THERE was published in Corinth a paper called _The Corinth War Eagle_.
Its editor and publisher was a patriotic young man from the North, whose
name was Elbridge Dwight Fenn. I remember him distinctly, although I did
not see him while at Corinth, but later on at Jackson, where he was
largely in evidence. His name and handsome physique would have fitted
him to figure as the hero in a two-volume novel. I saw him frequently at
the City Hotel. He was full of life and spirits. I saw him one day
dancing about the upper corridor with a looking glass under his arm, the
lady boarders and chambermaids looking on in great glee. On the day of
the expected battle, Fenn was seemingly everywhere. While a number of us
were standing on the balcony at the Manassas viewing the troops as they
stood in battle array, he came dashing up with a red sash tied about him
from shoulder to waist, mounted on a coal-black horse. One of the ladies
called to him, saying, “When are the rebels coming, Fenn?” Raising his
arm high in air, he shouted, “Never!” and rode away as rapidly as he had
come. We brought a copy of the _War Eagle_ home with us, and after many
years, when it was almost worn out, I cut the least worn articles from
its columns, and they adorn the pages of my war scrapbook. The issue I
have bears the date of September 18, 1862. There is a flag at the head
of the editorial column, and the motto is, “Be just and fear not.”
Among the articles I have preserved is an account of a visit to the
hospital, written by the editor himself; also complimentary references
to the 17th and 7th Ill. regiments; Harmony Among Regimental Officers,
Flag Presentation to the 17th Wisconsin, an Irish regiment, with
speeches by the Chaplain and Captain. The paper also contains several
poems.