R
k
i
i
Kit
I
p
-
MY PLAYMATES
K wind couios whispering to me of the
country green and cool
Of redwing blackbirds chattering beside
a reedy pool
It brings me soothing fancies of the home
stead on the hill
And I hear the thrushs evening song and
llie robins morning trill
So I fall to thinking tenderly of those I
used to know
Where the sassafras and suakeroot and
checkerberries grow
What has become of Ezra Marsh who
lived on Bakershill
And whats become of Noble Pratt -whose
fattier kept the mill
And whats become of Lizzie Crum and
Anastasia Snell
And of Roxie Root who tended school in
Boston for a spell
They were the boys and they the girls who
shared my youthful play
They do not answer to my call My play
mates where are they
What has become of Levi and his little
brother Joe
Who lived next door to where we lived
some forty years ago
Id like to see the Newton boys and Quincy
Adams Brown
And llepsy Hall and Ella Cowles who
spelled the whole school down
And Graeie Smith the Cutler boys Lean
der Snow and ail
Who I am sure would answer could they
only heartily call
Id like to see Bill Warner and the Coukey
boys again
And talk about the times we used to wish
that we were men
Ami one I shall not name her could 1
see her gentle face
And hear her girlish treble in this distant
lonely place
The flowers and hopes of springtime they
perished long ago
Atd the garden where they blossomed is
white with winter snow
O cottage nea tli the maples have you
seen those girls and boys
That but a little whoie ago made oh such
pleasant noise
0 trees and hills and brooks and lanes
and meadows do you know
Where I shall find my little friends of
forty years ago
You see Im old and weary and Ive trav
eled long and far
1 am looking for my playmates I wonder
where they are
Eugene Field in Chicago Record
THEY SAVED THE GUN
It is not yet quite fifty years since
the close of our war with Mexico yet
the swift movement of modern life has
nearly overlaid recollection of it among
our people the colossal tragedy of the
civil war intervening between now and
then serving still further to dwarf the
older and smaller event In its day it
was one of the most remarkable mili
tary events in history
The battle of Buena Vista on the
22d and 23d of February 1847 was
after the opening fights of Palo Alto
and Resaca de la Palma the only con
siderable conflict of the war in which
our forces stood on the defensive if
they may be said to have so stood in
those opening battles After the cap
itulation of Mantanzas General Taylor
had moved forward with a strong col
umn attacked and taken the fortified
city of Monterey had advanced to
Saltillo where he had been joined by
the column commanded by General
Wool which had marched from La
vaca Texas by way of San Antonio
and was preparing to push forward to
ward the Mexican capital and a meet
ing with the strong force which Santa
Anna the Mexican president was col
lecting to destroy the invaders when
he was overtaken by the order from
General Scott detaching the larger
part of his force incluuing nearly all
his regulars and the larger part of
his seasoned volunteers This was done
to strengthen the column destined to
invade Mexico from the southeast
landing at Vera Cruz
The effect of this order was to re--duce
General Taylors foree to less than
T0U0 men made up of volunteers much
the larger number of wktmi had been
soldiers little more than six months
and had hardly been under fire at all
Most of them not at all There were
left to him two or three batteries of
flying artillery commanded by regu
lar army officers but in large degree
manned by men detailed from volun
teer infantry regiments There were
one or two squadrons of regular cav
alry but other than this insignificant
squad of trained soldiers his force was
made up of green volunteers mainly
from Indiana Illinois Kentucky Mis
sissippi and Arkansas
Before General Scotts orders had
been carried into effect General Tay
lor had advanced to Agua Nueva about
twenty miles beyond Saltillo but the
exasperating depletion of his forces
made further advance impossible and
here too he was met with intelligence
that General Santa Anna had organ
ized an army of more than 20000 men
and was pushing northward with the
purpose to destroy him and then turn
his victorious forces to meet Scott
wheresoever he might land There was
no ground at or near Agua Nueva
where an inferior force could hope to
stand and General Wool was sent
back to select a place where defense
might be made
Near Bueua Vista a dozen miles in
the rear of Agua Nueva the mountains
on the left of tire road along which
Taylor ho CI nlvaiiced approached more
closely than elsewhere to a deep and
Impassable valley on the right of the
road the sharp foothills running to
ward the ragged ravine like the out
spread fingers of a mans hand until
at the Pass of Augastura there were
but a few yards between the point of
the rocky spur and the brow of the
deep valley
Thin was the ground selected for de
mise and the whole of the small army
fell back to this point Captain Wash
ing ms battery in which the after
roud famous General George H
as was a lieutenant was posted im
mediately commanding the pass sup
