The National tribune., 1908-12-24
isr.IorH-asrH NE.
A Sketch of Gallant Service By the Late
Gsn. Gee. n. Eys.

Sketch OF GalIaaf SsKvlct " VIC bate
Gss. Gee. II. Nys.
fMuch of this was talked to re-
porter about six years ago, with the
promise that II should not be printed
as long as Gen. Eye ived.)
In 1916, the Path of November. /
commenced work In the Halloweli cot
ton mill at as cents a day. A little in
cident happened while was working
There. ! remember one Saturday after
noon, after / had cleaned my works
on the machines, I was then In the
repair shop making a knife box. The
head mechanic came along and said:
George. what are you doing?" / said:
i'T am trying to make a knife box, Mr..
Pray" Now" he said, what are you
doing upstairs?" II am stripping
cards." What are you going to do?"
ne asked. "Oh, am going TO strip
cards" Are you always going to strip
cards? 2" he said. II had never thought
or that before, Mr.. Pray" Now. let
me give you piece of advice" he said
l"Put your goal ahead. When you reach
II put II farther ahead, and keep doing
go" That instant ] made up my mind
that / would work until / got to be
oyersecr there II was a five years
pull. but ! brought IT.
When the war broke out ] was in
charge of a room in the Porter mill,
now Continental. In Lewiston. i, with
many others. was much excited, and
on the goth of April. 1861. drew up a
paper reading. I'VE. the undersigned.
boreby agree to serve five years, or
during the war. to put down this rebel
lion" etc. signed the paper. and the
next day ] had 12b names down. Agent
Budlong at that time was sick at his
house. / called to see him. He asked
me how things were going at the mill.
told him all right, but that great
many of the men were enlisting.
well" he said. "lct them enlist" II
have enlisted" i told him. All right"
he eaid. "and IL you live to come back
you shall have your place again." j
ehliated an private, S11 per month.
AZ the organization of the company
was elected Second Lieutenant of Co.
X. LIST Me, We went to Portland, where
Nathaniel Jackson, Captain of Co. F,
Lewiston infantry, was elected Colonel
, OF the regiment. The regiment was
composed wholly. with the exception OF
the company that was In. of old COM
panies. well drilled. Our first three
, months service was in Washington
where we did guard duty in different
parts of the city. At the expiration OF
our three months the regiment was
mustered out.
returned to the mill and remained
about two weeks, then commenced re-
cruiting company for the 10th Me.
told Mr.. Budlong that could not stay
with him, as I must see this trouble
thru. I was elected Captain of Co. K
10th Me. Capt. Beal was elected Col.
onel of the regiment. When we en-
listed in the list Me. we were In 9
great hurry to get to the front as we
feared the war would end before we
, reached Washington. When We came
|, back with the 1st Me. we thought the
, three months service had made us ole
!, soldiers, but we found that We ha6
! much to learn.
During the term of the list Me. the
, soldiers were paid off in gold; after thai
: In deprecated currency. If the soldier!
engaged on a gold basis, is there no
lsomething due them or their heirs from
the Government?
Il In for Two Yenrs.
We were mustered into the service
: at Portland. and left the bth Of October
I 81. for Washington, by way of Fal
!, River, taking the steamer from ther,
to New York. After the steamer lef
Fall River went to my stateroom. M,
: | tw9 Lieutenants came in, and / tolt
/ them I would take nap, and wheI
{ they went out to lock the door of tn,
/: state-room. SO that no one could com'
' in and bother me. took off my shoe
e and blouse, and lay down in my bertl
4 and fell asleep. I was awakened by thu
e bell in the engine room signaling tn
] steamer to stop. I reused up. and
I heard the cry, "ldan overheard"
: jumped up, tried my door, and foun'
e it locked. I got out of my state-roon
Y window on the hurricane deck, ran aft
g saw the man in the water and jumped
e I swan toward him, but before
. reached him he went down. 1t wa
I about q half an hour before / wa
= picked I'M nr6tfv we'll eyhanatod Th
n man who was drowned was a membe
of Co. II, by the name OF Griffin
e Whether he fell overheard or whethe
1t was case of suicide was not known
We went to Baltimore, and remaine
- in the President Street Station tina
= night. Next day we moved up to Pat
o. terson Park. We remained there
" few months, and then moved out to tn
,s Relay House to do guard duty on tn
IA Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The com
,r panies were stationed up the mai
,e branch and also on the line towar
J. Washington. My company (E) was sta
n toned at Elysville, about 12 miles o
,e the main road from the Relay Hous
toward Winchester. The duties of tn
IN men were to guard the railroad. NJ
Iy company was sent there by request G
James s. Gerry, who was owner of
,e large cotton mill, and was afraid tha
the rebels would come there and de
Df Stroy his property. We remained ther
1t until April, and then we were move
g, up the road. The headquarters wer
n at Harper's Ferry. The different com
N panies were stationed on the railroad
mine being stationed at Kerneysvill
Is Va. The time was spent in guard dut
:, and drilling the men.
re- In the Shenandoah Valley.
d. The oath of May I received order
t to proceed at once to Winchester w
le took train freight cars). In thos
II. days the soldiers often had to ride 1
freight cars, as Pullman cars were n,
Is so plenty then as now, but there ws
ne not much complaining as to what "
II rode in as long as we got there tt
=, Government did their best for the so
III diers, and the soldiers did their be
Is for "our country" We went to Harper
n Ferry, taking some of the other con
tfe panies with us on the way, and reache
10 Winchester that evening about
u, u, o'clock. My company was stationed
VI VI deserted house. The boys got SUI
60 per, and made the usual preparation
o oa for baked beans in the morning. Thel
h was considerable excitement in VIII
~. chester, as the rebels were repoTtt
~ coming down the Valley. The me-
morning early we were awakened
picket firing and very heavy. 1 soc
I've had my company in the line, and v
n,Ss marched to headquarters of the reg
ment We found the regiment. b