The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-09-18

=, inIr service. But thai il ne would
be- sure To Give my brother Il fur
lnu"ii would join the Legion any
how. as my Brothers recruit. The
captain agreed to do 50. and when
he returned to the arm" | accompan-
led him. We found the l.cgl:jn near
Suffolk. Va. the Yankees III the town
and our forces outside. in line Of
battle. Capt. Nicholson immediately
reported to Col. Gary on arrival, and
s'ateL his agl cement with me. Inc
colonel readily consented and issued
an order for the furlough. 1t was
soon in the hands Of my brother,
and he on his way home for thirty
days. Oh! those blissful furlough
days at home, when We were heroes
in the eyes of the girls and the re-
cipientS Of every good thing imagi-
nable, from the hands of the old peo-
pie. And how we hated the shortneSs
Of the time and had to return to
duty. corn bread and bacon-after
devouring the box Of substantial edl-
bles we always took back with us.
I was the first recruit to the Legion
that a furlough was granted on, II
not the first in Gen. Lees army. It
appealed so forcibly to Col. Gary
that he forthwith issued regimental
orders urging the men to obtain re-
cruits and get furloughs. Many avail
ed themselves of this privilege, and
the Legion was greatly strengthened
by the coming to it Of fresh new men.
7 could write many interesting exper-
iences during the term Of my soldier
ing from April, '63 to April, 80
two solid years of excitement and
hardships, common> too, then, but
space forbids. Yet, I will detail my
feelings and experience as a 16-year-
old boy the first time under fire.
TIE irst day I was in camp I
heard the older soldiers euyin@ some
Of the Younger ones as to how they
had acted in a recent engagement
with the enemy. | just thought |
could not stand such guying; but my
brother told me when he left me for
home, to put on a bold front and
stick to my captain. The next day
two companies Of the Legion were
sent on picket duty, one being my
company. When this detachment got
to the skirnlish line, the other de-
tachment went into the rifle pits.
while ours was put in reserve, In a
body of woods, near at hand aid con-
venient to a railroad cut. AS the re-
lieving Of pickets by the other COM
pany was taking place, the Yankees
commenced to throw solid balls and
shells at us. This stirred us up, and
the men Of our company did about
pretty considerably in getting into
that railroad cut. I thought to N.Y.
self now is the time for me 10 show
off my bravery, but for fact, I was
so scared I could hardly stand. I
managed to do so though until all the
others had gotten in the cut and [
alone. then I leisurely walked into it.
The shelling was 50 great in my mind
that I had my doubts of being able
to stand it, but I said nothing
though shaking with fear and appre-
hension. Fortunately, it did not last
long. \ short time afterwards while
in a quiet camp and 7 had become
black and dirty, I was passing the
captain, when he said to me, "Wal-
ton, think YOU will make a good
soldier; I noticed that YOU did not
seem to mind the shelling we got the
other day. I replied, "the shot and
shell did not pay any attention to
me, so I did not care to bother about
them.' but I was, feeling one way
and talking another. AS I had shown
a bold front at this first time under
fire. I was free afterwards when we
GOT into trouble. to do as 7 saw best
with myself and never was guyed
about being excited. I do not mean
to extol myself, but simply say as a
fact that whenever our company was
on march, always started with it,
and was with it when it halted, and
was always on hand to obey orders.
[ do not know whether I ever killed
Yankee or not. I generally shot
tn hit op1 fhoro MORO o1rovc SooS