Soldiers' record, 1869-10-16

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ONE FLAa, ONE LAND, OITE EBAUT, OUTB IIAm, ONE UTATIOW, EVERMORE!
YOL. II. HARTFORD, OOX^^., SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1869. NO. 15.
a
OOTOBIill.
BY LYDIA A. CAINWKLL.
The year grows splendid, on the nionntnin steep
Now lintrers long tliu warm mid gorgeous light,
Dying by slow degrees into the deep
Delicious niglit.
The, final triumph of the perfect year,
Rises the woods' inagiiificent array;
Beyoiui, the purple mountain heiglits appear,
And slope awiVy.
The elm, with musical slow motion, laves
His long, lithe branches in the teiider air ;
While from his top the gay Sordello waves
Her scarlet hair.
Where Spring first hid her violets 'neath Ihe forn.
Where siim'^^ncr's finurers opened, fold after fold,
The odorous, wild, red rose's heart, now bum
The leaves of gold.
The loftiest hill, the lowliest flowerinir herb,
The fairest fruit of season and ol clime,
All wear alike the mood cf the superb
Antumnal time.
Now nature pours hav last and noblest wine!
Liiie some B a c c h a n t e beside the s i n g i n g s t r e a ms
Keeliues the enchanted Day, rapt in divine
Impassioned dreams.
But where the painted leaves arc falling fast
Among the vales beyond the farthest hill,
There sits a shadow—dim, and sad, and vast—
And lingers still.
And still we hear a voice among the hills—
A voice that mourns among the haunted woods.
And with the mystery ot its sorrow fills
'rhe solitudes.
Tor while gay Autiimn gilds the 'frnit and leaf,
And (loth her tairest festal garments wear,
Loi! Time, all noiseless in his mighty sheaf
Binds up the year.
The n.ighty sheaf which never is unbound,
The reaper whom our souls beseech in vain !
The loved lost years that never may be found, ,
Or loved again.
A MOTHER'S SACRIFICE.
The records and desolntions of our
great war do not appear alone in the empty
sleeves which we see In every village, nor
in the blackened ruins that mark the path-way
of our great aimies. The most in-cui-
able wounds, and the losses hardest
to bo supported, were suffered by the
mothers who gave up darling and only
sons to the sacrifice.
What mother can read the following
story of the enlistment and death of "Lit-tle
Kddie, the. drummer boy," without
feeling that neither glory nor public hon-ors
can ever make ur» her loss or he;il her
lacerated heart? We give the story as
the soldiers tell it.
''A few days before our regiment re-ceived
orders to join ("leneral Ly(m, on
his march to Wilson's Creek, the drummer
of our company was taken sick and con-veyed
to the hospital, and on the evening
preceding the day that we were to march,
II negro was arrested within the linos of
the caa.p, and brought before our captain,
who asked him 'what business he had
within the lines !' He replied, 'I know a
drummer that you would like to enlist in
your company, and I have come to tell
you of it.' He was immediately requested
to inform the drummer that if he would
enlist for our short term of service, he
would be allowed extra pay ; and to do
this, he must be on the ground early in
the morning. The negro was then passed
beyond the guard.
'''On the following morning there ap-peared
before the captain's quarters,
during the beating of the reveille, a good-loolciiig,
middle aged woman, dressed in
deep mourning, leading by the hand a
sharp, sprightly-looking boy, iipparently
about twelve or thirteen years of age.
Her story was soon told. She was from
East Tennessee, where her husband had
been killed by the rebels, and all their
property destroyed. She had come to
St. Louis in search of her aister ; but not
finding her, and being destitute of money,
she thought if she could procure a situation
for her boy as a drummer for the short
time that we had to remain in the service,
she could lind employment for herself, and
perhaps find her sister by the time we
were discharged.
"During the rehearsal of her story the
little fellow kept his eyes intently fixed
upon ilic countenance of the captain, who
was about to express a determination not
to take so small a boy, when he spoke out^
'Don't be afraid, captain ; I can drum.'
This was spoken with so much confidence,
that the captain immediately observed,
with a smile, 'Well, well, sergeant, bring
the drum, and order our (ifer to come for-ward,'
In a few moments the drum was
produced, and our lifer, a tall, round-shoul-dered,
good-natured fellow, from the
Dubuque mines, who stood, when erect,
something over six feet in height, soon
ra;ule his appearance.
"Upon being introduced to his new
comrade, he stooped down, with his hands
restirg upon his knees, that were thrown
forward into an acute angle, and after
peering into the little fellow's face a mo-ment,
he observed, 'My little man can you
drum ?' Yes, sir,' he replied, 'I drummed
for Captain Hill, in Tennessee.' ' Our fifer
immediately commenced straightening
himself upward until all the angles in his
person had disappeared, when he placed
ins life at his mouth, and played the ' Flow-ers
of Edinboro"—one of the most difficult
things to follow with the drum that could
have been selected ; and nobly did the
litJe lellovv follow him, showing himself
to be a master of the drum. When the
music ceased, cur captain turned to the
mother and observed, 'Madam, I will take
vour boy. What is his name 'Edward
Lee,' she replied , then placing her hand
upon the captain's arm, she continiied.
