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About The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936 | View Entire Issue (May 27, 1892)
THE VETERAN'S STORY. Ho tolls once more tbo tale of strife , "When men fought men , and wr.r was rife. And naught so cheap as human life. LOVE AND LOYALTY. DAY STORY BY JUNTOS it ] HENRI BROWNE. [ Copyright. All rights reserved. ] OTJ say you love me , Clarence , and yet you refcise to join the south in her great crisis. We ara pledged to ono another , and yet you would desert mo and the cause I hold so sacred. " As she spoke she disengaged herself from his embrace and burst into tears. "Do not weep , dear Clarisse. It makes me wretched. I do love you passion ately , devotedly ; but I cannot abandon my country , even for you. Patriotism , honor demands that I should not. You ould not love me if I were dishonora- < ishonorable ? Honor should fellow &HO : i6ar. If you're not with the south /ouVe against me. You must decide be- Vtwoen me and the north. I am a true daughter of Louisiana. I will sacrifice my love on her altar. Decide ! " As she spoke her anger arose ; her dark eyes flashed. "This seems more like temper than love , Clarisse. Do you really mean what you say ? ' "Absolutely. Decide ! " He looked in her face , pale with emo tion and steadily hardening with intense resolve. The tears > had gone , but their stain was on her cheek. She stood firm as a statue , her eyes all ablaze. No sign of relenting there. ' Still ? gzunnriafc1 her fixedly , he said' slowly , 'I have 'decided. " Then turn'ed1 on his heel , quitted 'the drawing room , ' Stepped into the' hall and into the street , closing the door behind him. As the joond fell upon her ears she threw heron - on the sofa , and burying her face hands sobbed out , "O God ! O ! my heart ia.breaMngl" This happenecHna private residence in New Orleans , in January , 1861' , just . # , after Louisiana had passed the ordinance of secession. It was one of a number of similar scenes that had occurred between Clarissa Dnnoyer , aged twenty , whose great-grandfather had emigrated from Franco and settled' in the province of Louisiana , and Clarence Burley , a native of New York etate , who had beenedu- ! I i "YOU MUST DECIDE BETWEEN HE THE NOETH. " cated in Cincinnati and had gone to . Orleans siz years before , when lit- twenty-three , to pnrsne a merau. \ life. So had entered the counting ; i of'Pierre Dnnoyer , a commission . chant , and had risen to a conficu jjiaca and had become an intimate f i of the family , with every prosper being a partner in the firm of Duin Oo. Thrown into 'close relations v.- I'bjujdwmisrintense brnL- i 'of her ancestral : . _ _ rely an Amnricau. had itttnraHy fallen in And around his knco each coming year His children's ch'\drcn pause to hear Of times when menlrrncd polo with fear : fiery little creature , enthusiastic in any cause she espoused , and a Louisianian , as she hod often said , to the core of her being. He had sympathized with the south , especially since he had deter mined to make his home there , and had convinced himself that the north had , to an extent , invaded her rights. He did not believe , however , that there would be civil war , even after half a dozen states had formally seceded from the Union. If there should be he felt that he could not ally himself against the government. And when ordered , in an imperious manner , to decide between the south and the girl to whom he was engaged , he had decided as we have seen. seen.Hia course had been quickened by his consciousness of what seemed of late to be an overbearing disposition on her part toward him. Aware that her father was rich and that ho was comparatively poor , he may have been suspicions that tfrfo was the cause of her arrogance. At least he thought he had given her ample opportunity to recall her dictatorial speech , and she had scorned him. "She cannot love me , after all , " he said to himself , as he walked briskly away from her father's house. "If she did , she would not , she could not , have driven me away so. " Clarisse would have run after him to beg him to return three minutes follow ing her outburst. But it was too late. The closing of the street door was the knell of her hope. Still lying on the sofa ehe groaned out : "I've destroyed my happiness. I shall never see him again never , never ! " * * * * * * Clarence Burley lost no time in ad justing his affairs with the firm. His expressed resolution to go north amazed . .and enraged the paternal Dunoyer , who was 'delighted to learn of ' _ th'o high and proper spirit'his , , . . daughter had displayed . . , - U ; * rt i ' -1 ft ' * t- , * ? , to her recreant lover. Burley returned to Cincinnati , observing with deep con cern , wherever the boat landed as she steamed up to Cairo , the excitement and belligerence in all the river towns. He was in painful perplexity until the news of the firing on-Sumter'had elec trified the land. That aroused every epark of patriotism in his breast , as it did in myriads of others , and he immediate ly volunteered. Within a few weeks he quitted the city as lieutenant of a com pany in an Ohio infantry regiment , and performed military service under Gen eral McClellan in West 'Virginia. Dur ing the campaign there , in which