The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1915-05-27
bod CASTOR. in the Topeka Capital.

Coming across StatehouSe square
yesterday afternoon ! met a bunch Of
bent and shambling old men. Their
heads were white with the frost Of
years n there wasn't a straight back
nor an erect pair of shoulders in the lot.
They were ordinary looking old cod
gers, gnarleo by toll and hardships and
CARRIED In the Sunday regalia OF the
rural community. i noted In passing
that the lapel of each mans coat bore
q little bronze button. l knew h but
ton was there before my eyes sought
1t. / can tell an old soldier as far as
/ car see him.. There Is about every
soldier some salient thing-some subtle
individual characteristic which distin-
guishes him from other elderly men and
which defies the art of INSTALLATION. l
knew non of the old men in the party
OF four or five. They passed without
needing me. But as l came abreast OF
them l involuntarily stood at attention
and saluted the bronze button and the
men who wore II. l am not much
given to sentimental display. The we'll
spring of my enthusiasm never gushes.
But the little bronze button and the
men entitled to wear II are q part Of
the memory of my life. And having
paid this passing tribute to them, /
am minded to make brief reference to
the simple annals of the soldier l knew
best.
The soldier 1 knew best enlisted
when he was 10. His discharge papers
lie before me as / write. They show
that he was mustered into the service
at Springfield, Ill, in August, 1861, and
h a he finally was mustered out at
brownsville, Tex, In March, 1885.
Between the two dates there were
something more than four years and
eight months Of continuous march and
bivouac. broken only By a furlough Of
two weeks in the winter of 1868. For
four years, eight months and some odd
days he was internationally a unit in
the broad mark at which opposing arm
les shot. In the intervals between the
strenuous periods Of d soldiers business
he fought fever, thirst, hunger and the
elements. protected from their on
slaughts only by a dog" tent, or the
canopy of the skies above him. He
enlisted from a farm N went into the
army a strong, rugged, hearty youth.
He came out a broken reed. I have
often heard him a. he never knew a
Bick day before he went into the army,
nor a well one after he came out of
II. For Is years before he died he Was
unable to turn his hand to even the
lighter occupations OF life.
] / celebrate no hero here. The soldier
I knew best was a plain man, and, as
the world measures achievement, an
unsuccessful one. He went into the
army as a private and came out a cor
Poral. The civil war, doubtless, could
have been fought and won without
him. He had not even the distinction
common among old soldiers OF having
personally repulsed Pickett's charge.
He wasn't at Gettysburg at all. 1
never heard him boast Of any particu-
Tar achievement although, until the
day OF his death, the civil war was his
taVorite topic of conversation It was
not that he wished to speak of his
galor or recount the stories of the
n~ardships he endured, but that the war
TO him was h one epochal incident Of
plain and humdrum life. The list of
battle In which the soldier I knew best
was engaged was neither so long nor
10 inspiring as that which stands op-
posite the name of many another. He
vas at Donelson and Henry and at
Vicksburg with Old Grant. He was
N the two days slaughter at Shiloh
Ind helped taks Spanish Fort. And he
was also a unit in the operations
around Chattanooga. The fight of
Which he talked most and best, and to
he the most thrilling of his army ca
seer was the one at Hatchie River.
You will find little reference to the
pattle OF Hatchie River in war history.
was n Of the minor engagements,
But 1t always seemed to me the soldier
! knew best was more closely identified
With 1t than with any other engagement
N which he fought. l never grew
tired OF hearing him tell how his de-
Pleted regiment double-quicked a dis
lance OF four miles before striking the
lnemy and then lost 240. men, killed
Ind wounded. in 80 minutes.
once In the month OF August the
regiment to which the soldier I knew
best belonged marched two days with
but water. The Mississippi wells had
I'll gone dry and the water courses
we're dried up. Along in the forenoon
u the third day when the tongues OF
he men had. begun to swell and pro-
rude from their mouths the command
was halted for a brief rest. Presently
In officer rode UP and said: BOYS.
lnere's plenty OF water in the creek 200
Yards down the road" The command
Which a stacked arms, stampeded AT
NE word and the soldier / knew said
many or them jumped into the water
when they reached 1t.
The soldier I knew best was ship
wrecked In the Gulf Of Mexico when
has command was shifted from New
Orleans to Brownsville. Everything ex-
eept the soldiers and the crew-the
mounts Of the officers, their baggage
nAO OIiSA thrown
overheard in an effort to save the ship.
That Is to say. all OF the horses save
one was thrown overheard. The cap
tain Of A company rode a pony Of
which he was particularly fond. The
captains name was Rhodes-Hinman
Rhodes. When they sought to throw
his pony overheard he threw his arm
around Its neck and said IL 1t had to go
he'd go with It. And so they let the
pony stay. The storm occurred at
night. Late h next afternoon the SOL
diers who were on deck sighted one of
the horses that had been thrown over
board. 1t was still alive and still fight
Ing its hopeless battle for life. It was
from such incidents hat the memories
OF the soldier / knew best were woven.
He knew a thousand such and I heard
them all many times.
The government was generous to the
soldier I knew best. Years after he
had been practically incapacitated for
the work Of caring for his family he
applied for a pension. After the appli-
cation had for a year or more pursued
the usual tortuous course through the
pension department, the claim was al
lowed, and for the balance Of his life
the government" paid him the hand
some honorarium OF $12 a month. Two
months after his death his family re-
ceiVed notice that his a~pplication for