Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1912-05-24

COl1E ISAAC R. c1zZ12T1OCD
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?, A S MEMORIAL DAY rolls around
IA each year the thoughts of the
~ veterans of the nations mightiest
"a "a conflict revert to their comrades
IVA ln-arms-in the ranks of both the
4S@N Grand Army of the living and of
Y X the dead-and to the stirring in
&t cidents they themselves wit
~ p messed. To them Memorial Day
CNCN/ is a day of recoections so vivid
ONSEr/ that eternity alone efface
them; day when their dreams
bark back to the old camp ground, the bugle's
call and the lannon's 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
indivisbe.
"T have never been able to forget incl
dent that occurred the battlefield of Ante
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 had been wounded twice
Il met one Of doctors applying restora-
dives to a wounded Confederate. He was a
mere boy not day over 15 | was but IS,
things In common between
"But it was his courage his unf1inchng, UNI
yielding spirit that imp essed me most AS
he lay there horribly mangled his eyes were
as steady and his manner as cool as though
he were idly lounging in his own home. His
nerve was not broken; 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 If there are
many more like him in the southern army, |
thought we are certainly in for long, hard
struggle. I 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 was allowed to enlist "You get out or
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 in the Union army to attain the
grade of general in the regular army.
"T recollect an extremely pathetic incident
that occurred on board the u. S. S. Mononga-
hela" said Admiral G. D. Sigsbee, U. s. N,
the hero of the battleship Maine, sunk In Ha-
vana harbor just before the outbreak of the
Spanish-American war. "The Monongahela.
cruising along the Texas coast had rammed
and sunk a Confederate ironclad down near
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 was par
tcularly attached. He spoke to me frequently
of premonition of impending disaster that he
simply could not shake off, In fact, 1t marred
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 was ideal
istic
"They saw each other but once there be-
fore the call of duty dragged them apart
had been transferred to the Brooklyn at Mo
bile After a successful passage Of the forts
nv first inquiry was for the welfare OF my old
shipmates on the Monongahela and especially
for Prentice. His premon1tlon had come lrue'
He had been standing in the gangway, winch
had been raised somewhat above the level OF
the deck 1t seems, when shot struck the
hammock netting next to him and the flying
fragments imbedded themselves in his leg
almost tearing 1t from his body. He died In
q few hours.
"At New Orleans we picked up little boy
pamed Isaac Aiken, tiny fellow, or Whon
Prentice was especially fond. The lad was
simply heart-broken as he sat by the oerth Oh
bis dying friend. Prentice urged him not TO
cry and 10 brace up and be cheerful insisting
that he would soon be all right, though he
we'll knew all the while that his end had come
But the lads sorrow was nothing compared
TO that of the girl-wife. She tainted dead
away when told the CHASTITY news ana never
afterward fully recovered"
Another incident that I remember quite
wildly" continued Admiral Sigsoee, hap
noned of the assault on Fort Fisher. The man
inst ahead of me was killed and another on
nv left. big, red-haired man. grooming nor
rfblv suddenly clutched me-.
Look he exclaimed. Lieutenant o@cNe
is wounded!'
'.rWhy are you groaning?' asked. Are you
hurt? ,...
YES he answered slowly and without
o,,or o tr,ce of concern for himself. think
I'm dving-but look at poor Bache!
"And he fell to earth, still calling Tor aio
for his wo7r nded officer. He died shortly after
le,, him. so I was told
Memorial Day to me suggests the nag
said Corp" James Tanner known 10 Granu
Army men from coast to coast
"I have listened to many eloquent apps
tronbas 10 our national emblem, but never TO
ono that touched me more than that when