The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-03-24
Justice
Righted
How Abraham Lincoln Re-
versed the Decision OF
a Court Martial.
By r. A. mitchell

President Lincoln is admired and re-
spected for his handling Of the ship
Of state during that four years storm
Of war when he so often kept her
from going ON the rocks To this I'D I
miration and respect is added an al |
lection begotten of his tender heart, !
especially as evinced in his sympathy |
for those unfortunates who were for
one cause or another condemned to die
The following is one of those man!
instances wherein Mr.. Lincoln inter
fered to save the life of deserter'
and happily in this case it was he anu
not a court martial who did justice to
the delinquent The family name OF
the parties concerned in the narrative
Is not at hand therefore for conNen
fence an assumed name will be used
But the story is none the less an
actual happening. nothing having been
added or taken away.
Shortly before the stirring days OF
lCOl JOull AlNulNA anu NO " ~
living happily together. interested III
the education of their two sons. John
and Arthur. The boys had arrived at
that age when they most needed Ia
Tiers guidance-that is. they were In
their teens-and the parents were look
ing forward for them TO an honorable
career. Then the father died, leaving
his widow to shoulder all the respon-
sibillty for the completion of their ed
ucation and giving them start In
life They resided in the east.
1t seemed impossible under the cir
cumstances to keep the family togeth-
er. An uncle in Missouri offered to
take one of the boys and do what he
could to pave the way for him to make
q living. 1t was deemed best to ac-
cept this offer, and the older son was
sent to Missouri. Another uncle, a
brother of Mrs. Atwater, offered to
take the younger son and release his
mother Of the responsibility of finding
employment for him. 1t was sad
parting between the mother and her
two boys, especially since one of them
was to go so far away. But the plucky
woman. considering the interest of her
| sons rather than her own desire to
have them with her. consented to the
separation.
This dividing of the family turned
/ out very unfortunately The war be
tween the states came on not long
after John Atwater reached his new
home. Missouri was Il slave state and
had largely been settled by southern
/ people The sympathies OF the inhab-
itants were largely with the south. and
a vigorous attempt was made to hold
| the state to the Confederacy. Those
who were in favor of the north were
either compelled to leave for Federal
territory or take sides with the Con-
federates This resulted In Atwater's
being forced, against his inclinations
into the Confederate ranks.
There was big fight between Fed
erals and Confederates. the one en-
deavoring to carry the state out of the
Union, the other to retain possession
Of It. Both sides raised troops. and a
number of battles were fought, result
ing finally in victory for the Unionists.
which was to have been expected. for
Missouri is geographically considered
a northern state. In one Of the bat
ties John Atwater was severely wound
ed and was taken to the home of his
uncle His mother, being informed of
his condition, went to him and nursed
\ him back to health and strength Mrs
Atwater's sympathies being with the
Union, she used her influence to per-
suade him to 20 TO her brother In Bos-
ton. with whom Arthur had been be-
fore joining the northern army. In
this she succeeded.
These efforts were too much for a
/ delicate woman, and Mrs. Atwater's
health broke down under them. Suf
fering from fever. she was delirious
| During this delirium she was constant
| ly calling upon her younger son. Ar
| thur, to come TO her.
Arthur was at that time serving
with his regiment In the Federal army
at the front Mrs Atwater's neigh
bors, plying the poor woman's dis.
tress and thinking that her life might
depend upon seeing her son. sent word
to him TO come to her at once
When the message reached Arthur
he applied to his captain for leave
10 go.
leave of absencer' sneered the
captain. You ask for leave of alb
sence In face Of the enemy and on the
eve Of battle? What you want is to
skulk away and avoid fight"
Stung to the quick. the boy replied:
Here is a letter saying that my
mother is dying and calling on me to
come to her"
Your mother Is a scheming rebel
and Is trying to get you away from
the post of duty"
You lie."
You gave me the lie! That's mu.
tiny. I'll attend to your case. Go to
the guard tent"