War and Romance -- Colonel Fred Jones -- Hanging in the Army
-- General A. J. Smith vs. Dirty Guns.
WAR AND ROMANCE.
During the late movement against Vicksburg the national transports
were fired upon by a rebel battery at Skipwith Landing, not many miles
from the mouth of the Yazoo. No sooner was the outrage reported at
head-quarters than the Admiral sent an expedition to remove the
battery and destroy the place. The work of destruction was effectually
done; not a structure which could shelter a rebel head was left
standing in the region for several miles around.
Among other habitations destroyed was that of a Mrs. Harris, a widow
lady, young, comely, and possessed of external attractions in the
shape of a hundred and fifty "negroes," which she had contrived to
save from the present operation of "the decree," by sending them up
the Yazoo River. But Mrs. Harris was a rebel--intense, red-hot in her
advocacy of Southern rights and her denunciation of Northern wrongs.
Although she had not taken up arms against the Government, she was
none the less subject to the indiscriminating swoop of the
Proclamation; her niggers, according to that document, were free, and
if the Confederacy failed, she could only get pay for them by
establishing her loyalty in a court of justice. Her loyalty to the
Yankee nation?--not she! She was spunky as a widow of thirty can be.
She would see Old Abe, and every other Yankee, in the happy land of
Canaan before she would acknowledge allegiance to the Washington
Government. Nevertheless, being all she possessed of this world's
valuables, she would like to save those niggers.
"Nothing easier," suggested Captain Edward W. Sutherland, of the
United States steam-ram Queen of the West, who, attracted by her
snapping black eyes, engaged in a friendly conversation with the lady
after burning her house down. "Nothing easier in the world, madam."
"How so, Captain? You don't imagine I will take that odious oath, do
you? I assure you I would not do it for every nigger in the South."
"But you need not take that oath, madam--at least not _the_ oath."
"I do not understand you, Captain," said the widow, thoughtfully.
"I said you need not take the oath of allegiance; you can establish
your loyalty without it--at least," with a respectful bow, "I can
establish it for you."
"Indeed! How would you do it, Captain?"
"Simply enough. I am in the Government service; I command one of the
boats of the Western navy--technically denominated a ram, madam--down
here in the river. Of course, my loyalty is unimpeached, and, madam, I
assure you it is unimpeachable. Now, if I could only say to the
Government, those niggers are mine"----
The Captain waited a moment, to see what effect his speech was
producing.
"Well!" said the widow, impatiently tapping with her well-shaped foot
one of the smoking timbers of her late domicile.
"In short, my dear madam, you can save the niggers, save your
conscientious scruples, and save me from a future life of misery, by
becoming my wife!"
The Captain looked about wildly, as if he expected a sudden attack
from guerrillas. The widow tapped the smoldering timber more violently
for a few minutes, and then, turning her bright eyes full upon the
Captain, said:
"I'll do it!"
The next arrival at Cairo from Vicksburg brought the intelligence that
Captain Sutherland, of the ram Queen of the West, was married, a few
days since, on board the gunboat Tylor, to Mrs. Harris, of Skipwith
Landing. Several officers of the army and navy were present to witness
the ceremony, which was performed by a Methodist clergyman, and
Admiral Porter gave away the blushing bride. She is represented to be
a woman of indomitable pluck, and, for the present, shares the life of
her husband, on the ram Queen of the West.
COLONEL FRED JONES.
I was with him on his last trip from Cincinnati to Louisville, and
from thence to the army. Little did I think it was the last meeting.
Noble Fred! He has left a name that will never be erased from honor's
scroll. A writer in the Cincinnati _Commercial_, who knew him from
boyhood up, says:
"He is a native of this city, and favorably known as one of our most
brilliant young men.
"Colonel Jones was a graduate of Woodward High School, of this city,
receiving his diploma, with the highest honor of his class, in 1853.
He then entered the law-office of Rufus King, Esq. as a student, and
evinced, in the pursuit of a legal education, a remarkable zeal and
talent. Two years ago he was elected Prosecuting-Attorney of the
Police Court, which office he held at the breaking out of the war, in
1861. It was but a few days after the first call for troops, when he
threw his business into the hands of a brother lawyer, and became a
soldier. He was first an adjutant to General Bates, but, in June,
1861, he received a lieutenant-colonel's commission in the 31st Ohio,
with which he went into active service. He was afterward transferred,
with the same rank, to the 24th Ohio, of which regiment he became
colonel in May last.
