The National tribune., 1906-02-15
PICKET SHOTS
From Alert Comrades Along the Whole
Line.
The Rear Guard to FRANKLIN.

sSoi SSoHt, W. n. 1S0ln ONO, writes
from San Francisco. Cal. to reply TO
Comrade d. +. Wilsey's query az to
what troops were the rear guard from
Spring Hill to Franklin. He says: LAS
l was small part of that guard and
Kept diary. l can answer. Gen. OPP
dycke's Brigade. the First of the Sec
ond Division, Fourth Corps. was the
rear guard referred to- In the retreat
from Columbia towards Nashville this
brigade led the advance on the run into
Spring Hill. just in time to shut out
the rebs. and took q position OH the
extreme left OF the line, which held the
J"hnnies I'm check all night while our
little army, outnumbered four to one,
moved In our rear silently on it's way
In Franklin
AT daybreak of Nov 80 we quietly
withdrew to the pike and formed as the
rear guard in the following order: First
line Of battle, 44th and 73d H.: second
line. 125th Ohio, cath Wis. and 3sth
ILL.,; lastly. the S8th and 14th ILL.,. con-
solidated and dcployed as skirmishers.
bringing up the rear. In this forma-
ton we marched and skirmfshed to
Franklin. The other two brigades of
our division, under Gen. Wagner. had
taken Il position several hundred yards
in front OF the main line OF defense
and when we passed them Gen Wagner
told Gen. Opdycke he could fell i'm with
them. But Opdycke objected. and
Wagner told him to do AS he pleased
He pleased. with remarka BILE clearness
OF vision, to take us one or two hundred
yards in rear of the main line behind
the Garter house, where we were massed
in vacant lot and Immediately allowed
to get breakfast at o'clock p. m. We
had more pressing business up to this
late hour. This little move of ours In
connection with subsequent one I'M
doubleday saved the day at Franklin
for. y,-rt 4.
charging column of rebs when they
broke over our line OF works and came
surging toward us. We did meet them
In the worst mix-up j ever saw, and
drove them back. killing and capturing
many; but from that moment the battle
of Franklin was won. That timely move
Of less than a thousand men turned the
tide Of battle. and. as Gen. Thomas said
to as at Nashville, saved the day at
Franklin and saved Nashville
Not Soldiers, hut Criminals.
Comrade Robert /. Kelly. Co. c, 37th
Ind, writes from Harper, Kan. to say
that his regiment was the chief provost
guard at MurfreesborO, Tenn. in the
Summer of 1853, when the executions
took place there after the battle of
Stone River and until the Chickamauga
campaign. He says the three men who
were hanged were not soldiers nor
by the civil courts and sentenced to
death. They were executed by the mill
tary because the civil authorities had
no jurisdiction, as the place was under
martial law. Gen. Bragg, G. s. A.
communicated with Gen. Rosecrans, re-
questfng him to have the sentence Of
death executed at the proper time, and
"Old Rosy" complied. The prisoners
We're three desperate criminals and
their crime was terrible one. They
tortured an aged couple to death in an
effort to make them divulge the hiding
place, Of their money. The three des-
peradoes beat the aged man and woman
on their heads with club, held them
on a red-hot stove. cut out their tongues
and finally shot them to death.
At the execution OF Selkirk. one of
the three, young girl asked permits
sion to spring the fatal trap. This re-
quest was refused, and the execution
was carried out by the regular detail
of soldiers. The young girl clapped
her hands and laughed loudly as the
drop fell. She was the daughter Of
the old couple, and had been criminally
assaulted by the condemned men when
they entered her home.
"Maywood's Cavalry Was There.
Comrade G.. w. Norton, Co. p, 3sth
Wis. writes from Corning. Cal: II
would like to ask Comrade III. r. Nor
ton, 46th n. Y. what was the matter
with the 38th Wis? In his account of
the Ninth Corps he mentioned the 37th
Wis, but not the 38th. Why? The
3Sth was with the 31th all the time
from Cold Harbor to Appomattox. The
first year we had but five companies,
but they were there. l would like to
hear from some Of the comrades of the
Cavalry"
Incident of the Grand Review.
Comrade John r. Palmer, of Normal,
ILL.,. who is spending some months at
Sorrento, Fla, says on May "a. 1865.
while he was passing along Pennsylya-
MIA avenue, Washington, ID. c., i'm the
Grand Review, a lady handed a boy a
boquet Of flowers. and told him to run
along the curbing and stick it in my
belt. The lad did As he was bid. In
thinking the matter over I wondered
If the lady and the boy are still alive,
and If they have forgotten the incident.
We are located at Sorrento, Fla. for
the Winter and maybe for the Summer.
There is plenty OF game and fishing
close by. Sorrento is 35 miles from the
east coast and about $50 miles south of
Execution at GOldsbOro.
Comrade w. M. Morrison, Sergeant,
Co. G, 9th n. j., writes from Woods
town, N. j., to contradict Comrade w.
j. Kreamers statement regarding the
date Of the execution OF a private in
the 18th N. Y. Cav, named Bryan. at
N. C. According to his his
tory of the regiment, the execution took
place March 90, 1865, instead Of March
3. backed by the fact that no United
States troops were in Goldsboro, where
the execution took place, until March
81.
Another Venerable War Relic.
Col. John NJ. Crist, of Jamestown, Pa,
became the happy possessor, through
John Rogers, of an army bareback,
which had been sent to the late Levi
Heilman by q member Of the 93d Pa.
The original paper in which 1t was
packed and sent to Mr.. Heilman bears
the date Of July %, 1862, and is we'll
considering the time.
Col. Christ values the token SO highly
that he has had a tin box made, with a
glass lid, in which he has placed the
"hardtack' and sealed and labeled it.
If the soldier lives who first present
ed it, and reads this, it is hoped he Will
with Col. Crist, who will
greatly appreciate any information up
on the subject.
Fatal Charge Of Mississippians.
COmrade John Hixan, Lieutenant, Co.
*, AID Ind, writes from Denver, Colo,
to say that the description of the battle
I1 ALL tea L