ported by six companies of the First
Illinois Infantry commanded by Col
onel John J Hardin who was killed
near the close of the battle and -whose
oldest son General Martin D Hardin
subsequently graduated from West
Point was desperately wounded at the
second battle of Bull Run where he
lost an arm
Two incidents of this extraordinary
battle illustrate in a forceful way some
of the peculiar qualities of the Ameri
can soldier and as general history
makes no mention of them being mere
ly details hidden in the general event
it may prove of some interest to recall
them for the readers of this generation
The lirst attack of the second day
by a Mexican column of some four
thousand men was delivered directly
at the Pass of Augastura and was
beaten off almost perhaps quite alto
gether by the terribly destructive fire
of Washingtons guns It was barely
over when a second column of live
thousand or more headed by a brilliant
body of lancers moved out to attack
the American line nearer its center
Almost at the same moment a body of
American troops only a few hundred
in number moved out toward the front
and advanced beyond supporting dis
tance as if challenging the whole
Mexican army It was composed of
Colonel Bowies Second Indiana In
fantry or a large part of it with a sec
tiontwo guns of a light battery un
der the command of Lieutenant
OBrien regarded as one of the most
brilliant and promising of the younger
ollieers then in the army and manned
mainly by men selected from volunteer
regiments of infantry
Orders had been sent to Colonel
Bowles to take up a designated position
and aid in repelling what seemed the
grand attack of the day But the posi
tion to be taken was not clearly speci
fied or for some other reason he mis
understood it and advanced his men
3
stijl hot and smoking gun and shouted
Hold tight now for Im going off
from here like hell
And leaping like a fiend incarnate
on the back of one of the horses with
a defiant shout to the foe in a hurtling
rain of bullets he did go off like he
said he would Twenty minutes later
from a new position with the nearest
friends his gun was again hurling
grape into the still advancing column
And Flynn lived to tell the story long
afterward at his home in Illinois
The other gun which OBrien was
forced to abandon was one which had
been captured from Santa Anna eleven
years before by General Sam Hous
ton on the bloody field of San Jacinto
where Texas independence was won
Had Santa Anna won at Buena Vista
how he would have vaunted the re
capture But he did not win and after
the battle was over the gun was found
by some of our soldiers spiked and
thrown into a ravine A few years later
OBrien died in Tampa Fla sincerely
mourned by the whole army Of such
material have our American armies
North and South been made up
The other incident referred to affect
ing more men but illustrating similar
soldiery qualities followed on the heek
of this
f
The misfortune that overtook the In
diana men was full of the presage of
defeat Another such disaster and the
destruction of the little army outnum
bered more than five to one from the
first could hardly be averted The
next force to feel the attack was the
Second Illinois Infantry commanded
by Colonel William n Bissell subse
quently Governor of Illinois and also
a member of Congress from that State
who while holding this latter position
gave pause to a fiery Southerner who
sought a duel However thats an
other story The fight of the Indi
anans had left this full Illinois regi
ment almost as far beyond effective
support as the routed men had -been
yet they calmly stood in line and await-
- J
W 5ftV
- Jl II
LIEUTENANT OBRIEN ORDERS FLYNN TO HELP HIM
entirely beyond support The first
shock of the attack by more than ten
times their number fell on this little
force and they stood in peril of being
literally trampled under foot They
were as good fighting material as there
was in the army and they fought des
perately until their officers seeing
too late the error that had been made
without deliberation gave a vague or
der to retire and they did retire There
was no limit to the order and it might
have meant clear home to Indiana
as one of them subsequently said Not
to put too fine a point on it they liter
ally ran off the field and though all
or nearly all of them fell in with other
troops or fought bravely through the
day they did not regain their own or
ganization
Before this disaster many had been
killed and wounded and the men of
OBriens guns had more than shared
their losses The trained soldier knew
into what a shamble he had been led
but he never wavered or grumbled and
he -worked his guns with desperate en
ergy every discharge opening long
lines in the advancing column anu
shaking it to the remotest ranks At
last all the men and horses of one gun
were disabled and all but the com
mander at the other gun were stricken
down even part of the horses And
even as the supporting Infantry were
melting from the field and OBrien
stood alone within less than a hun
dred yards of the head of the advancing
column with his own hands unaided
he charged his own active gun double
shotted with grape and canister and
