USA > Maine > First Maine bugle, 1892 (history of 1st Maine Cavalry) > Part 32
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FIRST MAINE BUGIE
long enough to sample different kinds of . Megal tiens bottles away with us. Then ther. war another -low . through vineyards and vineyards, to the townof Nap we stopped long enough to partake of a sub tag till auf -; vided by the residents, and to simple mort Give, a to take a few more bottles to carry away with . Their pleasant ride; and we reached the pretty Pois chy Rosa, where, after a ride around. we decided the sword live. The country is even more hilly than Vacavi !! liked it on that account --- it is more like home . and wr In0. 0 gone long enough to begin to think that home is a party place, after all. The ride here was a glorious out, and a' ho we were quite weary with the day's riding and sicht- enjoyed every moment of it. We rode thr nghe pleume - passed many fine residences, saw many orchards an bp. olen m the best of cultivation, and had all sorts of que sioh- mor . 1 by an intelligent citizen. We rode up hill on . croon li comfortable variety, getting some grand view from some of hills. It was a ride full of variety of a welcome kin, thought it was really the best place in which to live tha; . seen. After the ride we were taken into the Athaneger vii
amid the most beautiful and dlaborat . Por di prode. saw, we were served with supper. In The game of the again boarded the Essex, to continue the journey. .. found some one had been there, and bad kin By lei three bottles of wine in each section, am not which.
appreciated by all the passengers with using exemption. expressed himself when he found the wine in this section. gone it, I wish they wouldn't; they'll taste me drink stuff before I get home, and I don't want the
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.. 1
A REVIEW.
A Review.
( Read to the First Rhode Island Cavalry Veteran Association N. 91 4 :02)
BY CHAPLAIN F. DENISON. Hail, comrades of the knightly spurs. Defenders of the true; Your presence inspiration stirs, Yourselves the war's review.
We come once more, from life's wiele ways, As fondest brothers meet, Survivors of the fiery day. That dealt, to wrong, defeat.
We give again warm grip of hand - Fit sign of fellowship That holds us, as a veteran band, More firm than league of hip.
How vivid, in each other's eyes, We read, what none can speak, The language of those bosom-ties For which all words are weak.
The bond that binds us is too strong For time's defying change: It freshly calls for thankful song. And claims und; ing range.
How recollection bears us back, By camp and crimson tiel !, Through struggling n arch an I bivouac To bear out country's shield.
Stern years of duty unforgot. When every soul wos tried, When all were called to choose their lot - With right or wrong allie I.
How yet we feel our biening hearts When war the tousin rung, Arousing Freedom's homes and maris As with clear angel -tongue. To dearest ones we bade a lieu And to our tag gave ha !. As hasting to the rendezvous We buckled on our mai !.
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FIRST ALUINL POGLE
From North and West trong por gu lady The " flower of the kydet Responded to our country's will To do ber high command.
Such free-will loyalty to low The world had never known; All kings and monarchs stood in fac. Each trembling for his thione.
Our banner bore the Holy Stars Whose light shall never wany; And in the strife its very scars Became diviner gain.
When gathering hosts of treason bain. Like tempest on the min, As from a dream our nation woke In anger and in pain.
Our Capitol our foes would seire, And filched our arms and forts; Black pirate-keels bore their decrees From all their stolen ports.
Swift marched our cohorts, pouting in T'rom Maine to Golden Gate, Pledged in the bloody strife to win Or perish with the stite.
When boastfully the rebel clan Its bars defiant flew, As chevaliers we chose the kan And " boots and sad Des " bien.
Our guidons dashed o'er mount ant hi"! And swept the hostile plains; And, in our quickened manteles, still Resound the bugle strains.
We stood by Freedom in her belt 'Gainst maddened barbarism; Undaunted we upheld the right And shared its sacre ! chrism.
There is a nobleness of soul In men who pledged their lives To give humanity control And read oppressione's g. r.s. Bold men adventure on the seas; And angry Pillows rib. Or climb the bold acclivities Where avalanches slide:
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81
A REVIEW.
But what of men who dece the Bells Where burning bolls are burk il. Where steel and iron pierce the sigel h, And flags in blood are ferled;
Where thousands in the conflit full, And corses strow the ground, While brotherhood uplifts the call And feels each anguished wound
The test of valor is the fiel 1, The test of fields the high .: And wrong is preordained to yill As day o'ercomes the night.
Our country was the theatre Where freedom had her test. And brave men ros- for shickling her In holy armor dressed.
