The National tribune., 1907-07-25
PICKET SHOTS
From kief; Comrades Alon. n: Whole
Line.
The 12.,h n. y. Mt Hnrper.- Ferry.

The I23th \. Y. mt Hnrpcr's Ferry.
Henry J. Davenport. co. +. l25th n.
Y. North Rose. y. Y. in looking over
his chart of the Army of the Potomac.
was vividly reminded of his army eN-
perience. He left Troy y. V, Aug. 80.
| 1862, for the front, arriving at Martins
burg about Sept. or 4. where they re-
mained till the 11th, when they We're
| obliged to evacuate and retreat to Har-|
per's Ferry On arriving they were just
getting ready to boil some coffee when
the Johnnes from the nights across the
Potomac introduced them to a six
| pound shell. which made them all
stampede TO place of safety. They
had no artillery that could reach them.
only the siege guns at Miles's head
quarters. and they did no damage to
the Johnnies. as they were only fired
for about an hour. Miles taking good
care to have the fuse cut so the shells
would explode before they got any
where. fearing he might hurt some o:
the Johnnies behind the battery. who
were having fun with the Union troops
| with no danger to themselves This
was kept up till about the 14th, and on
the morning of the 18th business OPEN
ed up in earnest and a lively firing was
| kept up till noon, when Miles surren-
| dered, being shot n few minutes after
! WdTuS 'ollfIue Davenport Hau Z SOOu
view of Stonewall Jackson on that occa
sion. as he stood talking to wounded
Johnny about four rods distant. They
were taken prisoners and kept till the
| 18th, when they We're released and es-
corted thru the rebel lines by a guard.
Capt. Penfield. of his company, had a
negro man and woman as his servants
when in camp, and as they were pass
ing out of the rebel lines some Confed-
crates saw the negros and sang out.
| Whose niggers are thOse?" Capt. Pen
! field answered, They are my servants
| One of the Confederates then sang out.
| Take him out and hang him up. darn
! him, They have stolen enough of our
| niggers. Hang him. There was a
move made by the guard to seize Capt.
| Penfield. when one of the other rebs
said something to him they could not
hear. and the first reb then called out,
| Let him so, then, but get them mig
gers" and they got them If any of the
boys of Comrade Davenport's regiment
see this and it needs correcting, he
hopes they will do So
| Ingratitude.
Hiram T. Peck, Co A, 10th Conn.
New Haven, Conn, thinks the
rapidly diminishing pension roll
should make the pension howlers'
''go way back and sit down and con-
| template with shame all they have sal!
| against pension leSlStdllOH- one OF Uflc
worst of human failings is that of in
gratitude. the inability to properly COM
prehend the benefits and blessings
which some men have contributed, by
great personal sacrifice, to mankind.
| The spirit OF antagoniSm to pension f'g-
islation has become very much toned
down at the present day, yet there arc
some editorial aspirants, apparently
men born since the war. with little ap-
probation of the magnitude of the re-
suits of that war. who still keep up
their everlasting howl against the pen
sion system, as if fearing our wealthy
Government would become bankrupt if
a halt were not called in this direction.
To all such the announcement that 81
GIG veterans passed over to the great
unknown during the month of April
alone probably furnished much food for
thought Every intelligent persons
knows that the pension money given
to the veterans is a benefit to the coun-
\ try by being freely circulated As the
circulation of the blood is essential to
life, so is the free circulation of money
necessary to the life of Nation.
That Charge Mt Fort DoneIson.
F. NJ. Lynch, Ith H.. Weldon. Iowa,
a subscriber to The National Tribune
for over 20 years, has seen great deal
in Its pages about that charge made on
| the rebel right by the I'd Iowa on the
morning of Feb. Is, 1862, at Fort Don
elson. He is tired of the claim that the
25th and SID Ind. and other regiments
make of having supported the I'd Iowa
on that occasion. AS a member of the
I 18th Ill. he knows what he is talking
about and if his regiment, together
with the 50th III. and the 7th Iowa,
were not in that charge he will have to
admit that he was not in the service at
all. but probably at home dreaming he
was in the war. He wishes some of his
comrades of the 7th Ill. would speak up
and tell what they know about the mat :
ter. All praise to the old I'd Iowa.
They We're true blue and as good as the
4 best. He hasn't word to say against
them, but what he wants is justice to
all who took part in that charge. and
he would like to have The Nationai
Tribune give a list of all the regiments
which took part in it.
The Finding; of an Old Sword.
Sylvester Channel, Co. X, 9Th w. Va,
Parsons. w. Va. sends us a newspaper
clipping announcing the finding of an
old sword on piece of woodsland near
i Elkins, w. Va. The sword was made
in 1862. and bears the initials I'D. b.