Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-08-28

1t may seem incredible to the men and
ZONE Of this day that young women
could enter the military service, escape
detection by the mastering officers, and
associate with worldly wise men, with
out the connivancc of confederates. But
it must be remembered that in the first
year of the war there were in every
company many fresh-faced, beardless
young men, difiident In manner and hes
liant in speech, among whom a boyish-
faced young woman. playing a boys
part, did not seem out Of place.
at was q time, too, when few ques-
lions we're asked, and when mastering
officers were not overparticrllar Il time
when men from different neighborhoods,
counties and States were thrown to-
gether to form in a day u~nexplainable
and romantic attachments; a time
when, in the strangeness of environ
ment and in Inconsistencies, the reserve
of individuals was common, and when
all sorts of eccentricitics were excused.
II cannot remember now a single cas-
In our division of the army where a girl
who had worn soldier clothes through
skirmish or battle was not on discovery
treated with the greatest respect even
by the toughest men. l cannot renem-
Der a case In which scandal was asSo-
ciated with a young who had
been carried into the army, through
patriotism, ana in sheer forgetfulness
of self and sex. Men who had them
ca11-nc hnor npary-holr, ol and NJ Stnrn1
by a newly discovered, passionate devo-
ton to flag and country seemed to I'M
derstand the young women who riSked
everything to follow the flag, and there
was little criticism or censure.
"On one occasion a rumor few
through camp that a woman had been
discovered in one Of the companies.
There was excitement Mt once, but when
a frolicsome young fellow in Company
3 was marched up to headquarters I'M
der guard no n suspected that the
person under arrest was a woman. Men
as any, and they were greatly scan
dalized when it was declared that for
six months they had been cutting and
swearing at a oman But the whole
regiment was lined up to see her taken
out of camp, and, much to the surprise
of the officers, there was nothing said
that had the slightest flavor Of r%ibaldry.
On every hand it was 'GoOd-by, Joe;
better luck next time And from the
woman came, 'Good-by, boys; whatever
else you do, remember that I did my
duty with the best of you And We did
that, nj boy shouted an Irishman,
and I will lick the man that says We
didn't
What became Of her? She was talk
in charge by the colonel's wife, and
as honest a life as any one, though
possibly not a very comfortable one.
And, by the way, 1 do not believe that
any Of these soldier girls turned out
badly I have in mind a girl who served
In another regiment. She was b only
child OF on village physician, and had
boys training. She drove, rode, hunt
ed, and fshed with her father, who
called her his boy. At the very begin
ming Of the war the doctor volunteered,
and in a speech urging young men to
enlist expressed his regret that his girl
was not a boy, as it would give him
ineXpressible pride to have a son wear
ing the army blue. His daughter took
a resolve then and there, and she car
ried it out.
Before many weeks she vas seeing
hard service in a Union regiment, and
was associated with three young fell
lows of slighter figure and fairer COM
plexion than herself. One day one of
these young men tweaked her nose, and
she boxed his ears. Quick as a flash
the man struck back, and there was a
lively scrap. The orderly sergeant in
terfered, and was surprised to find the
young fellow who had got the best of
the skirmish respondent and penitent.
The next day the young man told the
OWNED his antagonist was a woman.
She didn't strike-she slapped and
scratched2and in her anger and excite
betrayed herself. The two con-
suited with the colonel, and the girl
was quietly detailed for nurses duty in
the hospital. Then she was sent to Il
distant hospital, at which she appeared
in woman's dress. and from that she
was sent to her father, with whom she
remained the greater part of the war"
There are in Chicago said the ma
jor, probably. a score of Southern wom-
en- wlo married Union officers. There
is a romance in nearly every such mar
rage. but / cannot enter hat field.
There is n story, however. that may
be given in outline. While we were in
camp in West Virginia there lived on
a hill within the guard line a minister
In whose family was a girl of II, shy
as a bird, but pretty as a picture. She
seen in camp only, when her father
conducted services on Sunday. or at an
occasional dress parade, when she anne
down to the coionei's quarters with her
father n mother.
'Of course, a score of mel in the
regiment We're in love with her, and all
sorts Of plans were laid to have a talk
with her. Most of these miscarried
through the vigilance of the colonel and
the girls father, but a lieutenant and
Y sergeant III our mdiiaSeu III
way to let the girl know they were
her devoted slaves. While the girl was
rarely seen or heard during the day,
nearly every night, just before taps, the
boys could hear her laugh. She had
a clear. ripping laugh. which came
down to the men in their tents to make
many of them homesick, They could
not understand Why she should be SO