The gory felds will testify That hoary wrong dies hard: But truth is mightier than the lie, Though in the contest scarre !.
Our country then was summored where Her old paths must diverge: The issue came that would Jechire ller triumph, or her dirge.
John Bull and all our foes join. i hon Is To help the traitors win, Supplying syn pathies and brands To brace the giant sin.
A continent was put at stake, And all the world looked on; A nation was te mendl or break ..- To be then lost or won.
The desperate social wrong ha ? green All moral force to scout Until the blade of war alone Could ent the cancer out.
Four million slaves discernon the le hove And stretched their swarthy bowls To God. their only source of power. To break their galling ta: Is.
The prayer was beard, an i Hipo tus werl. Like Moses rod of oll. Was drawn, obedient to God's word, And back the Red Sea rolled.
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FIRST MAINE BOWLA
The army box 1. 5 1 . The same old truth - . Goliath's sons Cuts off Goliath's head.
There is a power that no In the ste Fen And shapes its good and HI, Unseen, it may be, in P, for., Bat sure to work its will.
Our nation stood in Go I's gred phon. No rebel force could c. tot The sal re-thrust of Sheritwo, The rifle-aim of Grant.
The cowards in that mighty stufe We held in utter scorn, And " copperhead's whose sowie . The Was out of slavery born.
Some skalked away to C. non ... Some plead the rebel sine, So following the baleful star Down to the Segian tide.
But men of courage took the front And fought the bottle through : They bore the iron tempest's ! runt And won the bones due.
Nor marvel that our souls are kn't In comradeship intense, That distance may rot interidit Or dull the tender sense.
Our hearts were fused tor unison - In flames of battle cast. As Hebrew wordvies were made of Within the furnace blast.
Nor are departed comma les, s' rre ! In battle fire of peace, From tenderest rem al rance Verres: The true has no surcease.
Our nation, with a grateful s. sp Of Highest service pai.l, Frects her co-test re manier.is Where martyred sons are loi i.
And hol ling fost her Cherty. She gives an Parlay mais To ages of futurity In granite and in bronte.
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33
A REVIEW.
And anumnally, with moned dodo, In honor of her dead, With tender step and dirge, she coun > Their graves with flowers to spread. She blesses all of dauntless sovi Who stood for ber defen .. ; Their names shall shine upon ler a. roy In fitting recompete. Confederates will at last coonfe-s The war's resultant worth; We battled for the South no less Than for the free-born North.
We slew the ancient savagery That woke rebellion's wave, Inauguraring liberty For master and for shive.
As brothers, tearfully we read Our mortuary roll : But deathless love will ever plead Our regiment as yet whole :
Our peerless leader at our head So proud of his comman 1; And we so sure to triumph led --- A trae, chivalrie band.
A truer rank ne'er wore the spors Or wielded sabre bbole : And faithful History now confers What laurels ne'er will fade.
While praising others' loyalty We claim out battle-ri. his --- The First Rhode Islan 1 Cavalry Counts six and fifty fights.
We sing our brethren of all arms Alike on land and sea; But every loyal bosom warins To speak their eulogy :
Superior spirits never tood The fieldis and decks of war, And offered freely of their blood The rage of wrong to bar.
But we of glittering blade an 1 spur Were always in the foxy; The heated battle-blows to stir We ever led the way.
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FIRST MAINE POOL
They tell us that the we i pois O yes -- the battle str We , But the results will ever last While grow our pines and oat
Where'er we go, wher 'er he roy One thought will be our paint This sentiment will cheer our braid, We fought on Freedom's sice.
To our loved luft's integrity We make this honest clio. That in her hour of agony We to her rescue come:
We hell aloft ou: Holy Stars Till treason bent the knee. Till sank oppression's boasten bat- And rose the Union free.
Already Freedom's swelling vive Has pride from power hart. 1: There lives no lord, there groots no der, Throughout this western woel ..
Thanks be to God - by when inspired Our armies held the field ... Who every patriot bosoni fred . Our Sovereign and our Spisil.
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AFTER APPOMATTOX.
AFTER APPOMATTOX. NO. V .-- THE COW CASE. BY MAJOR BENKY C. HALL.