hurled its tempest of shot full in the
faces of the foe with terrible effect
Then as the column reeled under the
blowr of his single gun he glanced
swiftly about him Not a man of the
little force was left on his feet but he
saw one man a member of an Illinois
regiment Flynn by name who was
one of his command half lying half
sitting against a small bowlder To
him he spoke fiercely
Get up here damn you and help me
lijvber up this gun
I cant Lieutenant replied Flynn
Im shot through both legs
Well replied OBrien you can lift
a little and so saying he seized the
man sat him down on the ground un
der the limber prolong perhaps they
call it of the old fashioned gun cut
losse the harness f roin the dead horse
and with superhuman strength rolled
the body out of the way and while
Flynn lifted despite the torture of his
wounds the gun was limbered Then
he dragged the man from the ground
threw him like a saddle astride the
ed the onset their Colonel sitting his
horse silently watching the advancing
foe
The Mexican column recovered from
the shock of OBriens guns moved
steadily forward in perfect ordertheir
lances glittering in the sun and the
heavy column of infantry swinging
sturdily up a gentle rise The jingling
of spurs and the firm voices of officers
preserving perfect alignment with the
dull muffled sound of many feet could
be distinctly heard Soon there came
a dropping fire and when the column
came within range the guns of Bissells
men were heard not in a volley fol
lowed by silence while reloading the
old fashioned muskets but at first fir
ing by file which began on the right
and rolled steadily down the line and
then every man loaded and fired as
fast as he could The oncoming col
umn was shaken for a moment but
still moved sternly forward The Illi
nois men stood in the open unpro
tected Men dropped in the ranks but
the cool command to close to the
right was as coolly obeyed and not a
man left his place except to lie down
and die Far down the slope nearly
a mile away could be seen Hardins
First Illinois and McKees Kentucki
ans running at top speed to join the
fray and a little to their left the guns
of Braggs battery leaped and bounded
savagely forward as officers and men
plied voice and lash and put their shoul
ders to the wheels and raced onward
with the hurrying guns Desperate
and mad hurry it was indeed and yet
it seemed that do their utmost they
must be too late and Bissells devoted
men alone under the tempest must be
swept from the field
Yet still they fought on their Colonel
calmly watching the foe and the line
officers firmly closing up the ranks as
file after file the undaunted men went
down Suddenly a mounted staff of
ficerMajor Bliss a son-in-law of Gen
eral Taylor bloody with spurring
fiery red with haste dashed through
the storm of bullets and addressed
Colonel Bissell
Colonel can you take ground to the
rear without danger of another panic
Bissell looked calmly into his blazing
eyes and answered
As surely sir as your regimental
drill
Then do so But do it at your peril
Bissell rode closer to the right of his
regiment and commanded Cease fir
ing The command passed swiftly
down the line and the firing ceased
Then followed my his aid who carried
his plumed hat in his hand his fingers
clutching it rigidly the Impassive Col
onel galloped to the center and rear of
his line and his familiar voice rang in
his mens ears bout face and the
line turned in its track Forward
Quick time Steady men steady
march and the line swung steadily to
ward what had been the rear following
the Colonels uplifted sword and the
aid with his crushed hat and his heart
in his mouth while men dropped in the
ranks as they moved awajr and some
were caught and helped on by their un
wounded comrades
The aid measured with excited eyes
the distance from the foe and that to
where Hardins and McKees panting
men and Braggs mad gunners pressed
forward and presently said half un
der his breath
That will do
Instantly Bissell wheeled his horse
waved his sword and swiftly rang out
the commands Halt Right dress
About face On the right commence
firing and once more Bissells guns
poured in a storm tnat checked the
cheer of the enemy even as it began
The battles won by God shouted
the excited Bliss as he clapped his bat
tered hat on his head and dashing his
spurs into his horse rode swiftly away
to report
And even as he spoke Hardins and
McKees men opened fire and Braggs
madened gunners poured in with in
credible swiftness a tempest of grape
that broke up the enemys column and
shattered the grand charge of the day
These are some of the little things
the details which general history
cannot pause to record but which
vividly illustrate qualities of the Amer
ican soldier and taken together make
up and are indispensable to the great
things the results which history does
record
RATTLESNAKE WINE
It Is a Favorite Medicine in the West
Indies
Benjamin Gooch in his Medical and
Surgical Observations published in
1771 gives a summary of different an
cient therapeutic methods based on
the use of animal poisons One of his
observations relates to a case of severe
pains spasms etc of long duration
Gooch says after speaking of the pa
