The National tribune., 1908-01-02

we're idle for daynor two, while the
levee was being prepared yfor us some
mile and a half orI two miles up the
river. where we intended to move and
finish up the guns on the river front.
The night of the Sth of duly was set
for the move. On the afternoon of the
Sth the zouave (spoken of before) was
standing on the levee, pointing out to
the officers where Gen. .Gardner's quar-
ters were and other fplaces we intended
to serenade after we moved up. When
the rebels saw him and doubtless rec
ogniZed him. they ran -outy little two
pound gun doubtless Rlakely, as we
got one in the surrepderl and opened
fire. The first shot struck him in the
lower part of the body, killing him in
Stantly. The last shot was fired and
the last man killed at the siege of Port
Hudson, for in two hours articles of
capitulation had been signed and the
long siege was over. We marched in
and took possession on the morning of
the 9th.
After the Surrender.
One more little incident, and I am
done. Several days after the surrender
was down under the high bank next
to the water fishing (my comrades
knew that 1 was always hunting or
fishing when not on duty), when
heard some one call from the high
bank behind me, rs Jerome down
there" 1 answered that he was. The
voice continued, You are wanted up
here" On turning, / saw a rebel ar
tillery Sergeant under charge of a Fed
eral guard. After 1 had climbed up to
them the Sergeant asked if 1 was the
gunner of the lower gun across the riv-
er. / replied, Il am" He said, You
are also the man who knocked our big
pivot gun down." 1 told him that l
sighted the gun that did the work. He
said that he was the gunner of the
pivot gun, and when it was dismounted
he was put in charge of the lower river
gun. He also said, when you COM
menced firing on us I said that that is
the same gun and gunner that knocked
our pivot gun down, and 1 believe L
know him. You are not the man 1 ex-
pected to see." He then told me that
he was in the Regular Army, in the ar
tillery under Gen. Green U think he
said), when that officer and most of his
men joined the Southern army, and
that he had a comrade, who was also
a gunner. and 1t was nip and tuck as to
who was the best shot. His comrade
would not join the Confederates, since
which time he had lost track of him.
When l commenced operations on the
pivot he said, That's surely Munroe,"
and when 1 opened on him from the
west side of the river he said, Il know
it is Munroe, for no other man can
shoot like that He was so positive
that he had again found his comrade
that he prevailed on the officer in
charge of the prisoners to let him go
under guard and look him up; and not
being satisfied when told at company
quarters that the gunner's name was
Jerome, he must look him up and see
for himself
Now, l am done. and to many who
do nos know me this little scrap of his
tory will seem kind of braggadocio
or great big Me. Comrades, this has
kept me from writing what 1 have now
written. Years ago, tho earnestly So
licited to DO SO by many comrades, and
only recently have l consented to give
these facts to The National Tribune.
No more honor is due me than to the
mule driver. Nature fitted me for the
place | tried to fill Put me anywhere
else and / would have been a failure.
was raised (almost) with a rifle in
my hands, a born hunter and fisher.
I followed hunting, fishing and target
shooting from my boyhood up to the
war. Give me a gun, big or little, and 1
was at home. / am nowa70 years old,
and 1 still hunt and fish I use nothing
but a rifle, and can bring squirrel
down headless from the talleSt tree. /
have killed deer and turkey all over
Oklahoma, having lived here Is years;
have hunted over the Usage and Creek
Nations, thru the Choctaw and Wichita
Mountains and last FaF.c in company
with Comrade True of Qatville. Kan,
made a two months hunting trip over
the Rockies, into northwest Montana,
up on the line of British Columbia
But my hunting days are nearly over
now, and / am listening for the bugler
to sound tattoo" and lights OUT most
any time. The question that has ap-
peared in the columns of The National
Tribune asking for the name and COM
mand of the gunner that knocked the
big guns down at Port Hudson is an
swered My address is at present Rand
lett, Okla, a new town in what is known
as the Big Pasture, where President
Roosevelt took his big wolf-hunt two
years ago. Any and all letters from
comrades will receive due attention and
be answered in due time. Now, COM
rade, one and all, God bless you-Jas.
n. jerome, Randlett, Okla.