The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1917-05-10
The Pity Of It
By M. QUAD
Copyright. 1916. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.
By Nj. QUAD

JuSt all even uuuuIcu lucu uIS WeIcu
"Ilerc..' as the sergeant called the roll
on the morning we awoke beside the
Potomac. There was an even hundred
as We marched away-as we took our
first turn ut pickct--:ls we first sighted
the enemy. as we went into battle for
the first time. After the roar of guns
had died away and the dead had been
buried, only eighty-nine men answered
Here" to the sergeant's roll call in
/ the morning.
\ few weeks went by. and we stood
shoulder to shoulder in battle line
again, and when the sergeant called
the roll, now only seventy-eight men
! answered "Herc"'
Then came Cold Harbor and the fall
ing back to Malvern hill. Cannon
doomed and musketry cracked all day
long and far into the night Wounded
! men cursed and groancd as they limp
, ed away or fell helpless-men pitched
/ forward with but a single cry and
died with their faces hidden in the
! weeds and grass. After Malvern Hill
.
, the same sergeant as before. for he
was lying dead III the thickets at Fair
Oaks-and this time only fiftytwo men
answered "Here!'
And SO could you wonder that when
recruits came down to us we looked
upon them as intruders, even though
they We're good men and true, and
hn,I hx,ly, wi -inf1 VII
Their names were called with ours,
and we heard them answer Here
But they We're only with us; they
could not be of us. They had come
too late.
And at last came Appomattox and
the surrender and then peace and the
Seturn to Washington. We were al
most a full company again as we turn
ed out-on the meadows of Arlington
for the last roll call. Upward Of sew
enty living men could have answered
here" to their names.
Fall in. company G. Attention to
roll CALI
1t was not the sergeant who had
called the roll after Fredericksburg,
after Charlottesville, after Gettys-
burg. 1t was new man-one who had
been promoted before his cheeks had
scarcely been burned by the southern
sun. But he had heard Of the ties
which bound the old veterans together
he realized what this last roll call
meant to the survivors. And from the
musty archives Of the past he took the
roll of the dead and called:
"Anson, Armstrong, Armitage" No
one replied.
Berry, Bloomingdale, Benson, Bar
ston. Benham." No one replied.
Cary. Carter, Canadian, Cummings.
Comstock' No one replied.
And so he called. and so the silence
Of the death roll grew deeper.
Young. Yeomans, Yager!" No one
replied. -.
York.
"Herer'
And so he of all was the sole surviv- !
or. the last living man Of company G.
the only one who had right to stand
there in that line and answer to the
last roll call. The others-ninety and
nine-were crippled at home or Sleep
ing their last sleep Oh the hillsides, In
the valleys. in the forests and the
thickets of Virginia.
The line cheered him as he stood
apart, the last survivor of a glorious
band which had fought in a dozen bat
ties. but he turned his head away and |
wept.
Perhaps no act of war engendered
more bitterness than the burning Of
the barns and houses in the Shenan.
doah valley under Sheridan's official
order
No warning was given unless the |
great clouds Of smoke rising up here
and there to signify destruction were
taken as warnings Of what was to
come A squad of men galloped up, |
the women and children were told the
substance Of the order. and the :uatch |
was applied An hour later they sat
on the grass houseless and homeless.
some of them naked and dumb in ter
ror. There were tears and prayers
and pleadings. but the order had gone ,
forth.
BY and by. as we rode up to quaint
old farmhouse. half hidden among the |
fruit trees, a rifle cracked aud troop
err. shot through the head. fell of his
horse. The black pillars Of smoke dot
ting the valley had told the people
what was coming. Here was one de-
termined to protect his property-one
man 'gainst company after company
riding up and down and across. Ten
minutes later the barn and the stacks
were on fire and men under cover were
keeping up hot fire on the rife pit
Just as another squad. attracted by
the firing. came up second man was
hit and grlevously wounded.
There was no more firing from the
pit. Some Of the scores Of bullets
fired into it must have found target.