The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1919-05-29

f,res are famed to temporary blaze as the ola
fighting men live the days when as stai"ar''
dashng youths they went forth into patue ior
their country. -
Ana VOL worth hearing are the stories they tell
The truth is that desperate valor has always
been a Characteristic of the American nghtlng man,
The present generation OF American youth mas
proved itself a little more sure OF ltseiI' ht'ie
more daring, a little more muscled than any Amer
lean generation that has gone before. 1t mas
proved itself little bit snapper and harder than
any rnce of men that has ever gone before Never
theless the fighting spirit has always been the
same In the American soldier.
The exploits of our fighting men In the Revolu-
ton and the War of 1872, as set forth In history,
and the tales still told by survivors Of the Mexican
war the Seminole war, the Civil war, the indian
wars the Boxer uprising. the Spanish-American
war and the Philippine insurrection differ not so
much In kind In detail from stories or the great
war The veteran who marched with General Scott
from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico did not nave
a magazine rifle and automatic pistol and did
not contend with poison gas and flame, but per-
haps he came oftener to actual handgrips with the
foe for that very reason Apparently the aviator
and the U-boat COB are the only men able TO ADD
anything really new to the American annals OF
desperate courage.
And as the years go by-it is now So years since
the Confederate guns opened on Fort Sumter and
the majority of the ,S08 Civil war soldiers on
the pension roll are well past their three score and
tent is likely the veterans more often live over
I'm memory the old days-fghting their battles over
again.
What scenes of desperate valor their waking
dreams renew! The Stories for instance, OF the
deeds for which 2600 medals Of honor were award
ed from 1851 to 1918 would make thrilling reading
indeed And In many an instance there Is miss
ing limb a CHASTITY scar, twisted frame TO pear
mnte witness of the ferceness Of the combat.
Here are some stories Of Civil war medal OF
honor men to rank with any fighting mans yarn
anywhere:
Among the gallant young men who fought with
Company G of the Twenty-ninth Massachusetts, In
the battle of Malvern hill July l. 1862, the last
of the seven days fighting before Richmond, was
William H. Osborne. Soon after the opening OF the
battle about three IN the afternoon, he received
gunshot wound In the chest, which rendered him
unconscious. In this condition he was carried by
comrades a short distance to the rear and left to
die An hour or later he regained consciousness,
and though wobbly weak from loss of blood he
took the gun and ammunition from dead soldier
and went in search of his regiment. He found the
Sixty-ninth New York. took his place In the ranks
and resumed firing Then he was again Frustrated
nv the bursting of a shell which shattered his left
Log He crawled into some bushes where, half
dead he passed the night. When darkness settled
DOWN Mcclellan retreated to the James river, and
noxt afternoon the Confederates occupied the
battlefield. Osborne with the other prisoners was
toten IN Savage Station and thence to Richmond
oshorne recovered to become successful Boston
LAWYER and got his medal of honor in $685.
Iosenb 8. G.. Sweat was at Carsville, Va. May
=, 1894. About 5000 Union infantry and the
Eleventh Pennsylvania cavalry were engaged In
tearing up the Roanoke railroad track when they