skir mishes were exaggerated into battles , he gained no littfo knowledge of the duties of a soldier , and was promoted to a cap taincy. He learned one thing that he could preserve his coolness under fire , and that what is called courage is large ly getting accustomed to danger. At first he had. imagined that every shot brought down a man , but experience taught him how many bullets are wasted , and how many men in immi nent peril escape unhurt. His regiment was transferred with McClellan to Vir ginia , where he saw war in a grander and more terrible form , especially after the commander in chief had been super seded , than ho had doae before. The hottest engagement in which he took part as major I have heard him describe it was that of Gettysburg , which' , with the capture of Vicksburg , should have terminated the conflict , for after that the cause of the Confederacy was hopeless. If the enemy had been less desperate nearly two years' fighting and hundreds of thousands of lives might have been saved. The southern ers , like all true Americans , did not know when they were beaten ; or if they did know it they stubbornly re fused to make acknowledgment. It was valor run mad , but it was supreme ly unwise. Burley , who is a very good fellow , as ho was a gallant officer , said toN me one evening , when we were imtnlgiTig in reminiscences of the war , that he had no expectation of surviving Gettysburg. "I had a kind of presentiment that I should "die on that field , thonf i I te- gai M' proo < ptimenti < air nnkcnpcnfti- tions. Nevertheless. I could not thraw Of heroes who when called to flcrht Saw'naugbt but duty shining b. . 'at. And gave their lives for homo and right. it off. The iaea was not nearly so un pleasant as I had fancied it would be In fact , I doubt if the assurance of death troubles us much -when we have once accepted it. To accept death is to die. So I may be said to have fallen then and there. I reflected that veiy rarely can a man perish in a good cause , and that when he does so perish ho is very for tunate. He may bo a very ordinary mortal , but death under such circum stances makes him a hero and embalms bis memory. "Gettysburg was a big fight , and no mistake. Lee had nearly 10f,000 : men , the best and bravest he had over led. They were confident of victory , and that victory -would realize their long sherieued hope. It was their first inva- CHEERINO HIS REGIMENT. sion of the north , which had repeatedly been urged by the southern press , and they were convinced that it would prove their crowning triumph. The 4th of July , 1863 , as they fondly imagined , would prove their new day of , ind&- pendence independence of the detested north. " * * * * * * "On the first day , " said Major Burley , "my regiment was with. Howard's com mand after Reynolds had been killed , and we were successful at the.outset by our superior numbers , taking many pris oners , but when Hill'came' Tip from Chambersburg 'and Ewell from Car lisle , with their forces , they drove us by their vastly greater strength. It'was' very warm work , the heat 'intense , the dust choking. Our brave fellows fought like tigers. They disputed "every'inch of ground , but they were fearfully over matched. They were steadily beaten back by the power of numbers. The en emy kept up a terrific fire. Men were dropping all around me. A tall fellow near me , trying in vain to stem the mar tial tide , and crying : 'Stand firm ! Sell your lives dearly ! ' was suddenly silent. I turned just in time to see that a can non ball had carried away his head , and his shattered trunk fell , with a great gush of- blood , under my feet. "A Confederate colonel , mounted and cheering his regiment on my right , was blown to pieces by a bursting shell. It seemed as if no one could live in such a fire of shell. The enemy suffered as ter ribly as we. A muaket ball tore through my cap ; another passed through my sleeve at almost the same moment. 'When , ' I thought , 'will it be my header or heart ? ' Destiny must have miscar ried , or I should be lying among the slain. Order and discipline finally gave way. We retreated in wild confusion through Gettysburg , having lost enor mously in prisoners , and reaching Gulp's hill , south of the town , rallied our broken columns and occupied 'a strong position. "The next day Meade , who had re mained ignorant 'of the action at Get tysburg , came up with the bulk' of i.i : > army , Hancock having decided , that there was the "place to' give ( baitle. ' Leu confronted us with tHe maai ' ' and the pounding was hyrjfflr Qim ever. Our force * occupied 'x&oat Cemclcr- - . ' ridge,1 1 and Lw held ' ' opposite. Between Cbe-xi4fGB in ; . . ; valley aid ob'tte atria * ot Oemctery ridge the battle next. I * tft * center ar. where thn fend rxs low , Sickles lost his leg and his division was fearfully cut up. Warren occupied Round Top , which by accident wo had overlooked ; and repeated though unsuccessful at tempts to expel him were made until dark. The day was spent in a series of desperate assaults and repulses , and the carnage was great , but nothing definite was gained by either side. "Tho third day Lee continued his at tack on our right and left , but evidenuy underrated our strength and deter mined to make his strong assault