I'M
controllable desire TO know is the search
which is about to engage the time and
money OF Richard Duvall of No iJoi Cen
trail avenue. Duvall served with honor IN
the civil war, and during the awful strug-
gle was enabled to assist a comrade in dire
peril. After the war had closed all efforts
to find the comrade proved frutless, and,
while at intervals word has been received
that the man is alive and well. for some
unaccountabie reason his whereaboutS has
remained mystery. Moved with CON
Stunning desire to find the man. the old sol
der. who is in business In Los Angeles.
will spend the remaining years of his l fe
trying 10 find his long lost "bunkie.
Without any attempt to gain notoricty
DuvaII tells of his desire To see has Old
friend and relates some of his experiences
during the bloody strife.
Il entered the Confederate army at the
commencement of the war. says DuVall
some time in April. 1851. and was a mem
Der of Company F. 18th Mississippi infan-
try; was engaged in the battle Of Bull Run
or Manassas, the battles of Balls Blun,
or Leesburg: all through the York
town campaign, and saw some hard service
in the battles In the defense of Richmond
Owing to physical disability and exposure
l was honorably discharged from my reEl-
ment and soon thereafter entered the local
forces in defense of the Confederate capital.
For some time | was in charge OF Castle
Thunder Hospital, where the political prs
oners were confined. While there had op-
portuuities OF lending aid to the tn,on
prisoners and others who were In sore need
Of help
"One case in particular we'll remember.
that of n man named w. w. Wednesday,.
whose home address was No. e. South
. street, New York city. He belonged Ia the
Masonic order. of which | was member.
He longed for liberty and fretted so that l
4 hn a Ry iSf on of
fort l succeeded in obtaining his release
and sent him north to join his friends. The
man prince of good fellows, and l
esteemed him highly and missed him much
when he was gone from the gloomy prison.
l was in New York several months after
the and tried to find Mac but he
had gone west. Since that time all efforts
to reach him have failed.
During my stay at Castle Thunder j
made many visits to Libby prison. On one
of these visits l met prisoner who made
himself known to me as a Freemason. He
was a tall. fine-lookng man, weak and
ema cated from hard service. told him
would try to obtain his release. but he said
there was hope for him, as all efforts
had failed
my plan was to interview every officer
of the prison with whom l was acquainted
and after three weeks of persistent effort
the release was secured and the man was
sent home to his friends. l saw him safe
| ly on board the Confederate eXchSnge
steamer anu Telndilttu WIN u'i'ti III
sailed homeward on the Union exchange
| steamer l gave him a basket of lunch
and some money. and richly repaid
with his overlooking gratitude. | have lost
| the name and address of this man, but If
| he or any of his friends read these lines /
| would most earnestly ask them to com
municate with me.
Il have been asked why I am so anxious
| to find comrades in the war, but 1t is DIFF
ficult to give Ineligible answer. The
associations were sacred to me- and If they
! could be resumed, even for brief Gay, my
heart would be glad
| Mr. Duvall is a southerner with fund of
| experience and rare knowledge of human
nature that will doubtless serve him well
| in the search he Is soon to undertake. He
| still has many years # active life before
| him, and his friends say he Is not easily
discourag ed