tients sufferings Not to appear in
human to so wretched a being after
telling him I could do nothing I sent
him a bottle of rattlesnake wine to
take a glass of frequently This was
in the West Indies drank as the high
est cordial Three nights after the
patient walked in Sir said he you
cannot be so much amazed as I am nor
half so much pleased I am come to
thank you and if not criminal to
worship you Goochs account of
how he learned the virtues of rattle
snake wine is as follows A very
wealthy old gentleman in the West
Indies had long been afflicted with
leprosy to a high degree which was
deemed incurable by his physicians
Apparently in a dying state he made
his will leaving a large legacy to a
female servant who had lived with
him many years This circumstance
being known to the servant she and
her paramour studied and contrived
how to make away with him in such
a manner as to raise the least suspicion
They put the heads of rattlesnakes into
the wine he drank thinking it would
prove an infallible poison on the con
trary he grew better and the crimin
als imagining the poison was not
strong enough added more snake ve
nom whereby the gentleman was re
stored to perfect health Conscience
finally put this servant upon her knees
before her master confessing her
crime Forgiveness was granted and
the old gentleman gave her a sum of
money ordering her to depart and
never see him more
An Oregon Frealc
A curious physical freak has been dis
covered on the tongue of the infant
child of Mrs Carl F Wagner the wife
of a railroad man of Albina Ore
About a week ago when the child was
but a week old the mother called the
attention of the family physician to
the fact that she experienced a pecu
liar feeling when the child was nurs
ing
She had not investigated for herself
but thought the babes tongue was ex
ceedingly rough for one so young The
doctor opened the childs mouth and
was astonished to find its tongue cov
ered with silken hair of short growth
This was somewhat extraordinary and
he could hardly believe that what he
saw was a fact The attention of some
of the most prominent physicians there
has been invited to this freak of na
ture They say it is an unparalleled
case It is so extraordinary that a
report of it will be furnished all the
leading medical journals in the coun
try and Europe A local museum man
has already made Wagner who is a
poor man an offer for the use of the
child as soon as it can be safely taken
from its mother
Aluminum
The production of aluminum in this
country has increased from eighty three
pounds in 18S3 to 850000 pounds in
1S95 and the estimate for 1S96 is 3G00
000 pounds the process for making it
having been greatly improved The
price at the reduction works ranges
from 50 cents to 55 cents a pound Ap
plied electricity explains the ease with
which the light metal is now turned out
Will Last a Lifetime
Prof A C Totten of New Haven
has issued a calendar good for G7713
230 years It is said to have a very sim
ple key and is evolved on a cycle of
1000000 years
A New York electrician has succeed
ed in sending messages over a tele
graph wire at the rate of 1714 words a
minute
Mamma Willie where are those ap
ples gone that were in the storeroom
Willie They are with the gingerbread
that was in the cupboard Exchange
MELD OF VICKSBURG
A MOVEMENT TO MAKE A NA
TIONAL PARK
A Brief Review of the Military Opera
tions Which Took Place in and
Around the Confederate Stronghold
in 1S62 and 1SG3
Consecrated Ground
A bill is now pending in Congress
to make the battlefield of Vicksburg a
national park similar to that of Chicka
mauga thereby preserving to future
generations the scene of a great and
bloody struggle In view of the pro
posed change it is timely to recur to the
military operations carried on around
Vicksburg in 1S62 and 1SG3
Vicksburg was one of the Confeder
ate strongholds on the Mississippi and
with Port Hudson 120 miles further
south also held by the Confederates
prevented the free use of that water-
Jptij
GEX J C PEMBERTOX
way by the Government while by it
the Confederates were enabled to re
ceive military support from Arkansas
and Texas In May 1SG2 an attempt
was made to capture it by changing
the channel of the Mississippi thus
14 Jackson fell into the hands of the
Union forces and after destroying
whatever might be of aid to the Con
federates Grant began his backward
march upon Vicksburg At Cham
pion Hills Gen Pemberton who had
marched out of Vicksburg had taken
a position with a force of 1S000 or
20000 and attempted to check the prog
ress of the Union forces He was hurl
ed back to the Big Black river where
the battle was renewed the following
day Again the Confederates were
routed with a loss of 242 killed and
wounded and 1500 prisoners and the
Union troops passed on to the attack
on Vicksburg
On the extreme right was the army
corps of Maj Gen Sherman next to it
that of Maj Gen J B McPherson and
on the left the corps of Maj Gen Mc
Clernard who was subseqently suc
ceeded by Maj Gen Ord On May 19
Gen Sherman began an attack on the
city but was forced to abandon it
Another and general assault was plan
ned for the 22d and the preceding night
Admiral Porter kept up a steady bom
