, 1918-05-23

cartridges right away" Even where he stood the
shot fell thick, and I told him togo to the rear at
once. 1 would attend to the cartridges and off he
limped. Just before he disappeared on the hill, he
turned and called as loud as he could: "Caliber
"a" 1 have not seen the lad since, and his colonel
(Malmburg on inquiry gives me the address above,
and says he is a bright, intelligent boy, with a fair
preliminary education. What arrested my atten-
ton then was-and what renewed my memory of
the fact now is-that one SO young, carrying a
musket-ball through his leg, should have found his
way to me on that fatal spot, and delivered his
message, not forgetting the very important part of
the caliber of his musket, "a, which you know Is
an unusual one. I'll warrant that the boy has in
him the elements of a man, and 1 commend him to
the government as one worth the ~fosterin3 care of
one of the national institutions. 1 am, witt re-
spect,
""Your obedient servant,
"'w. 7. SHERMAN,
"BIajor General Commanding
when the poet, George Il. Boxer, learned of the
episode of young Howe, he put the story in verse.
John Cook, too, gained a medal of honor when u
mere child. He was born in Ohio, August 10, 1S47,
and enlisted in Battery b, Fourth United States
artillery, at the breaking out of the war. He was
serving as bugler at Antietam, and certainly did
enough to merit his medal. The boy distinguished
himself Mt Antletam and in every fight in which
the command was engaged. AT Antietam the bat
terry was knocked to pieces, losing about so per
cent of the men, killed or wounded. Captain Camp
bell fell, severely wounded, and young Cook as
sisted MIN u III rear, quiChly TeturHlHS 10 Ii
firing line, where, seeing nearly all the men down
and not enough left to man the guns, the little fell
low unstrapped a pouch of ammunition from the
body of n dead gunner who was lying near one of
the caissons. ran forward with 1t and acted as gun
ner until the end Of the fight.
~. @. Julius Langbeln was a very small boy,
indeed, when at the battle of Camden, North Caro-
lima, April 10, 1862, he won his congress medal.
The official record states that when a drummer
boy, he voluntarily and under a heavy fire went
10 tha oi1 of a wounded Ofipar nrOpurah maIfoal
aid for him and aided in carrying him to a place
of safety After the battle he was granted a short
leave of absence to visit his parents, and what a
thrill of happiness the boy must have felt when
he handed his mother a commendatory letter from
his company commander.
"And here is another boy who wears the con-
gress medal of honor, nobly won: George d. Sid
man, a scboolboy from Michigan. a mere child In
years, when he made his great record and won the
medal for distinguished bravery In battle at
Gaines Mills, June 81. 1862 This battle, the sec
ond of the Seven Days Battles before Richmond,
was one of the most disastrous battles of the Civil
war, wherein Fitz John Porter's Fifth army corps
was pitted against the three army corps Of Gen
erals Longstreet, Hill and 'Stonewalr Jackson.
"Brig. Gen. Daniel Butterfeld's brigade, COM
posed of the Twelfth, Seventeenth and Forty-fourth
New York, the Eighty-third Pennsylvania and Six
teenth Michigan Volunteer infantry regiments, that
day occupied the left line of battle in the form
of a curve, with the Sixteenth and Elghty-third on
the extreme left and resting on the border of
Chickahominy swamp. Here the brigade vas called
upon to resist several desperate charges of the
enemy during the day, which. in every instance, re-
suited In defeat of the attacking forces.
at was in this forlorn hope rally that Sidman,
then a youth of seventeen, serving in the ranks of
Company c, sixteenth Michigan, as a private, but
borne on the rolls of his company as a drummer
boy, distinguished himself by waving his gun and
calling upon his comrades to rally on the colors as
he had done, thus setting an example that was