Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-04-20
SOLDIERS AT HOME.
HEY TELL SOME INTERESTING
ANECDOTES OF THE WAR.
LOW the Boys of Both Armies WhiIed
Away Life in Camp-Foragins Ex-
periences, Tiresome Marches-Thri1-
ling Scenes on the Battlefield.

American soldiers in the Philippines or
n Kansas or Arizona are besotted, bru-
al creatures given to needless cruelty
n battle and having no respect for the
lights or the lives of those fighting
against them. Now, as so per cent of
he soldiers in the regular army are ma
i've born, they probably represent fair
y well the average American of this
lay. as the volunteer army of the Civil
War represented the average American
Of that day.
Il never, in all my army experience,
saw downright merciless or brutal act
n skirmish or battle. | have seen men
light with the fury of demons. l have
seen men carried away by the frenzy
OF battle do idiotic and unaccountable
things, but whether they were moved
by passion or crazy with excitement
or stolid in the face of danger, | never
saw one Of our men commit an act of
WantOn cruelty. There were coarse
men and men Of low instincts in all
the companies, probably, but as Il rule
it was the high spirited, decent fellows
who were on the firing line.
Il remember that on the third day
at Stone River our brigade charged at
a full run on a rebel regiment advanc-
ing on us at a run. The crash as the
two lines came together was a fearful
thing. For five or ten minutes there
was the wild confusion of striking,
| thrusting, pushing, and pulling, OF
fighting at close range, the men on
both sides yielding to the fury OF the
moment. But the second line of the
Confederates broke and our colonel,
beating his way into the melee, swung
our own line to the rear of the fighters
and shouted: Quit your hair pulling
there Ask the Johnnies to surren-
der
The Johnnies surrendered, throwing
down their guns and taking off their
cartridge boxes with cheerful accept
ance Of the situation. Our own men,
Winded by the tussle, contemplated the
proceedings in silence, Il grin OF good
humor gradually supplanting the look
of extreme passion on their faces. An
old fashioned fellow assisted one of
the rebs in untangling his belt, and So
| Gladly said, BY gum, l am tuclered
out. I feel just about as | did when
my pillow team ran off and dragged me
| across a ten-acre field To which the
rebel responded, / knew there would
be something doing when we started.
| The colonel banked on scarin' you 'uns,
but / was bettin' even that you lIns
wouldn't scare
ION the first day of heavy fighting
at Stone River one Of our men, who is
| now a preacher out in Kansas, was
| slightly wounded, and, while in dazed
| condition, he was taken possession of
by a wandering reb. The latter double
| quicked his daZed prisoner across the
| field. to his own elatiOn, and INDUCED
in good many uncomplimentary le-
marks. The rapid motion, however,
cleared the prisoners mind, and, pre-
tending to be in great fear Of the bayo-
net behind him, he increased his speed.
This was agreeable to the rebel, who
experienced all the delights of the chase.
Suddenly the prisoner veered to one
side and. as his guard stumbled for
ward. jumped on him from behind. In
| two minutes our man had the rebS
| gun and was chasing the fellow back
toward our lines at the point Of the
| bayonet. They were a tired pair when
they came within hailing distance Both
were dirty and bloody, but they were
hungry also. and in a few minutes were
eating bareback and drinking coffee
| and badgering each other about the in
cidents of their unusual adventure"
.That reminds me-" said the Cap
tain. "of the day the 2O2d Regiment,
New York State Volunteers, landed in
Cuba to do police duty, just after the
| Spanish-American war. When the
| TRANSPORT bearing battalion of the
regiment commanded by Major Frank
| + Wood arrived in Havana the wharf
| at which she landed was crowded with
| Standards. Cubans. and negroes. The
! Colonel of the regiment was aboard,
| and nv his instructions Major Wood
| ordered the people cleared off the
| wharf. which was surrounded by
| high fence with several gates.
"A squad was sent ashore and the
wharf was soon cleared Of all but one
man. who kept edging around and
lodging the blue coats. His mustache
was waxed up at the ends and he car
ried himself haughtily and a long
| sword dangled about his feet AS he
refused the sergeant's personal order
| 70 .yamoose,' the latter called two hus-
| XIV fellows, who took him by the nape
| of the neck and the seat of the trous-
ers and deposited him none too gently
| on all tours in the street very angry
and very much tangled up with his
sword.
IAN hour later he returned with an