bardment of the place At 10 oclock
on the 22d an assault by Grants whole
line was begun and was joined in by
Admiral Porter and until night the
battle waged with virtually no ad
vantage to the Union treops but with
a heavy loss in killed and wounded
The failure of this assault determined
GRANTS HEADQUARTERS
Grant upon a regular siege and the
arrival of reinforcements under Maj
Gen Herron and Gen Lauman which
swelled his forces to 70000 men en
abled him to closely invest the place
For a month the investment of the city
grew closer and closer while day and
night with little intermission the guns
of Admiral Porter and of the land
forces hurled shot and shell into the
city and its suburbs Many of the
inhabitants left their homes and took
up their abodes in caves dug in the
steep bank where streets passed
through the hills Here they lived
practically secure from the iron hail
that plowed up streets and demolished
houses Many of these caves were
neatly furnished and had carpeted
floors Meantime mining was actively
carried on by Grant and June 25 a
mine under Fort Hill bastion was fired
Part of the fort was thrown down and
through this breach the Federals
sought to enter while the Confederates
sought to keep them out Hand gren
ades were used and the conflict waged
was desperate with the advantage on
the side of the Confederates Another
mine was exploded July 1
Meantime Gen Pemberton shut up
in Vicksburg and with no hope of be
ing relieved by Gen Johnson who was
CAVES NEAR VICKSBURG USED AS HOMES
leaving Vicksburg several miles inland
but it failed In June Admiral Farra
gut bombarded the place with no bene
ficial result and thereafter for several
months no effort was made to possess
the city In Decemner Gen Grant at
the head of 40000 troops moved against
the city which was defended by Gen
John C Pemberton with 34000 men
Gen W T Sherman was selected to
attack the place but after difficult
and costly operations in the swampy
region of the Yazoo river to the north
of the city he was forced to abandon
his efforts
In January 1SG3 Grant took com
mand of all the forces operating against
Vicksburg and marching the bulk of his
army down the western bank of the
Mississippi crossed to the Vicksburg
side several miles below the city In
this movement he was aided by Ad
miral William D Porter Grants ob
ject was to reach and capture the State
capital Jackson and then fall upon
Vicksburg in the rear The first en
gagement fought after the crossing of
the Mississippi was near Port Gibson
where the Confederate force was rout
ed by the Federals under Gen Mc
Clernand At Richmond still further
on the road to Jackson the Federals
gained another victory over a small
force sent out from the capital by
Gen J E Johnston who was in com
mand of all the Confederate forces in
Tennessee and Mississippi On May
CHAMPIOX HILLS BATTLE GROUND
unable to collect a sufficiently strong
force was placed in the position of
either surrendering or starving July 3
he proposed by means of a letter to
grant the appointment of a commission
to arrange terms of capitulation arid
the following day the surrender was
effected The Confederate forces to
the number of 27000 were paroled
CAVE UOUSE INTERIOR
During the entire operations from the
crossing of the Mississippi by Grant
to the surrender of Vicksburg the
Union loss in killed wounded and miss
ing is placed at 8575 and the Confed
erate loss at 10000
Father Is Cominjr
The Nineteenth Indiana had for its
first commander Colonel Solomon
Meredith famous as a stock raiser at
Richmond Ind before the war He
was tall awkward unmilitary bur
grave His son Samuel was a lieuten
ant in the
Nineteenth He was as
tall a little more awkward and a little
less military than his father but like
his father brave Lieutenant Sam
Meredith was officer of the division
guard one day early in tile history of
the regiment The custom was then
as it is now to have the guard fall in
and salute when a field or general offi
cer approached Colonel Meredith sud
denly came upon the guard without
being noticed As soon as Lieutenant
Saw saw him he called out in a loud
voice Turn out the guard fathers
coming Poor Sam never heard the
last of Turn out the guard fathers
coming The balance of the brigade
would call out s 11 along the line when
ever Sam put in an appearance and
occasionally when Meredith Sr was
seen and afiter he became a general
and had command of the brigade he
would hear Turn out the guard
fathers coming and indulge in one
of those Sol Meredith grins the boys
used to enjoy Both father and son
died long ago For years one of Gen
eral Merediths daughters-in-law was
an extensive raiser of and dealer in
blooded stock on the Meredith farm
near Richmond and it took a sharp
Yankee to get the best of the bargain
when dealing with her
Lonsrstreets Book
Gen Longstreets book has provoked
a storm of Southern criticism but the
fact remains that his statements are
backed by personal knowledge of the
events that he describes
and by a rec
ord of military service that is not sur
passed by that of any other Confederate
commander
The greatest forces npon which our
wills can act are those within
V
t
VJ
r
K