'Captain, if he is not killed,—here her
maternal feelings overcame her utteranc.e,
and she bent down over her boy and kiss-ed
him upon the forehead. As she arose,
she observed, 'Captain, you will bring
him back wiih you—won't you V
"Yes, yes,' he replied, 'we will bo cer-tain
to bring him back with us. We
shall be discharged in six weeks.'
"In an hour after, our company led the
Iowa first out of camp, our drum and fife
playing 'The girl I left behind me.' PJddle,
as we call him, soon became a great favor-ite
with all of the men in the company.
When any of the boys had returned from
a horticultural excursion, Eddie's sh:ir'^
of the peaches and melons was the first
apportioned out. During our heavy and
fitiguiug march from Rolla to Springfield,
it was often amusing to see our long-leg-ged
fifer wading through the mud with
our little drummer mounted upon his back,
and always in that position when fording
streams.
''During the fight at Wilson's (h-eek I
was stationed with ia part of our company
on the right of Totten's battery, while
the balance of our company, with a part
of the Illinois regiment, was ordered
down into a deep ravine upon our left, in
which it was known a portion of the ene-my
was concealed, with whom they were
soon engaged. The contest in the ravine
continuing some time, Totten suddenly
wheeled his battery upon the enemy in
that quarter, when tliey soon retreated ro
the high ground behind their lines. In
less then twenty minutes after Totten had
driven the enemy from the ravine, the
word passed from man to man throughout
the army,'Lyon is killed !' and soon after,
hostilities having ceased upon both sides,
the O l d e r came for our main force to fall
back upon Springfield while a part of the
Iowa first and two companies of the Mis-souri
regiment were to camp upon the
grouiid and cover the retreat noxt morn-ing.
That night 1 was detailed for guard
duty, my turn of guard closing with the
morning call. When I went out with the |
ollicer as a i-elief, I found that my post,
was upon a high eminence that overlooked ,
the deep ravine in which our men hud eu-1
gaged the enemy, until Totten's battery |
came to their assistance. It was a dreary,
lonesome boat The moon had gone down
in the early part of the night, while the
stars twinkled dimly through a hazy at-mosphere,
lightiug up imperfectly the sur-rounding
objects. Occasionally I would
place my ear near the ground and listen
for the sound of fool:stei)S ; bnt all was
silent, save the far-off howling of the wolf,
that seemed co scent upon the evening air
the banquet that wo had been preparing
for hitti. The hours passed slowly away,
when at length the morning light began
to strevtk along the eastern sky, making
surrounding ol)jects more plainly visible.
Presently I heard a drum beat up the
morning call At first I thought it came
from the camp of the enemy across the
creek ; but as I listened, I found that it
came up from the deep ravine ; for a few
minutes it was silent, and then, as it be-came
more light I heard it again. I list-ened,
the sound of the drum was familiar
to me, and 1 knew that it was
'Our drummer boy from Tennessee,
I IJeatiug for help the reveille.'
"I M-fp about to desert ray post to go
to his Assistance, when 1 discovered the
officer ^f the guard approaching with two
men. We all listened to the sound, and
were, satisfied that it was Eddie's drum.
I asked permission to go to his assistance.
The officer hes^itated, saying that the or
ders were to march in twenty minutes
I promised to be back in that time, and he
consented. I immediately started down
the hill, through the thick undergrowth,
and upon reaciiing the valley, I followed
the sound of the drum, and soon found
hi:n seated upon the ground his back
leaning against the trunk of a fallen tree,
while his drum hung upon a bush in front
of him, reaching nearly to the ground.
As soon as he discovered me he dropped
his drumsticks and exclaimed,'0 corporal,
I am so glad to tee you! Give me a
drink,' reaching out his hand for my can-teen,
which was empty. 1 immediaiely
turned to bring him some water from the
brooi? that 1 could hear rippling through
the bushes near by, when, thinking that
I was about to leave him, he commenced
crying, saying: 'Don't leave me, corpor-al—
1 can't walk.' I was soon back with
the water, when I discovered that bnth
of his feet had been shot away by a can-non
ball. After s.itislying his thirst, he
looked up icto my face and said, 'Yon
don't think 1 will die, corporal, do you ?
