The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1909-01-05
A WARTIME MEETING

man with the guided braid around ms siOtcl
hat, "Washington doesn't look much like it
did when | saw it the last time-in May,
1865.
My dad brought me down here to Wash
ington from Detroit to enter me at George
town university in the year 1860 | was then
bit more than l6 years old. liked the life
at the Georgetown university until the war
broke out. Then there were too many roll
licking soldier boys camped around in the
neighborhood of Georgetown for me to pre-
serve my contentedness. They all looked to
me as if they were enjoying picnic and
| made up my mind that I'd have to get
one of those blue uniforms on myself or
shrivel up.
Shortly after the beginning of the war
wrote home to my dad in Detroit-he was
then organizing Michigan regiment, which
he took all through the war, and it was cut
to pieces several times, too-and told him
that thought | would like to join the army,
The phrase wasn't in use then, but he wrote
back something to the general effect that
had another think or two a-conirg. He
wrote that | didn't know when | was well
off, and sand that, as he was getting together
LOCO men for the big conflict, he figured
that he could come pretty near doing all
the soldering necessary in our family |
remember thinking that this was pretty
selfish on the old gentlemans part. re-
Elected that be had been in the Mexican
war, and that therefore in wishing to do all
of the soldering in the civil war, too, he GER
tainly was showing d disposition to hog
things.
However, studied my lessons and went
along all right at Georgetown university
until early in 1861, and then couldn't stand
it any longer. SO one afternoon | just cut
out through the big gate, made for the rail
road station and established connections
with freight car tackled on to a freight
train that | found was booked to go to west
ern New York. Inside of three or four days
! was incontnentally dropped at Lockport,
NY.
1T didn't take me long there to tall into
the hands of substitute broker and two
days after arrived at Lockport | was duly
logged out IN government straight uni
form that. as | remember it, was the badest.
kind of joke as fit Somehow didn't
feel half so cleerful over the prospect of
a rollicking military career when with about
100 other young gossoons, was berded in
corner of an old storehouse, near the rail
road, and kept there under guard until the
train was ready to take us to the front.
Naturally enough, | was pretty curious
to find out to what part of the front we
were going but never line of information
could | get from anybody about it until
we were well past Baltimore don't sup
pose any of the others knew any more than
did.
when we got beyond Baltimore, how
ever, | found out, all right, whittier we were
bound, and the news made me almost wther
up.
We're going to Giesboro' Pointl' one of
the young officers announced when the train
got outside Of Baltimore. Now, only few
days before Id jumped the Georgetown uni
versity I'd received a letter from my dad
in Detroit saying that he'd be over to the
university to see me presently, as his rogi
ment was going to be stationed only little
distance away from Washiagton-at Gies-
boro' Point None of the terrors of battle
or sudden death looked half 80 fierce to me
in prospect as my dads discovering me in
a misft uniform, and light in his own camp,
too. after he'd so expressly forbidden me
to have anything to do with soldering.
81 well remember the night we were
dumped at Gesboro Point, the little place
down the Potomac a bit on the Miryla and
side-I drove over there yesterday to have
look at the old grounds. | made up my
mind that the best thing for me to do would
be to look up the old gentleman the very
first thing on the following morning and
take my medicine was too tired to think
of anything but rolling up in blanket on
the first night we got in.
81 found my dad in his tent along toward
10 o'clock the next morning He had
no idea Of course, that wasn't right over
the river at Georgetown conjugating Latin
verbs, and on that very day, in fact he
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