"He distinguished himself at the Battle of Shiloh, to which, indeed,
he owed his promotion. He enjoyed the highest reputation with his
superiors as an officer.
"Colonel Jones was about twenty-seven years of age, of fine
appearance, with a peculiarly happy manner and disposition. He was a
very fine _extempore_ orator, and possessed great military ardor from
childhood. The writer, a fellow-student, remembers him as captain of a
company of school-boys, at Woodward, which, drilling for pastime,
became very proficient in tactics.
"We can pay no more eloquent tribute to his memory than the mute
impression his history will impart. He is dead! Our city has offered
no heavier sacrifice in any of her sons, and parted with no purer of
the jewels which have been so rudely torn from her."
HANGING IN THE ARMY.
Head-quarters 3d Division, 14th Army Corps,
Murfreesboro, _June 6, 1863_.
William A. Selkirk, who resided in an adjoining county, murdered, in a
most brutal manner, a man by the name of Adam Weaver. Selkirk was a
member of a roving band of guerrillas. He entered, with others, the
house of Weaver, who was known to have money, and demanded its
surrender. Weaver, not complying, was seized, his ears cut off, his
tongue torn out, and he was then stabbed. These facts being proved to
the court, Selkirk was condemned to death.
At twelve o'clock, yesterday, the crowd commenced congregating at the
Court-house, eyeing with curiosity a large, uncovered ambulance, in
which was built a platform. The trap was a leaf, acting as a sort of
tailboard to the wagon. This trap, or leaf, was supported by a strip
of wood that ran into a notch, similar to the old figure-four trap.
Attached to the ambulance were six splendid horses. At one o'clock two
regiments of infantry, under Colonel Stoughton, arrived upon the
ground and formed in line. The ambulance and military then moved along
to the jail; the rough wooden coffin was placed in the vehicle, and
the prisoner then, for the first time, made his appearance. He had a
pale and care-worn look, and a decidedly Southern air. His step was
firm, and he got into the wagon with but little assistance. He was
accompanied by Father Cony, chaplain of the 35th Indiana. The
procession then moved off toward the gallows, erected a short distance
from the town, upon the Woodbury pike. The eager crowd thronged the
avenues leading to the place of execution--rushing, crushing, cursing
and swearing, laughing and yelling. Samuel Lover, the Irish poet,
describes, in his poem of "Shamus O'Brien," a hanging, thus:
"And fasther and fasther the crowd gathered there,
Boys, horses, and gingerbread, _just like a fair_;
And whisky was sellin', and 'cosamuck' too,
And old men and young women enjoying the view;
And thousands were gathered there, if there was one,
Waiting till such time as the hanging would come."
The morbid appetite depicted upon that sea of upturned faces was
terrible to think of.
By the kindness of Colonel Stoughton, I was given a very prominent
place in the procession.
General Order No. 123, from head-quarters, was read. The prisoner then
knelt, and was baptized by the clergyman before mentioned. After the
baptism was over, Rev. Mr. Patterson, of the 11th Michigan, made a
most fervent and eloquent prayer, the prisoner on his knees, with eyes
uplifted to heaven, and seemingly praying with all the fervor of his
soul. After Mr. Patterson had finished praying, the prisoner was told
he had five minutes to live, and to make any remarks he wished.
Selkirk arose, with steady limbs, and said:
"Gentlemen and friends: I am not guilty of the murder of Adam Weaver;
I did not kill him. I hope you will all live to one day find out who
was the guilty man. I believe my Jesus is waiting to receive my poor
soul. I am not guilty of Weaver's murder. I was there, but did not
kill him."
He then knelt down and joined in prayer. After prayer was over, he
stood up, and stepped on the scaffold again, to have the fatal rope
placed around his neck. While the rope was being adjusted, he prayed
audibly, and his last words on earth were:
"Sweet Jesus, take me to thyself. O, Lord, forgive me for all my
sins;" and again, as the person who escorted him was tightening the
rope, he said, "For God's sake don't choke me before I am hung." Then,
when the black cap was drawn over his eyes, he seemed to know that in
a few seconds he would be consigned to "that bourne from whence no
traveler returns," and said, "Lord, have mercy on my soul."
