Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-01-12
DAILY. STORY.
HOW THE REDoUBT WAS TAKEN
GOriginal.-

OF half dozen men sitting around
country store stove. He's the only
hero l ever knew who didn't know he
was a hero Anyway, he thinks his
comrades believe he ought to have
been shot for desertion. To get his
story you must make him mad How
dy, Mr.. Paddock And the speaker in
troduced the conner to his friends.
How is it, Mr.. Paddock" he con-
tinued. that all your comrades in the
civil war got some sort of promotion
and you weren't even made cor
poral? They say you came pretty
near being shot for deserticn."
II can't never get rid O. that mis-
take" said Paddock ruefully, "for
that's what it was, mistake. You see,
twas this way. We was down there in
Virginny buckin' up agin a long line
of Notifications at the base of the
mountains. One night l got banker
in to1lo some scoutin' on my own ac-
count. / reckoned the redoubt our bri-
gade was tryin' to take wasn't well
connected with the one next to it. /
had purity sharp eyes in them days.
and l thought l seen n way to git in
between EN- Stealin' along n ravine,
l managed to git by the pickets o both
armies, climbed the mountains and
looked right down into the fort we was
a-tryin' to take. What dye suppose
seen? There wasn't twenty men in it.
and fully half the guns was Quaker.
81 couldn't understand how our gin
eral could be weeks buckin' up ag'in
this measly shown, but he'd wrote a
lot o. books on the science o war. and
l supposed he knowed all about it.
Anyway. l thought I'd go back and
tell him what I'd seen. l got down to
the ravine when 1 was halted by
rebel picket and taken prisoner.
The Johnnies KEEP me three days,
when, seem the discipline o. the guard
mighty laX-they was all tired out
fightin'-I stole away one night. climb
ed up the mountain an circled around
the Johnnies' left flank an our right
flank. l was walkin into camp one
mornin' thinkin' how I'd like some real
United States coffee when / met some
o. our men. The officer in command
arrested me for deserter. l tole him
where I'd been and what I'd seen, but
he didn't believe me.
WAL. d'y' know, they court mar
tailed me for desertion-yes. they did
an, wO'se, they sentenced me to be
shot The only bit o. luck had was
raid o. rebel cavalry that shook us all |
up and interfered with my shootin' |
The hubbub broke the line in our front |
too. | was mad. The idea o. gettin' |
IA Al, -
no strength in the redoubti IT want |
right nohow. WAL. takin' advantage |
o. the confusion, piclin' up Il musket |
1 walked right up through the ravine |
an the path I'd found on the mountain |
side till l got to the spot where I'd |
looked down on the JohnnieS in the |
redoubt. There want as many of 'em /
rs there was afOre. l knowed my ad |
vantage, bein' in their rear, and how l |
could scare 'em, so 1 yelled at the top |
Of my voice:
Surrender"
'Y' never see such frightened lot in
your life. One or two of 'em fired at |
me- l fired back, an the rest skedad-
died. 1t happened that Il young Off
Ger on our picket line was Gurus 20 |
know what the firm meant, thinkin'
likely that the rebs were 1ightin' among |
an he come cautiously. |
with dozen o. the picket. up the slope.
| seen him an hollered to him to come
On; the redoubt was our'n. He KEN. an
It want long afore the United States
dag was a-hutterin' over them Quaker
guns.
"'Waal, I'll be gol darned" said the
officer. We've been three weeks
tryin' to take this fertilization, and
you've TUX it all alone! And our gin
eral one o. the fust strategists in the
lrmy"
Hes all right" says l. Them in
,ineerin' books o. his hain't got nothin'
n 'em bout Quaker guns l says.
How d'y' expect him to know what
lis books don't teach?
II went down the slope and met the
;ineral ridin' up with his staff. He'd
een the United States flag a-fyin' over
he redoubt and didn't know what it
meant He stopped me and asked me
Who l was and where I'd come from.
told him | was the man that was to
AVE been shot for desertion when the
aiders come down on us and spoiled
ny execution. 1 was goin' on to tell
he rest when hSrode on, orderin' one
J his staff to put me in arrest. The
i'd went back with me to the guard
ent.
'Waal, there / was ag'in."
The speaker was interrupted by Il
,urst of laughter from his listeners.
'Tain't no laughin' matter. How'd
know they wasn't COin' to carry out |
he sentence o. the court martial? l
Iidn't. And l don't know to this day
Why they didn't. After awhile my
ap'n he come and TUX me out the
,uard tent, and he says, Paddock
avs he, you jest go about yer bust
less The gineral isn't goin' to shoot