Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1905-06-03
Put Gen. Grant Under Arrest.


Put Gen. Grant Under Arrest.
Amid surroundings of the humblest
sort, lacking the ordinary comforts.
pennilesS and broken by years and
sickness, there died at Bliss Four Cor
ners, Tiverton, last week, Capt"
Isaac Cook, one of the few grizzled
veterans of the civil war who could
boast truly of being bigger than old
Grant" Though his martial achieve
ments may not shine forth on the
pages of the average history, they are
none the less interesting, and, as the
tale was told by the old man in his
later years to his neighbors, it formed
a thrilling chapter. Here it is in his
own words:
We'll. one night 1 was on picket
duty. When 1 say picket duty about
that place l don't mean just killing
time around in the woods, for we was
in a mighty ticklish place just then.
We was inside the firing line all the
time along in the middle of July. and
I think it was about that time. Our
trenches were under fire all the time,
and even Col. Buffum's headquarters
were getting a constant rain of rifle
fire.
"Old Grant knew this, and there
WASH I nODOQy IN lu0 army ne was
quite SO worried about as he was the
pickets. And that's what brought
him and me together. 1 was pretty
well out to the front, and most of us
was keeping pretty well covered in
the trenches or the woods. 1t was an
awful dark night, with thunder
storm breeding overhead and dark as
a pocket in the woods.
ct was about halfway down my
beat when a man suddenly appeared
from behind a tree and came toward
me. He was wrapped up in night
cape, for the air was damp, to say
nothing of the likelihood of a storm
coming. OF course 1 challenged him.
But he didn't say a word, and kept
coming right along.
"'Halt,' says 1. But he didn't halt
bit. l brought up my gun to firing
position and 1 ye1ls again: Halt! >
Then he stopped.
Who goes there?' says 1.
"a FRIEND says he, with sort of
mumb1ing voice, starting to take an
ether step forward at the same time.
81 made another move with the
gun and he stopped mighty short. 'Ad-
vance friend with the countersign,'
says l. Then he came forward boldly,
|
stead of that he grabbed my gun and
tried to wrest it away from me. Some
how or other he had hold of it in such
a way that couldn't fire at him, and
I'm mighty glad that 1 couldn't. now
that l know who he was. But he had
firm hold on the piece and made a
pretty tussle with me. Just then I
slipped on root and he managed to
get the gun away. Before he could
take step from me, though, I
whipped out a revolver, one of those
big army pistols, had in. my belt, and
pushed it right against his face.
"'You give me back that gun right
off or I'll drop you,' says l.
ST could kind O. see him finch, and
then he handed me back the gun. I
wouldn't take down the revolver. till
/ had the gun In my left hand. Then
/ held him there till had called the
corporal.
well, sir" said the old man, you
can just guess l was surprised when
we trotted him to the guard house
and found out he was Gen. Grant, our
new commander. I was scared at first,
for 1 didn't know just whether 1 had
done right or not in holding up my
own commander. 1 tell you when
went to my tent and rolled in didn't
do much sleeping. And when told
it to the rest of the boys they wouldn't
believe me-
But next day I was made pretty
glad / did it. When we went out on
evening roll there was Grant and two
or three of his stan. | tell you I
shook for a while worse than | ever
did in any of the eight battles
fought in. and when Capt Shearman.
our company commander-poorf fellow.
he was captured by the rebs a few
days later-called me out of the rank
by name, 1 was ready to. drop. But
instead of reprimanding me or any
thing of the sort. old Grant just
stepped up and told the boys the story
and praised me and told 'em he wished
he had a lot more inst such sentries.
and, on the whole, reckoned perhaps
I was a fair sample of the whole OF the
boys"-Boston Globe
Evolution of Soldier.
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