Year: 1879




There was certain Missouri regi


ment commanded by Gen. Fisk. Il


was largely composed of those chaps


picked up on the levee of St. Louis


rough, uncouth, ready for almost any


thing, in a word, but good-hearted fei


lows. Gen. Fisk was a pious and a


good man. He found he was the col.


onel of the profanest regiment in the


whole army. After he had been with


them long enough to find them out,
and they to find him out, he called


them together once and said: Now,


l want to make one proposition to


you. One of the first orders that Gen.


Washington issued to his army was
one against profanity. Now, 1 don't


intend to issue any order of that kind,


but intend to let you vote about it.


am the colonel of this regiment, and


l am going to do all the swearing for
it. Now, will you agree by vote
that you will not swear, but will leave
me to do all the swearing3 The boys
voted that they would do it, and there


was diminution in the swearing of
that regiment for some time. But one
night there was a Kentucky mule
driver-and can tell you Kentucky
mule. DRYER can swear some. His six
mule team got stalled just as he was
coming up with the generals tents
and headquarters articles, and the
stream of profanity that poured out
of the mouth of that Kentucky mule
driver really freighted and burdened
the air. After it was all over Fisk
called him to his tent. He SAID to the
soldier, Don't you know That it was
agreed by vote of the regiment that
1 was to do all the swearing of the
regiment? yes, sir;' said the man.
well, here you are swearing loud
enough 10 be heard through all the
surrounding camps That's all right
colonel; that's all right said the man.
l know we voted that way, but the
swearing had to be done then and you
were not there One day in the lec-
ture room in Washington city. among
the winters of 1864 and 1865, Col.
Fisk told that story in little lecture.
Abraham Lincoln was sitting in one
of the front seats with his hands clasp
ed over his knee, enjoying it very
much, and laughed at it as he would
at good anecdote. 1t happened that
there came to him an unfortunate old
lady who said she must talk with the
President. She told him her son in
the East, who had gone into the Union
army, when coming near his home had
gone off to visit his mother, or per-
haps his sweetheart, and the army, IN
stead of marching on in the direction
he supposed it would, took another
route, and he was gone three or four
weeks. He was finally arrested as
deserter, convicted and sentenced to
be executed. There had been a great
deal of that sort of thing. There must
be no more OF this weak hearted pol
icy. She told her story, and Lincoln
says: There is good deal in this
give me the papers you haye; 1 SYM
pathize with you, and I will take the
papers and ask the Secretary of War,
Stanton, to look into 1t, and we will
see " hat we can do for you.' But
says she, the execution takes place
next Friday, aud you must give me
the pardon uow.' Why said Lin
coin, that reminds me of a little
story and then he went on and told
her the whole story, and the poor wo-
man stood there while he told her the
story have been telling you. After
enjoying the story as Lincoln did. he
picked up an old, yellow envelope and
wrote on it Let John Thomas be par
doned,' and sent it to the war depart
ment, and the mother was happy.