The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1914-04-10
YOUNGEST SOLDIER.
New York Sum-

hliIed every day or so during the CIV
war, and alter its close the news
papers would record his death ever
week or two, athousand or more q
MIN very much alive, assembled O.
the field at Gettysburg at the re
cent reunion of the Blue and tn
Gray and exchanged "reminiscences
Among all these candidates for tn
distinction who was really the young
est participant in the Civil War? I'm
fortunately his Identification seems
practical impossibility unless the nal
rator of the following incidents i!
entitled to the honor, as he believe:
himself to be.
Half dozen youngish old meI
were seated around a table in the
cafe of Broadway hotel DISCUSSING
the Gettysburg reunion and the wal
of the SOS generally. Five of them
of had attended the celebration of the
fiftieth anniversary of the battle.
81 suppose" remarked he sixth
member of the group, Ticking the
ashes from his cigar, that l was en-.
titled to have participated in glorify-
ing the soldiers of the North and
South on the Gettysburg field, for /
| was soldier too in SO, although |
was only s years DID,
What"
His five companions chorused this
ejaculation in such tones that people
at the other tables looked around
Don't get excited, gentlemen"
calmly said the speaker, who had pro-
voked the verbal explosion.
| 81 am not offended at your incred-
uality. | expected it. If you will per-
NIT me l will tell you how and why
l am led to conclude that l was the
first and last the only real baby COM
blatant.
LAS l have only my memory to draw
tupon," he went on, 81 cannot give
the precise date of the occurrence
| which made me- a fighting soldier
when only 8 years old.
81 was liveing at Bay st. Louis,
Miss, on the gulf cosst, fifty-two miles
from New Orleans, when that city was
| evacuated by the Confederates. Hav-
| ing been born in February, 1855, was
only Z years old when that event &C.
CURED, and, of course, only years
old the following Spring.
For year or more after the fall
/
toned at Bay St. Louis for short peri
DDS company or two of Confederate
cavalry. These companies as rule,
were part of Col. Sibley's regiment.
This was an Alabama regiment, but
several of the officers were old friends
or acquaintance of members of my
family The officers frequently came
to our house for dinner-they provid
| ing most of the fare, of course, as our
| larder was empty-and in that way
became known to most of them.
! THAT is how l got to know Lieut..
| Hardy, and how he took a fancy to
me. His home was somewhere in the
interior of Alabama, and for all
know he may be living now and may
read this account of an incident long
since forgotten by him. When the
Lieutenant was not at our house /
would be somewhere near his tent in
camp in ravine a quarter of mile
from the shore. The young officer
was extremely fond of soft shell crabs
and | kept his mess supplied with
them. In return for this attention he
would lend me carbine, with which
| usually brought down enough squir-
rels to supply our home table.
Confederate Navy Gone.
1.-The last vestige of the Confeder-
ate navy had vanished from the gulf
and Mississippi Sound, and whenever
sailing vessel as large as schooner
or steamboat appeared off the coast
we knew she had armed Yankees
aboard, and began hiding the silver.
,;,,1z 4 IN Mo-
or June was in camp with Lieut..
Hardy. He was alone, with the eX-
ception of an orderly named Stevens.
Lieut.. Hardy was not well, had rheu-
matism or something. | recollect he
was limping painfully and had been
left in the care Of the orderly SER
geant.
"Serg. Stevens had gone fishing
that morning and the Lieutenant and
were getting impatient, as it was
almost noon, and there was nothing
for dinner except some corn pOne and
cold coffee made of burnt sweet po-
tato and parched corn. 1t was just
noon by the sun. l remember dis
sinctly when Stevens came running
up and breathlessly dropped a bunch
of croakers in the little brook by
which the Lieutenant and l sat. He
saluted and jerked out:
High pressure steamboat black
with Yankees coming to anchor about
mile up the road
"The Lieutenant's horse was about
twenty yards off and was on his back
before l slipped off the halter and
bridled him as | gal-oped to the tent
to which the officer had hobbled in
order to arm himself. | was about
to slip off the animals back but
Lieut. Hardy told me to stay where |
was. Then he handed me a carbine.
Stevens had galloped up by this time,
armed with carbine and pair of hols-
tered revOlvers. The Lieutenant
strapped a big navy six around his
waist, weapon he nad acquired dur
ing or after some previous encounter
with the enemy, and with the assist
ance of Stevens he straddled the horse
in front of me.
A Big SternwheeIer.