The National tribune., 1908-08-27
A REBEL RRAGGARr.

A REBEL BRAGGART.
People who have thought that there
was either no such a person as Col.
Lamar Fontaine, or that he was plain,
ordinary liar like Joe Mulhattan, telling
monstrous lies just for the fun of lying,
will be surprised to learn that there is
such a person as Lamar Fontaine, that
he takes his lies seriously, and has pub
lished a book of them, the retail price
of which is So, or as much as 80 of the
ordinary 10-cent 'thrillers' which are
the delight of boys who have arrived al
the period of furtive cigaret smoking
behind the woodshed.
OF course, Mr.. Fontaine had to give
himself picturesque biography, and he
says that when a child he was stolen by
the Comanches and grew up among
them, learning their ideas of ven-
geance." He was afterward shanghaied
| aboard a ship, and then entered the
Russian army and served thru the
Crimean war. Then he found his way
home, and entered the Confederate
army. The carnage among the Yankees
that ensued as soon as he turned his
| deadly pistol and unerring rifle loose
upon them is simply shocking, and takes
361 large pages to recount. Such was
his indefAtigable industry in Staying
Yankees every day, at almost any old
place from the Rappahannock to the
Mississippi, that nearly all the Union
dead must have fallen by his red right
hand, leaving the volleys fired by the
Confederates at Fredericksburg, Gettys-
burg. Chickamauga and elsewhere to be
mainly noisy Fourth of July perform
ance.
He claims to have killed Gems. Kearny
and Sedgwick, but strangely overlooks
Gems. Mcpherson, Reynolds and Wads-
worth.
He claims to have certificate from
Gen. Lee that on an exhibition of his
skill he killed with his rifle so Yankees
in so consecutive minutes. This is sufi-
cient to show what monumental liar
he is. Gen. Lee was a soldier, ami not
a murderer. He would not, any more
than any one of our officers, have per-
mitted the killing of men just for the
sake of killing them. Fontaine's claim
is the grossest insult to Lees memory.
Fontaire only varies the recital of his
killing by stories of how often the YAM
KEGS filed him full of bullets and left
him for dead.
In some rare interval of rest from this
strenuous life he wrote "Alrs Quiet
Along the Potomac" which he modestly
says sis monument of word painting
that will endure as long as the civilized
white man exists on earth.''
The copyright records show that the
song was written by one VIM. H. Good
win, who sold it to S. Brainard, the mu-
sic publisher.
Naturally man who was daily doing
such marvellous exploits in scouting, Sc
curing information and Staying enemies
would be mentioned on nearly every
page of the Rebellion Records His su-
perior officers would be commencing
him. would be reporting his daring ad-
ventures and commenting on the news
he brought in. Very singularly, Lee,
Longstreet. A. P. Hill, Stonewall jack
son. J. Z. Johnston, Bragg and others
under whom he claims to have served
never mention him. The only alIusion
to him in the 12S bulky volumes of the
Rebellion Records, with their 1850
pages. is brief statement by Gen. ]. c.
Pembcrton that Lamar Fontaine had
brought in $4,000 percussion caps. 9th
ers had done the same.
Now, few things were easier and safer
than getting in and out of Vicksburg
during the siege. All that one had to
do was to get into an old canoe and float
down the river. We kept men scouting
in skiffs. but it was easy to avoid them
and they could not examine every old
log that fioated on the current.
Mr.. Fontaine's book, while remark
able, is not valuable addition to the
literature of the war.