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Show as . as. -, , I j How the Gretvt fJCW S'XOry OT W Commander I Nullified v Harsh flTl-M-" V Order That He VrarlT. Had Given Col. (leorgn lnmnn, a civil engineer, who was an engineer In the Union army with (Irani In front of Petersburg In IX'iI-ISi;.-,, na colonel of enjineerB, now engaged on aome public work mar HI. hmo:id, told tlile story of U. 8. 'Iront to a kronp of Confederate vet- rnns, ex-olll.eia, there recently. In tho winter of I Mi I n dipt. Hamilton Hamil-ton of the Confederate nrniy waa cap-'urcd cap-'urcd within the Federal lines, and th'-re were found on his peraon pnpers which clenrly Indicated that bo had p ni trated the lines for the purpose of gaining Infoi mnilon for Hen I.e. He waa roiirt-mnrtialed nnd was at once ioiMleinn.il lo be bang..! at sunrise the next day. Col. Hamilton, who wna In command of n cavalry n jiinent un-ibr un-ibr (!n. (Irani. vvn i barfed with the duty of furnl bine, ihe detail which waa lo execute the renteiu e of the court. The night of Ihe d.iv on whh h the court ptonoum ,1 t;,e "ei.t, in e on Cap!. Hamilton Col. Im i went to lien. Crnnt'B f .-nt to a.e hlni on a matter ronneotel with the i.per-itlona mmltisl thn Confcleriilin. He had I. en In the tent for aome time when II, orderly unnoiinoril, "Col. Hamilton." A soldierly sol-dierly appealing o!lleor entered nnd saluted. Ilefore (ion. (Irnnt had time to speak the colonel mild In hard tones: "(lenerul. I cannot obey the order lo execute that spy to-morrow morning." Hen. ((runt alarted na If ahol. "Why not?" ho said In ehnrn lonea. The colonel waa silent. Ho etoild with bnred head dropper on his boaom. Don. (irent again asked him why he rofuaed to obey hla order, nnd thla time there was a nhnrpncs In bin tone which was not there before. Col. Hamilton Ham-ilton raised bis head snd looked the commander-in-chief full In ihe face. "(ienernl, that man la my only son." (len. (i.-nnt looked bis olllcer In the face for a moment. Then he turned hla back. The colonel remained standing snd silent, uncovered nnd his head bowed. Then (ion. Cirnnt wheeled around and snld In a harsh voice; "Col. Hamilton, you will obey your orders." The colonel saluted nnd left the lent. Col. Imt'.nn leniembered that the next morning the detail chnrged with the duly of hanging the spy went to the tent, and when the sentry entered It waH found that there was nobody Inside. About ten years afterward Col. lnmnn ln-mnn wi In S.in KrHtiii-ro on buslncn conneiied with hla profession. While Ihero he ch anced lo n t a Mr. Hamilton, Hamil-ton, with whom he heiatne well nc-tiinitncd. nc-tiinitncd. Hamilton one day mentioned men-tioned that be was In the Confederate army and the relniloti of war exporl-ituis exporl-ituis began. It came out that the Mr. Hamilton was Hie ('apt. Hamilton Wili'lll Col. Hamilton had been ordered to hang. There were iuestloua from Col. lnmnn, of course, and the story of Hie ". ape of the younii soldier was brought out. On the nluht heforo the dny on which he was to be executed, he said, lifter midnight, he was lying on thu blanket In nla tent, half asleep, for tho circumstance did not warrant heavy rleep. He was nroused by the entrance of some one Into the tent. A candle wna burning dimly nnd be saw before blm n hinvlly built man wltii short stubby whiskers, wearing a blue uniform uni-form without any Insignia of runk on his shoulders n hla.k slouch hnt pulled down over hla eyes. He recognized recog-nized C"n. limit. The story does tint go Into details ns to tby conversation which ensued. The reji.lt was Hint the conileiiiui'd spy. after there has been exacted a promise that be would never ngaln aasuine the part which litul so uearly coat hlni hla life, wua given the counteralgn which would enn'de hlni to pass the sentries. Tlnn the man In the slouch hat went away. And the man who wns to have bnnged blm ut sunrise did the same thing, nnd befote the sun was set was within the fSmf' deralo IIiiob. New York Journnl. |