| Show PERSONAL BRAVERY A group of veterans of the late war including general alger judge fitzgerald and captain seamans of los angeles sa sat in the corridor of the palace and exchanged experiences the quest lan of personal bravery to is always one of peculiar interest said general alger but many a man who bore the reputation of having a charmed life owed it to the admiration of his opponents As a rule a soldier will never fire at a man who displays unusual courage I 1 know this from experience peri ence it was in the fall of 1863 that I 1 was transferred from the army of the west to the command of a regiment in the army of the potomac about that time the rebels moved across the rapidan Ra and I 1 was sent to drive them back it turned out that it was a but at the time we believed they were seeking to make a lod gement on the north of the river we drove them back to the bank of the stream but there they made a savage stand and reinforcements were sent over to aid them their position owing to the formation of the ground was a very strong one and ours greatly exposed while preparing for the struggle my command was attracted by a courier approaching approach ing he was on foot and availed himself of the numerous galleys worn by the rains to protect himself film self fro from the fire volley after volley was fired at him but he reached me u ared red Hebo he bore orders reorders for me to report at once to general kilpatrick in order to reach the latter I 1 would be compelled to pass pan over an almost open plain for fully three of a mile and exposed to the fire of the rebels it flashed upon me that the attempt would result in certain death and I 1 was on the point of refusing to obey when it occurred to me that I 1 dared not display any indication of cowardice in the presence of my command leaving my horse and command which were stationed behind a small rise in the ground I 1 started on foot the moment I 1 appeared I 1 was greeted with a volley a and nd the dirt flew around but I 1 was unhurt at this the rebels cheered and in a moment the shot flew thick about me for a second time but not one touched me there was another cheer from the rebels but I 1 kept going I 1 was so badly frightened that I 1 dared not even look to the right or the left every moment I 1 looked for another volley and felt that I 1 could not escape again not another shot was fired and during the fifteen minutes that elapsed while I 1 was in range of their guns round after round of cheers greeted me but not a bullet was sent after me I 1 reached general kilpatrick in safety and from that day to this have sought unsuccessfully to ascertain the name of the rebel officer whose men spared my we life the worst frightened man I 1 ever saw 1 said judge fitzgerald with an amused expression or of countenance was at pea ridge when we were attacked by federal for a body servant I 1 bad a strapping negro boy whose duty it was to look after my blankets and rations and negro like he was forever crawling into some out of the way place to sleep just as we were expecting the advance the federals opened ab p on us at rather close range we were on the skirmish line and in a moment our inen men were deployed in battle array just as the firing began to grow heavy I 1 heard beard a piercing yell and sa my negro boy flying along between the lines every step would have measured fifteen feet and every time his bis foot struck the ground he would yell oh lord 1 loud enough to be heard in both camps with him he had my blankets and rations and at every jump he would leave a portion of one or the other in his bis watte wake As far as I 1 could see him he was going like a frightened deer and long after he was out of sight i I 1 could hear him yell he had been sleeping exactly between the ianes when the battle opened and it is not surprising that be was soared scared two weeks elapsed before he returned to camp but he could never be induced to talk of his pea ridge experience S out in kentucky chimed in captain seamans 1 I witnessed a peculiar occurrence which illustrates the uncertainty of human life we were marching through an open stretch of farming country and at the distance as afterward ascertained by actual measurement ur of more thau than a mile we espied a rebel soldier sneaking along behind a hedge fence with us was a detachment of sharpshooters and one of them just for the fun of the thing as he expressed it took a sapt at the johnny raising his rifle to his bis shoulder he glanced quickly along the barrel and fired there was a dis interval of several seconds and we saw the rebel leap into the air and fall to the ground when we reached the spot be was stone dead having been shot through the head bead |