One morning, early in June, a modest-looking middy -arcy lady came into the office and reported that a neighbor had conta into her enclosure and driven away ber cow withent her consent and against her vigorous protest. I heard, her patiently, that is, as patiently as I could, for her story was not a short one. Nor was it wholly devoid of interest, for it revealed much of the hie and character of the class of people to which she evidently belonged, called by the F. F. V's " poor whites." When she appeared, as a witness, to have exhausted herself, I remodvd that the charge was a serious one and the case undoubtedly on of much importance; that I would not feel justified in deciding to whom the cow belonged until I could hear the other side. and I suggested that she come again towards evening, when th : heat would be less oppressive, and bring her neighbor with bor. who, by the way, was also a woman. After giving many reasons why she could not she finally consented, and reluctantly took along a notice I had prepared for the adverse party. Now. a good milch cow at that time, in that suffering section of the country. was a bonanza - was of almost inestimable value to a family. As I revolved the case in my mind and tried to imagine what the defense could be, I realized - I began to realize -that I had a weight of responsibility resting on me I had not calcul .ted on when I assumed command of the county. Indeed, alpyist every day had a surprise for me - some duty to perform not enumerated in my order of instructions. Not the Last sut- prising was the number of young men who hal beca in Gfs confederate service who came with request to have intention of marriage recorded, which was duly done in a big book the ah! clerk had used for the purpose, and at the proper time a certifie ... .
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FIRST MAINE BUGLE.
was issued signed, " Il. C. Hall, Protoat Manthat." Love perform any marriage ceremonic because I was left mittel do so, such ceremonies being solemmized by minister call gospel, so that the marriages were not wholly civil no solo military -- sort of "'alf and 'alf."
Well, promptly at four o'clock the plaintiff in the cow appeared, and in a few minutes the defendant was at tia al the former with a look of complaisance and contains ! other with a scowl of determination berdering on farens
When the visions of the two met I saw by the Bank of dark eyes that there was to be music in the air, and the ; 1 the lullaby sort, either. After both were seated at a Naeth tance from each other and facing a table at the opposite too which I sat, I stated to the defendant that the plaintiff joutl in earlier in the day and charged that she, the d' Ag low, force and arms had broken and entered her preod removed therefrom one brindled cow valued at $108. the poo; erty of the said plaintiff, and that she, the said thing to used every peaceful means to recover her own willmeet 50 What say you to the charge?
She commenced a reply, not in a minor key as I bis hope but in a key of sharps as I feared; at first for you but soon fortissimo if poco crescente, when the other jours a third below, and for a time I fancied I was being that the with Italian opera. I listened with exciting admirarnay much to the music, for I did not appreciate its melo !! the words, for I was unable to understand a syllable an either, but to the art, the skill and the style of the oc the duet proceeded it was evident that the parties tet .. had much practice and not a little at recent dites.
At first I would willingly have given a paper queter bri ness such a novel entertainment, but as the excitement ipso to such a seance increased until it seemed certain thata would be destroyed by the other, I would as withney given several quarters to have had the sound of t tragedy in Texas or Alaska of on some distant BLOM! sea. In a little time, however, exhaustion was viale in
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5
AFTER APPOMATTOX.
and gesture of both, and soon both subsided and sank into the chairs from which they had carlier risen.
Well, I had witnessed the entertainment but had gained not a single idea to aid me in the settlement of the unph ant cash. For a moment I watched the mute forms before i . to detect some sign of guilt or sorrow or repentance, but now essere mon- ifest. The sullen looks and compressed lips were not as song omens for gaining facts on which to base a judgment. What should I do? I could not tell to whom the cow belonged. and ! was attorney for both sides and also judge and jury. I wanted to settle the case and settle it correctly, but how could I without some basis for a settlement, and how could I get any reliable testimony from these two persistent claimants?
