Prominent Omaha Veterans of the
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DR. DON C. AY Ell ON DRESS PARADE.
IMH HAS silvered the hair of
Omaha's civil war veterans
and their step Is not as elastic
as It waH thirty-live years ago
when they were double-quicking over
southern battlefields, but they are still
young In spirit and delight In telling of
their experiences in the war of the blue
and the gray. Among the camp fol
lowers who did a real service for the
country were the photographers who
accompanied each regiment and se
cured for succeeding generations pic
tures of the youthful heroes who wiped
out Mason and Dixon's line and gave
the Stars and Stripes to the whole
United States.
When the heroes of the Spanish war
were sent upon their dangerous mis
sion to Cuba and tlte Philippines the
present generation imbibed In a meas
ure the war spirit which prevailed In
1801. There was the breaking of home
ties. Letters from camps In foreign
lands were rend with the same eager
ness in homes which sent sous to the
defense of the Hag. The pictures or
gallant boys In soldier uniforms were
bathed with mothers' tears and com
pared with photographs of their sires
which were taken at Gettysburg,
Shlloh or Antletam.
The veterans of the Spanish war
have had their inning. Trophies from
Havana and Manila appear every--where
aud there are few homes which
do not contain the picture of some sol
dier relative or friend who helped to
drive Spain from Cuba, Porto Ittco aud
the Philippines. Hut In many of these
homes there are less pretentious plo
tures duguerrotyitos with wornout
eovera uud cracked tintypes which
bnvo been laid aside for more recent
photographs. From these old-fashioned
pictures The lice has collected
soldier pictures of civil war veterans
that the youthful heroes of the blood
iest war ever waged may be Been ns
they appeared while lighting for the
preservation of the union. The boys
who followed Lawton aud Fitzhugh Lee
lu the campaigns against the Spaniards
were fortunate In having for their lead
ers ineu who had learned the art of
warfare while lighting with aud
against the heroes whoso pictures we
print lu connection with this article.
During the early part of the war
Mayor Frank 10. Moores was a regi
mental adjutant and acted as captain
of the band. Musicians who served
under the mayor called him the serenad
ing adjutant and never tire of telling
how the mayor used to keep them on
the Jump when the regiment happened
into a town of any size.
"Why that man Moores wouldn't be
In a town half an hour till ho knew
where all the pretty girls lived," said
a drummer who served under the
mayor, "and thou we'd start on our
rounds. Strange thing, but I never
knew of our band serenading a homely
girl."
Ab a captain in the Klghth Ohio cav
alry Muyor Moores campaigned
through Tennessee and was afterwards
lu the Shenandoah valley with Sheridan.
When Geuerul Longstreet started from
Tennessee iuto Virginia Captain
Moores wan lu tho pursuing party. The
army was uot overfed at thut time uud
hnd a linrd time picking up ratloiiH In
n country through which Longstroet
hnd Jimt passed. Cnptnln Moores gave
the following dcHcrlptlon (if how u lire
eating Houthcrn woman made the best
corn pone he ever ate:
"We came to a rude cabin In the
mountains near Strawberry Plains,
TenucHHce, and found a woman en
gaged In making Home Johuuycukc.
Two of Longstroot's men who were suf
forliiLT with Hiuallpox lay In the soli
tary room of the cabin, but Hiuallpox
waH an old song and we w.ere looking
for something to eat. The woman said
we might have Home of the cake if we
cared to wait until It wuh baked and
we were only too glad to take up her
offer.
"I can boo her yet. She was a coarse
featured, big Tennessee woman and
THIS IS MAYOR FRANK E. MOORES.
wore a homespun dress which was not
long enough to conceal her bare feet
and nnklcH. After stirring the cake
up sho placed It In a Dutch oven that
stood on the floor by the fireplace and
then marked Ilgures on It with her big
toe, much as cooks ornament a pie
crust with thumb marks. Hot coals
were heaped upon the oven and lu a
few minutes we had the most de
licious corn pone I ever ate."
"Tho llrst engagement In which I
participated was at Franklin, W. Va.,
when Stonewall Jackson attacked the
brigade In command of Cieueral Robert
Schenck, afterward known as 'Poker
Bob.' Poker was not General Schenck's
only accomplishment he was the most
forceful swearer ever heard. At l
o'clock ou the morning of the engage
ment at Franklin we were awakened
by the swearing of Cieueral Schenck,
who was Indignant because all the men
did not get out of their tents as soon
WHEN HEALTH COMMISSIONER VICTOR
H. COFFMAN PRACTICED SURGERY
ON THE UOYS IN BLUE. '
as the long roll was called," said I'M
ward Itosewator. "1 was with the
military telegraph service. As soon as
convenient 1 asked General Schenck
whore he wanted the telegraph station
located during the engagement.
"He looked at me for a moment.
Thou he pointed to an Ohio battery
which was located lu a commanding
M)sltlon. 'Do you see that buttery?'
he said. 'I'll send all my dispatches
by It.'
"After the war General Schenck was
sent as ambassador to Great Britain.
