The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-05-31
nouT ton y0ars ago yeteran d

portant battles OF the war was iought
| lie was observed to be intently inspect
ing the stony ground on Bloody Hill
where General Nathaniel Lyon, the Un'
ion commander, was killed In the fight
of Aug, 10, 1891
"what on earth air you lookin' FURY
inquired a farmer who lievcd near by,
"Aleta replied the searcher, "oh, I'm
list lookln' fur my false teeth
"where did you drop 'cmte asked the
farmer. supposing that the visitor had
jus, lost his teeth.
"Well, II was right long here some.
'eres," said the veteran. Il wuE 90 bad
scairt when fust went into action here
In 'dl that my upper plate shook clean
outen my head. an l been a'needin'
them teeth ever sence.s
The late Stephen Crane In the story
which made his reputation as writer
"The Red Badge OF Courage, drew q
picture Of the impressions Of youth
in his first battle which many veterans
have declared 10 hc q faithful portray
al Of their own feelings In a similar OK.
perience. This young man went into the
fight determined not TO show the white
feather but a. tho battle waxcd warm
he was seized IN the grip ci terrible
fear and suddenly took 70 his heels and
made for the rear
/, Is quite probable that II you will
corner any old soldier and pin him down
to absolute candor he win tell you that
he was scared to DEATH or woEls 10
that effect, when hrst he heard the
hostile bullets whlz AMI knew that he
must 20 forward into the conflict,
General Grant candidly confessed 10
a highly uncomfortable feeling upon
two occasions OF imminent battle. one
being his first experience in the Mexi.
can war and the other his initiation In
the cisil war after 10 years Of peace.
He recorded these sensations IN his per.
sonal memoirs. As 10 his experience In
Mexico he wrote;
As we lay In our tents upon the sea.
shore the artillery at the fort on the
Rio Grande could be distinctly heard.
The war had begun. There was no pos.
sible means Of obtaining news from the
garrison, and information from outside
could not be otherwise than uniavor.
able. What General Taylor's feelings
were during this suspense do not
know, but for myself. young second
lieutenant who had never heard a hos.
tile gun before, ] felt sorry that ! had
enlisted. A great many men, when they
smell battle aiar of, ehafe to get into
the fray. When they say so themselves
they generally fail to convince their
hearers that they are as anxious as they
would like to make believe, AMI az they
danger they become more sub.
dued. This rule Ia not universal, for |
have known a few men who were al.
ways aching for fight when there was
no enemy near who were as good as
their word when the battle did come,
but the number Of such men Is small.
After several years. retirement from
the army Grant entered the great con.
fiict Of the sixties, his first command
being the Twenty-Rrst Illinois volun.
teers. Tie was sent 10 northwest Mis-.
souri,. where certain regiment was be.
sieged by the enemy, with instructions
to raise the siege. lie wrote as follows.
MY sensations a. we approached what
might be a field Of battle were any.
thing but agreeable. ! had been in all
the engagements in Mexico that IL had
been possible for one person to be in,
but not in command II some one else
had been colonel and | had been lieuten-
ant-colonel, | do not think would have
felt any trcpidation. Before we we're
to cross the Mississippi river
at Quincy my anxiety was relieved, for
the men Of the besieged regiment came
struggling into town, am inclined to
think both sides got frightened and ran
away"
A few days later Colonel Grant had
an experience which once more caused
him, in his memoirs, to acknowledge
that he was scared. This was after he
had crossed the river into Missouri.
His description Of bis feelings just in
advance of an expected battle that did
not take place has touch Of humor.
This humor Is quite justifable, for the
regiment Of the future general was en-
camped at the time in the little village
Of Florida, Mo-, the birthplace Of Mark
Twain, and that individual himself, then
better known in the neighborhool az
Sam Clemens, who had just enlisted
in the Confederate service, was doing
his best to avoid an engagement with
Grant, as he confessed many years later.
There was Colonel Harris in command
Of the Confederate troops IN that yicin.