This man said I would not—he said the
surgeon could cure my feet.' I now dis-covered
a man lying in the grass near him.-
By his dress I recognized him as belong-ing
to the enemy. It appeared that he
had been shot through the bowels, !ind
fallen near where Eddie lay. Knowing
tliat he could not live, and seeing ih - con-dition
of the boy, he had crawled to him,
taken off his buckskin suspenders, and
corded the little fellow's legs below the
knee, and then laid down and died.
While he was telling me the particulars,
I heard the tramp of cavalry coming down
the ravine, and in a moment a scout of tlie
enemy was upon us, and I was taken pris-oner.
I requested the officer to take Ed
die np in front of him, and he did so, car-rying
him with great tenderness and care.
VVhen we reached the camp of the enemy
the little fellow was dead.
One of the prominent "war charities"
incorporated for patriotic purposes aris-ing
out of the rebellion, is the "institute
of Howard for Orphans of Pairiots"
Touching the merits of the organization
or its mode of management we know but
little ; but it seems to have been in flour-ishing
existence for eight years (dating
from April 18, 1861,) and is now prepar-ed
to offer ' a free pass" to educational
advantages in certain respectable schools
and colleges, suited to the needs of "pat-riot
orphans." The Secretary, Mr. D.
P. HOLTCN, of this City, thinks that be-nevolent
persons, knowing of patriot or-phans
suitably qualified, might make a
very appropriate "New-Year's Gift" by
sending their address to him, that he may
assign them scholarships in one or ot her
of the colleges i>n his list. N. Y, Times,
THREE AVORDS OP STRENGTH.
There are three lessons I would write—
Three words, as with a burning pun,
In traoinffs of eternal light,
Ul)0u the hearts of nun.
Have Hope! Thoiifrh clouds environ i-ouiid,
And f^ladness hides her face in scorn,
Put thou the shadow from tliy brow,
night bnt hath us morn.
Have Faith ! Where'er thy bark is driven—
The calm's disport, the tempest's mirth—
Know tins: God rules the hosts of heaven.
The inhabitants of earth.
Have Love! not love alone for one,
But man as man thy brother call,
And soitter, like tlie drchng sun,
Thy charities on all.
Thus grave these lessons on thy soul-
Hope, Faith and Love—and" tliou shalt find
Strength when life's surges rudest roll,
Light when thou else went blind.
THE GREAT LESSON.
Th«. first great lesson that a young man
should h^arn is that he knows nr)thing.—
The earlier and the more thoroughly learn-ed
this lesson is the better. A home-bred
youth growing up in the light of parental
admiration, with everything to foster his
vanity and self-esteem, is surprised to find
and often unwilling to acknowledge, the
superiority of people But he is compell-ed
to learn his own insignificance; his
airs are ridiculed, his blunders are expos-ed,
his wishes disregared, and he is made
to cut a sorry figure, uuiir his self con-ceit
is abashed and he feels that he knows
nothing.
When a young man has thoroughly
comprehended the fact that he knows
nothing, and that intrinsically he is but
of little value, the next lesson is that the
world cares nothing about him. He is the
subject of no man's overwhelming admira-tion
; neither petted by the one sex nor
envied by the other, he has to take cave
of himself. He will not be noticed until
he becomes noticable ; he will not become
noticeable until he does soiiiething to
prove that he is of some use to society.—
No recommendation or introduction will
give hirn this or ought to give him this ;
he must do something to bo recognized as
somebody.
The next lesson is that of patience. A
man must learn to wait as well as to work
and to he content with those means of ad-vancement
in life which he may use with
integrity and honor. Patience is one off
the most difficult lessons to learn. It is
natural for the mind to look for iiamedi--
ate results.
Let this, then, be understood at start-ing
; that the patient conquest of difficul-ties
which rise in the regular and legiti-mate
channels of business and enterprise
is not only essential in securing the suc-cess
which a young man seeks in life, but
essential also to that preparatiorv of the
mind requisite for the enjoyment of suc-cess,
and for retaining it when gained.
It is the general rule in all the world and
in all time, that unearned success is a
curse.
MEETING OF THE NINTH C. V.
Tuesday evening, an enthusiastic meet-ing
was held, at Tyler's Building, Now
IJaven, by (piite a number of the veterans
of the Ninth Connecticut Volunteers. The
objeci. of the meeting was to take meas-ures
for a reunion of the regiment. J^t.
John Cogan was called to the chair, and
Col. James Reilloy acted -js secretary.
Earnest and patriotic speeches were made
by C.'aptain T. Sheridan, Lieuts. Wm.
Keofe and Lawlor, Corporal Murley and
others. It was unanimously voted to hold
a reunion on the third of next December,
being the anniversary of the landing of
the gallant regiment on Ship Island in the
year 18GL The committee who have the
getting up of the reunion will spare no
pains to make it a most enjoyable apeas-ion.
Lever.
Youth ami wfiito paper take auy iuir^
pressiou.