He taught the ltrltlsh how to play
poker aud llually he wrote a book ou
the American game which gave him
his sobriquet
"The bloodiest engagement In which
I took part was the second battle of
Hull Huh. At my own request I was
HOWARD ROSEWATER WORKED TELEGRAPH INSTRUMENTS ON THE FIELD
attached' to the staff of General Pope,
who announced that his headquarters
wore In the saddle. After Stonewall
Jackson attacked Manassas I was or
dered to go to that place, but when I
was ready to start 1 found that my
horse had been stolen. A short dis
tance from the Itappahaunock I saw an
Indiana Infantryman riding my horse
and attempted to stop him. He evi
dently didn't like walking any better,
than I did, for he spurred up and was
soon out of my roach. I was com
pelled to walk six miles over a rough,
dangerous country, ami the distance
seemed ten times that great before I
arrived In .Manassas. After the light
ing had continued throe days 1 opened
a telegraph otllce In a box car and os-
HATS OFF TO GENERAL C. H. FRED
ERICK. tabllshed communication with Wash
ington. "The military telegraph operators
carried on their work under great
dltllcultles in the West Virginia cam
paign. Sometimes we were located on
the sides of hills, where we were ex
posed to the lire of guerrillas and fre
quently our olllces were so near the firing
Hue that shells destroyed the machines
and killed operators. An oflice which I
established at Moorlleld, W. Va., was
conducted under more dltllcultles than
any other telegraph station with which
I was connected. All the surrounding
country was tilled with Imbodons' guer
rillas and General Fremont granted me
a guard of twelve cavalrymen. I re
member that one of the men was a
full-blooded Indian who had accom
panied the general from the far west.
"Our otllce was on the llrst lloor of
a business building. The court house
was located across the street and was
mined, so we could blow It up at any
moment. At night we stretched wires
across the streets loading to the otllce
and placed soldiers on the second lloor
of the building. If lmbodeus had at
tempted to approach the olllce the wires
would have warjiod us alid a volley of
lead would have greeted him. No
attempt was made to interfere with the
olllce whllu we remained there, but our
successors were taken by the confeder
ates and thrown Into prison."
"I shall never forget the day the
Twelfth Wisconsin Infantry left Madi
son for Chicago. It was zero weather
aiuMhe ground was covered with sev
eral Inches of snow. After being In
Camp Randall for some time we were
uotllled that tho regiment was to be
taken to Chicago. Our march to the
station was a cheerless one. There
was no crowd to give us a rousing fare
well. Freight cars were lmckod Into
the station and we climbed Into them
and began our cold trip to Chicago," said
Frank H. Bryant, deputy city treasurer.
"It took us eleven hours to make the
ruu.
"We huddled close together In our at
tempt to keep warm. Some of the
men managed to sleep, but most of us
WILLIAM WALLACE ON THE FIRING
LINE.
were so cold that we were compelled to
keep moving. In a short time we were
sent to Weston, Mo., and there we found
plenty of secessionists to keep us warm
under the collar. We Joined the Army
of the Tennessee, were In the rear of
Vleksburg and ended up our service
with Sherman."
"A white Hag never looked so inviting
to me as It did on the morning of
February in, 1S(' when I saw by the
dim light of early dawn that the stars
and bars of Fort Donclson had given
place to the Hag of truce," said Charles
II. Burmester. "During the preceding
day we had fought our way to a posi
tion near tho fort and we knew we
must make our way Into the fortifica
tions. Trees had been felled and were
piled with branches pointing toward
DAVID M. HAVERLY BEFORE HE
THOUGHT OF BEING COUNTY CLERK.
us. There was no npproach save
through several narrow paths, upon
which the guns were playing con
stuntly. "An attempt on the fort meant great
loss of life and when we awakened
that morning we expected to face the
batteries and go over those walls at any
costj but the surrender, which irave to
General Grant the sobriquet of Un
conditional Surrender Grant,' spared us
from the stubborn light which was
planned for the morning."
At tho time the war broke out Mr.
Uurmester lived at St. Joseph, Mo
which ho characterized as a "hotbed of
copperheads." It was Impossible to
enlist In the union army there, so Mr.
Burmester came up the river to Omahn
and entered the First Nebraska in
fantry. County Clerk !.' M. Haverly was
among the men who occupied an old
-
KING OF THE KNIGHTS OF AK-SAR-DEV
MAJOR R. S. WILCOX.
washed-out rond on the battlefield of
Shlloh and poured lead iuto the con
federates with such deadly effect that
they christened the spot "The nornets
Nest" From 7:! In the morning until
5 In the evening of that memorable
day, April tl, 1852, four Iowa regiments
hold this abandoned road lu the hope
of being reinforced. They were pro
tected from the lire of the enemy and
held out until entirely surrounded.
"I shall never forget that morning"
said Mr. Haverly lu describing the bat
tle. "It was Sunday, nnd ns peaceful
a day us one could wish for. All the
surrounding hills were covered with
peach blossoms, which perfumed the
air. It was daylight by ft o'clock, and
there was a terrible quiet which every
one seemed to realize was but a lull
before a deadly contest In a sh(t
CHARLES E. BURMESTER IN HIS FIRST
UNIFORM.
time the forces advanced into line of
buttle and the cannonading began. By
7:30 our regiment had advanced to the
old road, where we lay during the en
tire day. Although we were com
manded to retreat, we failed to receive
tho orders, nud held out until captured
by the confederates." A
The Thirty-eighth New Jersey Infan
try was recruited by John Grant, who
bore idl the expenses of the company
before It was mustered Into the service
nnd became its second lieutenant. Mr
(rant was offered tho captaincy of the
company, hut declined this honor. He
served under Colonel Sewell, who wai
afterward elected United States senator.
He tells the following story of how
Colonel Sewell's love of fast horses
once saved him from falling Into thv
hands of the confederates:
"In those days the senator was a
great lover of fast horses and was the
owner of a thoroughbred that could
throw dust Into the eyes of any other
horse In the regiment One afternoon
Colonel Sewell, one of our major
aud several others officers and myself
were out riding. We ventured quite a
distance from camp. The major had a
horse which he thought could outrun
tho colonel's thoroughbred and chal
lenged Sewell to a race.
"Colonel Sewell's sporting blood
wanted nothing bettor and In a fov
minutes the two officers, followed hi
a bodyguard of thirty negroes, were fat
In advance of the rest of the party.
We were moving leisurely along the
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