I was much troubled, for duty demanded that I should phic the property in the hands of its true and lawful owner, and above all things I desired to do my duty. At length a happy thought struck me. I suddenly remembered reading in a bi. book, before the war began, of the decision of a certain vice man as to whom of two women a certain living child bebored which was claimed by both. I immediately went to the don" and called a sergeant and told him in the presence of the two women that both claimed a cow that was at a certain phone described to him ; that I was unable to tell who was the law ful owner of the animal, and that I had decided to send hin. down with an ax to chop the animal in two equal parts and to give each a half, as the claim of one appeared to be as good as that of the other, and I desired to treat them fairly and equally. . VI this time I kept a sharp watch of the faces of the two i only note the surrender of the actual owner, for I assumed that my rule was infallible and that it had been properly applied ; besides. I thought if she had any affection for her kine she would! pit allow the innocent creature to be so ernelly slain. Dat imagine my surprise ! my chagrin ! my mortification ! when bath no. and, with sickly smiles on their pallid faces, expressed delight that the other could not have the cow! Well, what should i- what could I do now! I was alone and helpless - hal ist faith in myself, and Scripture had failed me! I wanted to
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$8
resign - to be relieved --- to be tran feuer - to be trongsa to some place where females are un ceciry ark alox v
I was forced to recall the sergeen and cancel Eintraum After a little reflection I told them that I dit no Jol 2 either owned the cow, and that until I could a cenary Who the lawful owner I decreed that each should have the : the animal each alternate day, and that the nest consi lo decree should forfeit all her rights and inter -fr ond cow, and, as a further punishment, woul! and! hunch sentence in the county dungeon. My Cfw foly roman including suggestions of incarceration produced to m' effect on the nerves of my two ob birate audit ir, and tom the office performing a duet in firm but subdued con ( Ga- expressed little regard for me or respect for the offer i much less sisterly love or holy fear of each other, and never seen or heard of either of them to this tim Je their difficulties were amicably adjusted on theb way frommy on that they are alternating the old cow to this day.
Jim.
We don't take vagrants in sir And I am alone to-day. Lestwise, I could call the good is - He's not so far away.
You are welcome to a breakfast - I'll bring you some bread and ts: You might sit on the old st me yond'er, Under the chestnut tree. You're traveling, stranger? Mebbe You've got some notions to sell? We hev a sight of pal.llers, But we allers treat them we". For they, poor souls, are tryit : Like the rest of us to live; And it's not like tramping the courtry, And calling on folks to give.
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JIM.
Not that I meant a word, sir - No offence in the world to you; I think, now I look at it closer, Your coat is an army blue.
Don't say ! Under Sheridan, were you? My eyes they are growing dm - I had a boy at Dinwilldie Who was proud to serve under him.
James Wood -- you might have toet hin, But of course you were mil s apart, He was a tall, straight boy, sir, The pride of his mother's heart.
We were off to Kittery, then, sir, Small farm in dear old Maine; It's long stretch from there to Kansas, But I couldn't go back again.
He was all we had, was James, sir, He and my old man and me Hlad sort o' growed together, And were happy as we could be. I wasn't a looking for trouble When the terrible war begun, And I wrestled for grace to be able To give up our noble son.
Well, well, 'taint no use o' talking, My old man said, said he : " The Lord loves a willin' giver; " And that's what I tried to be.
Well the heart and flesh are rebels, And hey to be fought with grave ; But I'd given my life-yes, willin'- To look on my dead boy's face.
Take care, you are spillin' your tea, sir, Poor soul ! don't cry: I'm sure You've had a good mother sometin.e -- Your wounds, were they har i to cure? Andersonville ! God help you ! Hunted by dogs, did you say ! Hospital ! crazy seven years, sir? I wonder you're living to-day. I'm thankful my Jim was shot, sir, " How do you know that he died? " 'Twere certined, sir, by the surgeon, Here's the letter, and --- " Maybe he lie !! "
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FIRST MAINE BUGL!
Well I never! you share The the ap :
First Maine Cavalry, se , sir, "a -19 90, Lies here in a critical sint . -
Just died -- will be burial to-mbrios Can't wait for his paren's tr ones." Well, I thought God had left u- thet hour, As for John, my poor mh B, he was dumb.
Didn't speak for a month to the neighbor Scarce spoke in a week, sir, to nos. Never been the same since that Monday They brought us this letter yo : see.
And you were from Maine! from oll Kittery? Perhaps you enliste I with himt, I just disremember the fellows That marched out of town with our Tim.
Lord love ye ! come into the house, sir; It's getting too warm out of door. If I'd known you'd been gor : for a sujet, I'd taken you in here afore.
Now make yourself easy. We're bable But our hearts, sir, are full clear to the brila. Sit here - it's Jim's chair - take your but of : "Call father !" My God ! you are Jim!
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BOWDOIN BOYS IN LABRADOR.
BOWDOIN BOYS IN LABRADOR.
ON BOARD THE JULIA A. DECKER, ROCKLAND HARBOR, ME., September 23. 1891.
The staunch little schooner has once more picked a safe path through the dangers of fog, rocks and passing vessels, and her party are safely landed at the home port, before quite two weeks of the college term and two weeks of making up had piled up against its members.