on our center. Meade very early took the in itiative and drove Ewell from the place he had gained on our right. But as this important result was never communi cated to Leo , his movements suffered in consequence. There is no rational doubt thut a series of Confederate mistakes caused his retreat and the sacrifice of the southern cause. Pickett's charge was the crowning blunder , and Lee was avowedly responsible therefor. "Much of Cemetery ridge , which wo held , is so rough that we could not employ artillery to advantage , so that , with 200 guns , only eighty were used. Seminary ridge , on the contrary , was very favor able for artillery , und the enemy placed 120 guns there and directed them agaiust us ; but our infantry was so well protected by the crest -that they mostly kept out of harm's way. Our chief of artillery after awhile -stopped firing , except occasionally , awaiting the next movement of the enemy. Leo inter preted this as the silencing of our bat teries , and ordered Pickett to charge with his 20,000 Virginia veterans , who had not been in action. Leo intended to sujiport them with his artillery ; but discovered too late to remedy the de fect that ammunition was lacking. "Picketfs division moved down the slope and across the valley , only to be met with a fatal fire from our batteries all along the line. Never did men show more intrepidity. They went steadily on in the face of certain death. They were enfiladed ; great gaps in their ranks were trade by the awful fire. They gradually melted away. Enemies as they were , I pitied and honored the gal lant fellows unflinching to the last. They charged over a low stone wall , be hind which Gibbons' men lay , into the mouth of our batteries , and fought for some time with pistols and clubbed muskets. But our troops concentrated upon them and drove them down the slope , completely commanded by our fire. Unable either to advance , retreat or stand still , the poor fellows threw themselves down and held up their hands as sign of surrender. Very few escaped. It was a piteous sight , a horrible car nage. I forgot myself in that dreadful hour , thinking only of the needless slaughter. That was the last great action. "On the second night the Confederate army began to retreat in the midst of a , storm. While we held councils of war the enemy slipped away. We might have crushed him completely and short ened the conflict by two years. Gettys burg sealed the doom of the south. " * * * * * * Burley had confided to me his broken engagement with Clarisso Dunoyer , which made him very unhappy , but which the stirring events of the long strife prevented from preying on his mind. The surrender at Appomattox came , and he had received but two flesh wounds ; both soon healed. He went soon after into business in Chicago , whare I encountered him seven years later in Wabash avenue. He told me he was married , whereupon I spoke of Clarisse , and the close of the comedy , which'might have been a tragedy. "You can't expect a man , " he said , "to be loyal to a woman who has virtually thrust him out of doors. " To which I agreed. He invited me to visit him , and I ac cepted. I found his wife gentle and in teresting , and his two' small children a boy and girl intelligent and attractive. They appeared to be a most harmonious family , and I ventured the remark that he was probably as happy as if he had married. Clarisse. "By the by , " 1 continued , "your wife must somewhat resemble your Louisiana sweetheart from what you have told me of her. She is small , slight , dark eyed and a brunette. I imagine you may have been drawn to her on account of this resemblance. I have known such cases. " "My marriage was as romantic as my earlier courtship. By a strange coinci dence my wife is also a Louisianian , and I met her at the end of the war. Her father , once rich , had died poor ; her nearest of .kin had passed away , and she was earning her own livelihood by teach ing music. I tried to help her I could easily do so , for I had made money in cotton , and my sympathy soon ripened into love. Adversity had developed and enlarged her. She is as strong as she is noble , as you will see when you know her better. " "But what became , Burley , of poor Clarisso Dunoyer ? I confess I feel a deep interest in her. You should have sought her out. I am sure she loved you. " "Clarisse lost" Dunoyer was - "Poor girl I I had feared catastrophe for her. How was she lost- ? ' ' "In Clarisse Burley , the mother of my children. " _ Rural Memorial Day Preparations. Memorial Day in the hamlets of northern Vermont is a joyful festival , anticipated with delight for weeks pre vious and remembered with joy for days subsequent to its occurrence. . The braaB band fay , practiced a dirge for weeks ; the choir , too , rehearses the "Star 'Spangled Banner , " "America" and "Marching Through ) "Georgia " , " and the minister burns the midnight oil. The undertaker is ihe commissary general , 'and upon Mm devolves the nxEtimportMt.'pf the elaborate prepa- rationa. , Be. it 'ia wh . goes about tw town collecting1 tt lfilj * flags' which' are loaoecffor the occasion1 , and early ton Memorial ' , jD y he goes' tp ; the l bor the s - honored Yatk } - - ' \ .feaiJ . W. G. 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