Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1912-05-24

~ messed. To them Memorial Day
/SA( Is day Of recollections vivid
SS-SD that eternity alone efface
them; day when their dreams
bark back to the old camp ground the bugles
call and the cannons roar. And as they fondle
In memory the scenes through which they pass
ed, they pay tribute to the God Of battles who
spared them until their eyes could close on the
hands of the Confederate gray and the Yankee
blue clasped across the firing line in Union
indivisible
Il have been able to forget an incl.
dent that occurred on the battlefield of Antie-
tam" said General A. w. Greeley, u. S. A.,
when asked for his most vivid recollection OF
the Civil War "And each Memorial Day some
how it presents Itself with increased appeal.
On my way back to the field surgeons hos
pital for treatment-I had been wounded twice
Il met of our doctors applying restora-
tives to wounded Confederate. He was
mere boy. not day over Is. but 49,
and he also had been shot twfce-so there were
things In common between us.
But 1t was his courage, his unfiinchng I'M
yielding spirit that impressed me most AS
he lay there, horribly mangled, his eyes we're
as steady and his manner as cool as though
he we're idly loungng In his home. His
nerve not broken; nor the fear of death
on him He seemed grateful for the attention
but not In the least humble. Thank you gen
tlemen,' he seemed to be thinking, but when
I get well I'll be at you again. n there are
many more like him In the southern army
thought, we are certainly in for a long. hard
struggle | have wondered many times since
what became of him-whether he pulled
through or died on the battlefield. have
never been able to learn"
General Greedy made two attempts before
he allowed to enlist. You get out of
here we don't want babies we want men!"
was the objection of enlisting officers Finally
he found one who passed him. He served
throughout the entire war and was the first
enlisted man in the Union army to attain the
grade of a general In the regular army.
Il recollect extremely pathetic incident
that occurred on board the U. S. s. Mononga-
hela," said Admiral c. D. Sigsbee U. s. N.
the hero of the battleship Maine, sunk in Ha-
harbor just before the outbreak of the
Spanish-Amertcan war. THE Monongahela,
cruising along the Texas coast, had rammed
and sunk Confederate ironclad down
the head of the passes in the Mississippi river
and then steamed on to New Orleans for re-
pairs. On board was brother officer. Lieu
tenant Roderick Prentice, to whom par
ticularly attached He spoke to me frequently
of a premonition of impending disaster that he
simply could not shake off. In fact, 1t married
his joyous anticipations of meeting his young
wife. hardly more than a bride. at New Or
leans whittier she had fastened from the
North when she learned his vessel was to
touch that point. Their devotion ideal
istic.
"They saw each other but once there be-
fore the call OF duty dragged them apart. I
had been transferred to the Brooklyn at Nd
bile. After a successful passage of the forts
my first inquiry for the welfare of my old
shipmates on the Monongahea and especially
for Prentice. His premonition had come true.
He had been standing In the gangway. which
had been raised somewhat above the level OF
the deck. 1t seems, when a shot struck the
hammock netting next to him and the flying
fragments Embedded themselves In his leg,
almost tearing II from his body. He died In
few hours.
AT New Orleans we picked up little boy
named Isaac Aiken, tiny fellow. of whom
Prentice especially fond The lad was
simply heart-brokeu he sat by the berth Of
his dying friend. Prentice urged him not to
cry and to brace up and be cheerful. insisting
that he would soon be all right. though he
well knew all the while that his end had come.
But the lads sorrow nothing compared
to that OF the girl-wife She tainted dead
away when told the CHASTITY news and never
afterward fully recovered"
Another Incident that remember quite
wildly" continued Admiral Sigsbee. hap
pened at the assault on Fort Fisher. The man
lust ahead of me was killed and another on
nv left A big red-haired man. groauing hor-
ribly suddenly clutehed me-.
".Look!. he exclaimed. Lieutenant Bache
Is wounded.
why are Won groaning? | asked Are yon
hurt?'
Yes he answered slowly and without
even a trace of concern for himself Il think
I'm dying-but look at poor Bachei'
And he fell to earth. still calling for aid
for his wounded officer. He died shortly after
left him. so was told"
Memorial Day to suggests the flag
said Corp" James Tanner. known to Grand
Army men from coast to coast
trophies 10 our national emblem. but never to
one that touched me more than that which
came from hospital bed. In September.