Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-03-29
THE SIMPLE LIFE OF A COMMONfR
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

/ long to b y membered in our city
A very lan Y umber of people con
gregated to- tness the presenta
tion and to e ,dieu to the patri
otic band abo. . depart for tn,
war.
Other like inch q followed, ,but
this first scene of /. a ind yet vivid
ly remains in the ) q. ories of the
surviving participants
The flag referred to he Mirror
was of silk, it was min Net long
and five feet wide and IS / shall
speak Of it in another place it will
not be necessary to make any furth-
er mention of 1t at this time
Just before the company took its
departure for Keokuk, an incident
occurred which well illustrates the
intensity of feeling among the loyal
people of the North against those
who were opposed to the war at that
early day and who were afterwards
called ''copperheads, because OF
their secret Vaccinations against
the government. "Copperhead" was
venomous serpent of the rattle
family. which however, Is without
rattles and gives no warning before
it strikes. A prominent resident OF
the town who was man of consid-
cradle influence but was persona
non grata to many on account OF
his naughty ways, was known to be
"copperhead," and inasmueh as
everyone was expected to align HIM
self on one side or the other, he
was requested to show his scolors.
At this he became very indignant
and declared that he would do moth
ing of the sort. not he, 'whereupon
he was waited upon by squad of
the guards and notified that if the
flag was not flying from his resi-
dences within an hour, his home
would be torn down over his ears,
and since it was of brick. the ccn-
sequences might be serious ~ ith-
in ths~lour, the flag was xfnttsrffig
in the breeze and the hous6 was not
disturbed. The gentlen1an how-
ever, not long afterward sold out
and left the town for more con-
genial associations.
Soon after this word was received
by the company to be ready to go
into camp at Keokuk. The steamer
upon which we were to take passage
was expected down from the North
at sundown one Thursday evening
about the middle of May AS the
hour approached the company be-
.gan to assemble with many of the
citizens at the landing, but word
was soon received that our boat was
delayed and there was no telling
just when she would arrive, and as
a matter of fact. she did not put in
an appearance till nearly morning; so
the night was spent in waiting for
the boat and visiting with our
friends, and it passed quickly
enough for some of US, for we were
very pleasantly engaged. AT length
when the whistle blew announcing
the arrival of the boat, the strag-
glers hastily ran down to the land
ing and all the boys were on hand
at the levee when she was made
fast and the gang planks were
pushed out. We were soon aboard,
having said our final farewell and
then at four o'clock in the morning,
amid the waving of handkerchiefs,
the shouts of our friends and the
whistling of the steamer, we backed
out into the stream with flags fly
ing and the band adding to the en-
thusiasm the inspiring strains of
the "Star Spangled banner"
1t is said that during the Crimean
war, one night before the storming
Of the Malakoff, the entire British
army lying in the trenches before
Sebastopol joined their voices and
sang together the famous Scottish
ballad, "Annie Laurie"
"They sang of love and not of fame,
Forgot was Britain's glory:
Each heart recalled different name,
But all sang Annie Laurie.
The scene on the steamer as re-
call 1t after SO many years was not
unlike that In one respect at least,
for though we were not yet in the
trenches we were on the way there,
and some of us in groups by our
selves sang Annie Laurie" while
others sang other favorites and all
were thinking of the loved ones we
were leaving behind us. wondering
whether we would ever see them
again.
In due time we reached Keokuk,
after pleasant run down the river
and were assigned quarters with
several other companies which were
already in rendezvous there.
Squad and company drill was be-