The crew that weighed anchor at Rigolette on the morning of September 2nd, when the wind came and the tide had turned. was a happy one, for from Professor to " cookee" we all felt that we were truly homeward bound, and that we had acconi- plished our undertaking without any cause for lasting regre .. The mail steamer, whose passengers had joined in the jollifica- tion of the night preceding, being independent of the wind, had started ahead of us. Another race was on with the " Curlew," this time a merely friendly contest, without the former anxiety as to some other party's getting the lead of ours in the trip up the Grand River. But the result was not different this time. A fine breeze kept us going all day and the following night. But the next day the fog came. It was no different from the cold. damp, land-mark obscuring mist of the Maine coast in its facility in hiding from view everything we most wanted to see in order to safely find the harbor that we knew must be near at hand. though we could not tell just where. A headland, looming op to twice its real height in the fog about it, was rounded, and the. lead followed in the hope that it would take us to the desire! haven. Soon a fishing boat hailed, and a voice, quickly followed by a man, emerged from the fog and shouted that if we wont farther on that course we would be among the shoals. It were told we had passed the mouth of the harbor, and so turn- ing back, tried to follow our guide, but he soon disappeare !
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FIRST MAINE BUGIE
Just at this moment when it seemed impossible for us to find any opening, the fog lifted and we saw a schooner's sail one one of the small islets that lay about us. Taking our cue fron. that we poked into the next narrow channel we came to, and getting some sailing directions from a passing boat. and from the signal man stationed on a bluff to give assistance to stran gers, we glided into an almost circular basin, hardly hier enough for the vessel to swing in, set among steep rising sides, into which many ring bolts were seen to be fastened, and per- fectly sheltered from every wind. The use for the ring bolts we found later. The fog kept rolling over, and the little fishin, vessels kept shooting in, till it seemed the harbor would not hold another. As all sail had to be hauled down before the vessels came in sight of the interior, the vessels seemed literally to scoot into the basin. A few of the vessels were anchored and kept from swinging by lines to the bolts, and the rest of the fleet made fast to them. In all the number of vesels crowded into the space where we hardly thought we could lie was about twenty. How they would ever get out seemed a puzzle, but the next morning it was accomplished, with a licht fair wind, by all at once without accident or delay. Had tlos wind been ahead, the ring bolts would have aided in warping to a weatherly position.
During the evening the mail stemmer caught us, and after putting a little freight ashore, left us behind again. Here wore some strange epitaphs painted on the wooden slabs, also people ready to exchange or sell at a far higher rate than we had hith- erto paid, anything they possessed for the cash which was al we had left to bargain with, the available old clothes having been already disposed of.
It was hard to disabuse the minds of the people at Square Island Harbor of the idea that we had come to seek gold or other valuable mines, the reason being that several years before a party from the States had spent considerable time prospecting in that vicinity and partly opened one or two worthless misa quarries.
BOWDOIN BOYS IN LABRADOR.
It was a glorious sight to see the fleet get under ye the next morning. Many a close shave and more bumps but no script collisions were caused by the hundred or more vess I crowding out together through the narrow opening, cach dager to get the first puff from the fair breeze outside the love of the chef. The whole fleet was bound up the coast, but before inany of the schooners had drifted far enough out to catch the breeze it had failed, and only after an hour or more of annoying esperiace with puffs from every quarter, did the strong sea breeze set in. Sheets were trimmed flat aft, and all settled down to beating up the coast. The Julia soon left the mass of the fleet and before reaching Battle Harbor, where a long desired mail was awaiting, had nearly overtaken the lucky ones who had drifted far enough off shore to make a leading wind of the afternoon breeze. During the calm a school of whales disported them- selves in the midst of the fleet, chasing one another, blowing and churning the water to foam about us, apparently as though it was rare fun.
Late in the afternoon we approached the entrance to Battle Harbor, but with the wind blowing directly out of the narrow; rocky and winding entrance we wondered how we should get in. Our captain was equal to the problem, however, and undeterred by the crowded state of the harbor, within whose narrow limits were two large steamers, one or two barks and several fishermen. performed a feat of seamanship the equal of which, we were told, preserved in the traditions of the port, and only Half believed, as having been done once, thirty.years before.
Getting about ten knots way on the vessel, and heading her straight for the steamer nearest the mouth. we just brushed by the rocks of the entrance, sheered a bit and shot past the steamer before her astonished officers could utter a word of warning, and were traveling up the harbor at a steamboat pace. the sails meanwhile rattling down, and some of us on board wondering if we should not keep right on out the offer entiring; to the harbor, while boats scurried out of our way, two men in one fishing boat looking reproachfully at us as we missed them by about two feet just after our fellow on lookout had reported
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