Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1907-07-12
THE BATTLE-FIELDS.
OLD SOLDIERS TALK OVER
ARMY EXPERIENCES.
The Blue and the Gray Review Incl.
dents of the Late War, and In
Graphic and Interesting Manner

| than the public knows" said a distin-
guished soldier in attendance upon
recent reunion of the Army Of the Ten
! neSSee.
The shooting of Maj. Gen. Nelson at
Louisville by Brig. Gen. jeff G. Davis,
| because Nelson in a fit of anger mad
called Davis long string Of hard
names, is one Of the few that came to
the surface You wouldn't think it,
| probably, but 1 myself was once so
close to a tragedy that it makes my
gray hair rise up as l recall 1t.
while number of officers Of the
regiment were in the majors tent l
said something that captain took ex-
ceptions to, and a war of words fol
| lowed. When he pumped out, You
are a liar! I struck out with my right
and set him to bleeding. He came back
at me like a tiger-cat. We clinched,
| and for three or four minutes had 1t
hot and sharp then the others sep
arated us. He made all sorts of
threats l was adjutant. He ranked
me, and confess that for time l did
fear that he would make me trouble
in the way of a court-martial, but the
matter seemed to blow over.
"One fall afternoon the captain in
vited nue. to take a walk with him.
! Thinking that our troubles had COM
pletely healed, l consented. On the
way back to camp we passed through
an orchard. / climbed a tree to get
some apples. Just as / reached for an
apple l saw the captain reach for his
revolver and glare at me like very
| fiend. Instantly l loOsed my hold and
dropped to the ground. Selling stake,
I l took my place by his side and said:
Now, you cowardly dog, put up that
gun or I'll brain YOU This time he
was kept on hot griddle for a month,
though l made no threats and had no
thought of reporting his attempt to
assassinate me.
1.-The next fight we got into we made
up for good and all, and remained fast
| friends until the final roundup, when
| Gen. Joe Johnston had his men throw
| down their guns and 60 home to make
a CROP 1t happened in this way: The
colonel had given the order to form
| line Of battle AS adjutant, it was my
duty to see that each captain carried
out the order When l reached the
would-be assassin and had performed
my duty and started to go away, he
called out, 'Adjutant, come back When
| T ho hon6 1nnl<n1
squarely in the eye and said: Lieu
tenant. can you forgive me for all Of
my meanness to you? l hope so.
have never had good hour since that
incident in the orchard.
"'With all my heart, captain. No
one but you and myself knows anything
about that little affair."
| "As l said, nothing else came up to
| separate us while in the army. We
never met after being mustered out.
| He died few years ago. OF course
| I could have sent him out of the army
! in disgrace and placed him in the peni-
! Tertiary after he was out, but I've al
| ways been glad 1 did not. He was a
| good soldier in battle, as brave as they
made them, but a bulldog in camp. He
| left the army a major. His name?
| Never mind that. 1t is true story. |
wish it were not, for l cannot forget
| that at one time in my life l was in a
fair way to be murdered
A captain on the staff of a division
commander at the battle of Gettysburg,
who afterward became a general and
commanded a division himself for a
time. once told me that if he had it he
would willingly give million dollars if
he could forget and never recall Get
tysburg tragedy.
I'VE needed every man in line" said
the general. Orders had been given to
let no we'll or unwounded man go to
the rear Our general had told the
whole staff that if we couldn't stop
stragglers any other way to shoot them
down. AS soon as the firing began a
certain class Of men fed from the front
and the staff few at them on their
horses and pushed them back into the
ranks. 1t was always a job [ hated.
1t made me mad to see a fellow run
away from his comrades when they
were In trouble and l used to be rough
er with them than I wanted to be with
any class of Gods creatures. The en-
envy was pressing our line very hard.
A break was greatly feared. Back
came another cluster of stragglers, big,
hearty fellows, who never stay under
fire a second longer than they are
forced to stay. 1 made direct for three
of them with my drawn sword. Two
of them went back to duty. The third
told me to go where it was hotter than
it was that hottest day at Gettysburg,
and said he was going back no mat
ter if the whole staff stood in the way
Go back to your place instantly, de-
handed At that he cooked his rife
and was lifting the barrel so that l
would get its contents. Down went my
sword to the ground and out came my