Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-11-02
A VETERANS REGRET.
Why an Old Federal Soldier Would
Not. Talk of the War.

tell US of your experiences In the civil
war? Is it the sights you saw Of the
dead and wounded on the battlefield
the homes desolated or the exposure
you suffered?" -
'It was all Of these, my children,
but there was one incident that i'm.
pressed itself upon me more than any
Of them. After a battle is we'll on q
soldier comes under the influence OF
brute passion and Is not in mood to
be affected by the barbarous scenes
about him. But let him see some
minute happening when he is calm
and he revolts at war. The incident
I refer to was this:
'I was scouting in the Shenandoah
valley. We had been sent out to re-
connoiter with view to finding out
the location of Stonewall Jackson,
who was here today, there tomorrow
and nobody knew where the next day.
1 was then a private, and for what
did on that occasion I was made an
officer, but for more than forty years
have regretted the act. We had dis
mounted on high bluff overlooking
a bit Of road that wound around the
mountain. Beneath US was house
that snuggled under some high trees
and a rock back Of 1t, with few
flowers in the front yard. 1t remind
ed me of the home had left where
my mother and near by the little girl
whom you have loved so long as
gray haired old woman lived. II
made me homesick to look at 1t.
When we were ordered to remount !
noticed that the knot Of the girth
holding my Mcclellan saddle was In
secure and stopped to fasten 1t.
While was doing so my comrades
rode on. Just as I was about to
mount I heard a clatter Of hoofs on
the road below and saw young Con-
federate soldier ride up to the house,
throw himself from his saddle and
dash inside.
There was one thing about him
that especially attracted my attention,
a paper in his belt. Couriers bearing
dispatches usually carried them IN
their belts, and I knew that this young
fellow was a courier. II we could get
that dispatch it might tell us some
thing about the enemy's whereabouts.
NV comrades were by this time out of
sight, and did not dare ride after
them for fear Of losing the messenger.
remained where I was, resolved to
get his dispatch and If Of value carry
it to the general myself.
THE young man was in the house
only a few minutes when he emerged
with an old woman and a young girl.
The old woman kissed him again and
again as only mother would kiss her
son, then went inside, leaving him
with the girl. Between these two
were a different parting. I recogniz-
ed it, for l had been through such
partings myself. They were lovers.
1t was plain that the soldier had pass
ed his home in the line Of his duty
and stopped to see his mother and
Twice he left the girl
and twice went back for another kiss.
The third time he shot away, with a
wave of his hand, and disappeared
around the base Of the mountain.
Now, I knew the road zigzagged,
rising till 1t passed within half mile
of where I was. If he kept 1t all /
had TO do to head him off was to ride
over a comparatively level ground
this half mile. Mounting. did so and
concealed myself in a clump Of trees,
leaving my horse back in the woods
lest he betray me with some sound.
while waiting I fell to thinking Of
the scene I had witnessed, and the
thought Of being the instrument for
taking the youngster from his mother
and his sweetheart forever became
repulsive to me. would try to cap
ture, not kill him. But no. If l call
ed on him to surrender he would
likely turn and run. The fate Of a
whole army might depend on my Sc
curing that paper. While I was
thinking l heard horses hoofs and
felt sure my man was coming. had
changed my resolution several times
with regard to giving him a chance
for his life and when he came In
sight had decided to call upon him to
throw up his hands. Then when I
saw the paper in his belt and remem-
bered what might depend upon 1t 1
changed my mind again.
"His horse was jaded and the road
led up an angle Of some thirty de-
grees; therefore he walked. AS he
came to within the proper distance
for me to kill the rider 1 felt that I
was about to become a murderer. I
saw his old mother hanging about his
neck; I saw his sweetheart In his
arms. 1 could almost hear their sobs
when he would be brought home a
corpse.
Again the thought Of the import
ance of that dispatch, which I could
now plainly see in his belt, could al
most read the address, flashed before
me, and, taking deliberate aim at the
forehead, fired.
He reeled and fell backward into
the road, his horse dashing away UP
the mountain. 1 seized the dispatch,
feeling like one who having commit
ted murder now commits robbery. II
was from Stonewall himself to one OF
his subordinate commanders and was
dated from a point not ten miles from
our army. Leaving the body in the
road, I mounted my horse and dash
ed away to headquarters. I had saw
ed a surprise.
From that time till the end Of the
war I continued to be promoted, and
I was always looked upon as one who
had done an important service, but
did not get over the feeling that had
committed a crime, and have never
recovered from that feeling since
Often in the dead Of night I awake
thinking I hear sobs, the sobs Of ar
old woman and young girl, while
soldiers are carrying one Of theil
comrades into the house at the foo
of the mountain. groan, turn over
81 hat Cn16nrr