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

dl Tue stephenson HOSl u A. H., at hOXDury,
Mass
Never long as / live shall forget that
dreadful day when | lay wounded on the bat
tefeld. from sunrise until the shades of night
had closed down the dead and the dying"
said Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota. 1T
was In the siege of Port Hudson, La. when on
June a. 1853 an unsuccessful attempt was
made by Banks army to capture the place by
storm and my regiment led one of the charg-
ing columns. Just the was peeping
over the hills sailed forth in battle array.
Inc Charge was given and we tore across
the open ground straight at the enemys
oreastworks. When within eight or ten rods
OF the intrenchments | fell to earth with a
bullet In my thigh My comrades were driv.
en- oack-no man could long stand against
That avalanche of feaden death that poured
out OF the fortfcations-and l was left with
only the dying and the dead to keep me com.
pany. Then began my long vigil in the ghast-
iy inferno. The cries OF the wounded-the
merciless snn-the torment of 1t all-and the
thirst, the maddenng thirst, Only those who
nave lain thus can appreciate its terror.
In the same battle were two other soldiers
one under the stars and bars the other under
the Stars and Stripes-who now hold posi-
lions of unusual trust and prominence under
the same flag. The former was no less a per.
sonage than Chief Justice White, of the
United States Supreme Court, serving then as
aid to General Gardner, commander of the
Confederate forces within Port Hudson during
the siege. The latter was Senator Francis E.
warren of Wyoming. At the time of course
no one OF the three men knew of the existence
OF the others, and indeed It was not until the
past lew months thy became aware OF the
facts. Senator Warren, who enlisted when
but II years OF age. was awarded a medal of
honor for conspicuous gallantry In the en-
gagement
When look back on the Civil War. as
dn anI
Day. he said as he sat in his rooms in the
Senate office building. zone fact stands ont
with Increasing clarity as the years roll nv
and that is that the great struggle was waged
principally by boys The rank and file or the
Union army was made up of mere lads. and
IN the Confederate forces they were even
younger They were tried as perhaps no 9TH
er generation Of American youth has ever heen
tried The horrors, the struggles the hard
ships they faced. made men of them Nearly
all OF our presidents since then and a grea,
portion of our public men throughout the na
uon lneuhing the Congress Of the United
States, have been those who served as officers
or enlisted men in those two armies OF strip-
lings"
Wartime reeolections crowd so thick and
last on Cen Isaac R Sherwood representa
time from the Ninth district If Ohio that IN
single out one of them is hut to omit athars
OF equal import He participated in 45 hat.
iFH "ihi bFIe rs TnI n SDldieF now living yVh
was under fire greater number Of DAYS than
he Sly times he ,ompmented In eon
erat orders Tor ea'lanirv the field nf hat
lie Today he Is the only Union .eran nm
the Democratic side of the House Rnt more
remarkable than all else be is the only man
who entered the Union army as a private and
emerged from the var hrigadier general
Il suppose" aid General Sherwood "tbe
fight At franklin Tenn, November 20 1854
is AS vividiv impressed IN my mind as any,
mayhe because. considering the size of tho
forces engaged. II was me Of the most desner
ate engagements Of the entire war The Con
federate loss was 40 per rent In fye.bour
battle. and larger number If their generals
were killed or wounded than Mt ChiekamauRa
nf Gettysburg where their forces were twlce
as strong NV regiment the One Hundred
and Eleventh Ohio. Of which was colonel
lost more men in that battle than any other
regiment IN the Union side
My horse was shot from under me three
times in the engagement NV third horse fell
In most unusual manner The bullet that