The words were scarcely uttered, when that which was, a few moments
before, a stout, healthy man, was nothing but an inanimate form. As
the "black cap" was about being put on him, Sarah Ann Weaver, the
youngest daughter of the murdered man, Adam Weaver, made her
appearance inside the square, and quite close to the scaffold. She
asked Captain Goodwin and Major Wiles the privilege of adjusting the
rope around his neck, but they would not grant it. She is a young
woman of about seventeen years, rather prepossessing and intelligent
looking. She stood there unmoved, while the body hung dangling between
heaven and earth. She seemed to realize that the murderer of her
father had now paid the penalty with his life. I asked her what she
thought of the affair, and she curtly remarked: "He will never murder
another man, I think." After the body had remained about fifteen
minutes swinging in the air, and surgeon Dorr pronounced life extinct,
it was cut down and put in a coffin. The assemblage departed, some
laughing, some crying, and some thinking of the fate of the deceased.
GENERAL A. J. SMITH vs. RUSTY GUNS.
Last winter General Smith's head-quarters were on board the steamer
Des Arc; he was in command of a division of Grant's army. One day, on
a trip from Arkansas Post to Young's Point, there were on this boat
three companies of a nameless regiment. Now it happened that these men
had rather neglected to clean their guns, which the sharp eye of the
old veteran soon discovered. It was in the morning of our third day
out, the wind was blowing terribly, and the weather unusually cold,
rendering it very unpleasant to remain long on the hurricane-roof,
that the General came rushing into the cabin, where nearly all the
officers were comfortably seated around a warm stove.
"Captain," exclaimed the General, in no very mild tone, addressing
himself to the commander of one of the aforesaid companies, "have you
had an inspection of arms this morning?"
"No, General," timidly replied the Captain, "I have not."
"Have you held an inspection of your company at any time since the
battle of Arkansas Post, sir?" sharply asked the General.
"No, sir; the weather has been so unpleasant, and I thought I would
let my men rest awhile," hesitatingly replied the Captain, already
nervous, through fear, that something disagreeable was about to turn
up.
"You thought you'd let them rest awhile? Indeed! The d----l you did!
Who pays you, sir, for permitting your men to lay and rot in idleness,
while such important duties remain unattended to? What kind of
condition are your arms in, now, to defend this boat, or even the
lives of your own men, in case we should be attacked by the enemy this
moment? What the d----l are you in the service for, if you thus
neglect your most important duty?" fairly yelled the old General. And
then, starting menacingly toward the quaking captain, said he,
imperatively:
"Mount, sir, on that roof, this moment, and call your men instantly
into line, that I may examine their arms."
"And you," resumed he, turning to the lieutenants, who commanded the
other companies, "are fully as delinquent as the captain. Sirs! I must
see your men in line within ten minutes."
It is scarcely necessary to state that the officers in question made
the best of their time in drumming up their men, whom they found
scattered in all parts of the boat. Finally, however, the companies
referred to were duly paraded on the "hurricane," and an abridged form
of inspection was gone through with. The General, finding their arms
in bad condition, very naturally inflicted some severe talk,
threatening condign punishment in case such neglect should be
repeated.
But during the time in which one of these companies was falling in,
which operation was not executed with that degree of promptness, on
the part of the rank and file, satisfactory to the lieutenant
commanding, that officer called out, in a most imploring strain, "Fall
in, gentlemen! Fall in, lively, gentlemen!" That application of the
word "gentlemen" fell upon the ear of General Smith, who, turning
quickly around, hastily inquired:
"Are you the lieutenant in command of that company, sir?" addressing
the individual who had given the command in such a polite manner.
"Yes, sir," replied the trembling subaltern.
"Then, who the d----l are you calling gentlemen?" cried the General.
"I am an old soldier," continued he, approaching and looking more
earnestly at the lieutenant, "but I must confess, sir, that I never
before heard of the rank of gentleman in the army. Soldiers, sir, are
ALL supposed to be gentlemen, of course; but, hereafter, sir, when you
address soldiers, remember to say soldiers, or men; let us have no
more of this 'bowing and scraping' where it is your duty to command."
Then, turning upon his heel, his eyes snapping with impatience, the
old gentleman gave vent to the following words:
"_Gentlemen! gentlemen, forsooth!_ And _rusty guns! Umph!_ The d----l!
I like that! Rusty guns! and gentlemen!"