The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-11-19


whose sad duty it had been to bring
to her the heart-breaking tidings that
her husband had been ruthIessly snot
and left dead on the roadside by das-
tardly foes, whom he met as ne was
on his way to the church where ne
was to preach on the Sabbath morn
ing. Kind friends had secured the
body. and were bringing 1t back 70
the late happy home, now darkened
by this most terrible sorrow. ] shall
never, to my latest day, forget the
anguish, the heart-rending agony of
those stricken ones. To be compelled
to witness this unspeakable grief and
| to realize ones powerlessnes to give
any help or comfort-oh! 1t Is beyond
the power of words to express what 1t.
| is. These sad events are not to be
unraveled In this life, but God knows
and some day, some time Wen I'm
derstand."
After waiting few days, father
came to meet US and right glad We
| were to be once more under his guar
dianship. We went south with him
| where, amid changing scenes and
| varied experiences, we remained until
| the close of the war. The dear young
brother who had shared so many of
our vicissitudes, Joined the army and
was mustered into the Confederate
service in January. 1884, just after he
| had reached the military age. His
| SERVICE LIlOuSH o1lOIt1 was IdlLu1uI GI1Q
| gallant. He was killed instantly by
| the explosion of shell in the mem
| orable campaign Of '64 in north Geor-
gia.
| A "Reminiscences.
/ BY General Samuel Pasco. Month
cello, Fla. .,.-..
After the fall Of vicksburg, General
Joseph E. Johnston retreated to Jack
son, Miss. He was followed by a
corps of the federal army and the OPP
posing forces soon confronted one an
other there, ready for battles Com
| panies c and II, of the First and Third
| Florida regiments consolidated. were
placed on the picket line in front of
| StovalTs brigade Of Breckenridge's di-
vision. to which they belonged. On
Sunday morning, July 18th, 1868, they
which had been thrown down half a
| mile in front of the Confederate breast
| works. when heavy cannonading
commenced and the shot and shell
| from the enemy's guns made the po-
sition untenable. They fell back and
reformed parallel with the direction
| Of a brigade, which moved forward
from the federal lines to make an at
! tack. We used our rifles upon the
flank of the advancing column and our
| batteries opened fire upon them in
front with terrible effect They were
quickly routed, left the field covered
with dead and wounded and hundreds
| of prisoners were captured, besides
four stands of colors.
The Florida pickets were again on
duty early the next morning, but
nearer the breastworks. During the
night, the wounded men between the
lines begged piteously for water and
number of the Union soldiers were,
at great risk, relieved and brought
srxN re
had been small. but Tom Pettus, one
of the boy members Of Company H. a
great favorite, was missing and 1t was
thought that he might be among those
who still needed assistance. So Pas
CO, one of his comrades, sought and
obtained permission from Lieut.. G. E.
Johnson, who was in command of the
pickets, to take few skfrmishers and
advance in the direction of the posi-
ton we held when attacked the day
before. Half a dozen of those who
volunteered to accompany him were
permitted to do SO and we moved for
ward. Soon after we started shots
from the federal picket line admon-
ished US to be cautious, but there were
men nearby, disabled and helpless and
frenzied with thirst and we could not
resist their appeals. The skirmishers
crawled forward and a number of the
poor sufferers were supplied with wa
ter and sent to our field hospital.
Pasco knelt by the side of an Illinois
soldier and handed him his canteen.
which he did not relinquish until it
was empty. He called to his COM
rades not to fire at these men, for
they were helping the wounded. Pas
co looked in the direction of the fence.
which was still nearer the federal
picket line, and saw Pettus; without
waiting to see whether the appeal of
the Illinois soldier would be needed,
he rushed to Pettus's side. followed by
two of his comrades. The poor boy
had been struck by a cannon ball in
the hip joint and his leg was useless.
There he had lain under the rays of
the July sun and through the sultry
night with his fostering wound, weak
from loss Of blood and parched with
thirst. He said he had dreamed, dur
ing the long hours of a cool spring at
Marietta, Ga, where he had often re-
freshed his thirst, near the home of
an aunt whom he had sometimes Wis
tied. Pasco and Adams, another mem
Der. of Company H, raised him, put
| their arms about his waist and he put
his around their necks. He begged
them to lay him down again; that the
pain of removal was more than he
could endure. But they told him that
they could not leave him there and
that they would not be long in carry
| ing him to a place of safety. We
hurried to shelter offered by little
elump Of bushes and laid him on a
blanket and with additional help car
ried him to our picket line. There Il
litter was procured and he was taken
to the field hospital, accompanied by
his older brother, also a member of
Company H, who did not know of the
efforts Of the 'rescuing party until their
return. But his condition was hope
less and, though he received the best
care and attention that was possible
under the circumstances, he fingered
until the next day and died with
loving messages upon his lips for the
dear ones at home and his friends
and associates.
Closing Scenes.
BY Mrs. Mary r. West.
. The memory Of the night when the
fatal news came that the last act in
, the terrible drama had been played,
that the unequal and heroic strife was
over, comes to me like a despairing
!: dream, vision of indefinable and
) remediless pain. The clouds lowering
over our devoted land had grown
darker and darker for weeks, and yet
the hearts of those who loved her to
, the end still hoped against hope, and
indignant repealed the suggestion from
those who had ceased to hope, that