Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-06-21

! would steal away 10 some quie
nook, where they felt comparatiyel,
safe from interference and fight i
out until one or the ether had haC
enorsh. They fought on TIE pTia
/ ciples of Gurth, the swine-herd anC
Miller OF Sherwood forert, who
welded their quarter-staffs so eff
ciently at the time of the Gentle
and Joyous" tits of the Knights al
Ashley de la Zouche in King Rich.
ards day.
On the fifteenth day of March we
We're treated to a diversion which
,N%s for the most part, comedy, con-
| cs'Enpg which I wrote as follows
to- Y at half past twelve O'Clock
all the sSops in this command were
ordered and drawn up in line
along theA Ncipal street of the
town to witne, > the disgrace of four
soldiers who had been found guilty
OF an offense against military law.
1t required nearly an hour to get
everything in readiness for the func-
ton. Our brigade commanded by
Colonel E. w. Rice of the Seventh
Iowa occupied the right of the line,
with the second brigade under Colo
mel Massey of the Ninth Illinois on
our left. Wien all was in readiness
the charges and specifications were
read, together with the finding and
sentence of court martial There
were fcrr of the pri -oners, all of
whom had been found guilty of rob-
bing citizen of Tennessee. They
were sentenced to have their heads
shaved, the buttons all cut off their
clothes, to be drummed out of the
service, and two of them to serve
five years in the penitentiary at
Nashville; the ether two for the bal
ance of their term. of enlistment All
four belonged to the Eighteenth Mis-
souri, Infantry. Accordingly at two
-o'ctocK fr.the AFTERNOON the prison-
ers, with their heads shaved, button-
less clothes, each one with his han ds
tied behind him and a board fasten-
ed to his back, upon which was
painted in large letters the word,
"Robber,' were conducted by a
squad of fourteen soldiers under the
supervision Of Colonel Weaver, and
in charge of Captain Davis, Proves.
Martial, and Cartain Duckworth,
Post Officer of the Day, to the start
ing point at the right of the line
When everything. was in readiness
the Second Iowa band, which had
been detailed for the occasion, struck
up the Rogues March, and the front
file of guards came to shoulder
Arms" with the prisoners behind
them, followed by the rear file OF
guards at a charge bayonet. In this
order the procession marched the
entire length of the fine, the rogues
bareheaded. exposed to the gaze of
all the soldiers and citizens of pulas-
XII. After the march was over they
were conducted back to the Jail. To-
morrow they will be sent to Nash
VILE to serve out their time at hard
labor in the military prison at that
place. Two of them appeared to be
utterly Indifferent to all that was
going on while the other two acted
very much as IL they had been
caught in bad company and were
heartily ashamed of it. / could not
help a feeling Of sorrow for them"
During that winter the Seventh
Kansas cavalry captured Samuel
Davis, rebel spy, also several 9TH
ers, among whom were Joshua
Brown and General Bragg's chief of
scouts and secret service, Colonel S.
Shaw. General Dodge states that
Davis had been chosen to be the
bearer of all the information that
udu Dtcu ObtdihCu w ehO OsASA
scouts, to General Bragg, who was
anxious to possess accurate knowl-
edge Of the situation in middle Ten
nessee. If our people had known
who Colonel Shaw was, Davis would
have been sent north and treated
as a prisoner of war. and Shaw
would have suffered the penalty OF
the spy. Every effort was made by
General Dodge to induce Davis to
state where and from whom he had
obtained the information and papers
found in his possession, but this he
steadily and persistently refused to
do, knowing that Colonel Shaw
would surely be hung as spy II his
identy should become known 10 the
Union Army. He chose rather to
suffer the death penalty himself than
to betray his superior officer. He
was tried by court martial, found
guilty of being a spy and sentenced
| to. death by hanging. 1t Is CRU
some sight to witness the hanging q