The National tribune., 1907-04-04
PICKET SHOTS
From Alert Comrades Along the Whole
Line.
Gen. John Morgan.

| Gen. John Morgan.
| c. W. French, late Captain U. S. Vols,
| sends the following incident in the life
| of Gen. John Morgan:
| In the Winter of 1864 John Nell,
| of an Ohio regiment, was on duty att
Columbus. o.. as guard of Gen. Morgan
| and those confined with him. Comradel
] Nell. in the Kindness of his heart. grant
ed many small favors to the Confeder-
| ate General, such as cigars. tobacco.
] papers, etc, and in many ways sought
to ameliorate the rigors of his Confine-
ment. a few days before Morgan's es-
| cape he told Comrade Nell that if he
would bring him paper. pen and ink he
would write him a letter which might
| be of service to him some day. Com
rade Nell did this. and the General
| wrote as follows: ITO Whom 1t May
| Concern: This certifies that John Nell.
of Co. -. regiment. o. V. l., has
acted as my guard in the Ohio Peniten-
| tiary for several weeks. and that he
/ has shown me many little acts of kind
ness, as far as he could consistently In
| the performance of his duties. If ever
/ by the fortunes OF war he should find
| himself prisoner In the hands of the
/ COnfederates, any Confederate officer
who does him favor or in any way
mitigates his sufferings, will thereby
confer special favor on yours respect
fully, John H. Morgan, Major-General,
i C. S. A" Comrade Nell went to the
front. was captured, and thrown into
one of the vile pens OF the South, where
he remained several months, half starv-
ed and enduring all the horrors of pris-
on life. One day when Confederate
| officer came into the pen this letter of
| Gen. Morgan flashed into his mind, and
| he determined to show it. Approaching
the officer, he presented the letter, ask
ing him to read it. The officer COM
piled, then looked at Comrade Nell and
| said, Come with mel" The officer took
him outside into the city, gave him a
/ good roll Of Confederate money, put
him on parole, and for two months he
never lived better nor was more kindly
/ treated. BY his solicitation he obtained
| paroles for several Of his comrades In
affiiction. OF course, he kept the letter.
and now has IT framed and hanging on
the wall Of his home, and would not
take $1,000 for It.
| SurpFised and Pained.
| J. b. Hoffman, Second Lieutenant,
j Co. H, 10th N. J.. Shiloh, N. J.. was
4 both surprised and panied at ]. B.
Shoemaker's article. published in the
Jan. II issue Of The National Tribune.
! That man who had worn the blue and
| battled for the right and his country's
flag should have used language so un-
| gentlemanly is something all the COM
rades should depiore. While everyone
| has the right to his honest opinions. no
| one has the right to express himself in
the rude and unbecoming manner Com
rade Shoemaker did. That any man,
comrade or otherwise, should be will
| ing for a few paltry dollars to traffic
4 in that which he no
ems the sehsiblities, makes of men a
menace to society and leads them to
| ruin and destruction passeth the UNDER
I standing. COmrade Hoffman bids Com
] rade Shoemaker pause and think what
| he Is doing in trying to stab a paper
| that has done and Is doing more for
/ him and his comrades than any other
/ paper extant.
| Port Gibson.
i 8. f. MCGEE, Co. A, 22d Iowa, Lima
| Mont, says he sees that some comrades
| claim that their regiment overpowered
the rebels at Port Gibson. If he is not
mistaken the. 22d Iowa was in advance
/ that night, and when the pickets fired
on them they were ordered to halt.
open ranks and let the 18th Ohio Bat
| terry pass by, which they did. There
was a rebel battery at the top Of the
! hill which had full command of the
road and opened fire on the 22d as soon
as their pickets gave the warning The
18th Ohio Battery flew by and located
themselves to the right of the Johnnies'
battery. which was known as the Mis-
! sissippi White Horse Battery" and in
| about 20 minutes after the 18th opened
/ on them they didn't know that they
ever had battery. Comrade MCGEE is
I thankful for the relief the McCumber
bill will bring. and thinks all the COM
rades should thank The National Trib-
1 une for all the good 1t has done and is
| still doing for the old soldiers.
The Longest March.
| Jasper Malone. Co. H, 21st Mo-, Lee
moore. Cal. cannot concede to Comrade
1 Chiidres, 18th Kan. Cav, the truth of
| his claim that his regiment made the
| longest march during the war. This
| honor should be given the Sixteenth
Corps, to which Comrade Maione's resi-
\ ment belonged. and he gives us In de-
tail an account of what he claims to be
| the longest march made during the war
| Comrade Malone says: I'VE broke camp
| for st. Louis. to head of Pap Price,
at Memphis. Tenn. about Sept. 15.1S64,
who was marching up from Arkansas.
We beat him, getting there in good time
| after having marched 500 miles From
! st. Louis We marched south to De Soto,
| 40 miles and then back. making so
| miles in all. Price, finding he could
not take st. Louis. started for Kansas
City with us at his heels. We followed
| him as far as Harrisonville, when we
were ordered to turn back, and when
we reached st. Louis again we had
| marched SIS miles. We then marched
to Nashville, Tenn, to reinforce
Thomas, who was hard prest by Hood.
| arriving there in time to fix Hood in
1