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Newspaper
Bedford Free Press
Location
Bedford, Iowa, United States of America
Date
May 24, 1906
Page
3
During the Civil War, two jokers tricked a raw recruit into believing General Grant ran a clothing wash. The recruit led to Grant, who asked him to identify the jokers. Grant ordered the men brought to the guardhouse to wash the bundle, ensuring the task was done thoroughly.
Colonel Bradshaw recalls a Libby prison night when Bishop McCabe, then a chaplain, lightened captives’ mood by shouting Hands on your pocketbooks, remarking no one had a dollar. The tale from the Union prisoners sparked laughter amid rain and cold.
Captain Lloyd G. Harris recalls an ensign who begged leave of absence to save his girlfriend from a home guard suitor. Porter refused at first but relented after the officer explained life and death stakes. The ensign returned home, married the northern Illinois girl in triumph.
General N. VP Banks, en route to a Waltham G A R smoke talk, found the town’s barber shops closed except for one run by George Washington Saunders. In the chair, Banks quipped the shave felt harsh if it was a shave but acceptable if the barber aimed to skin him, then carried on with the unexpected visit.
The Bureau of Pensions examined a pension claim where the dead sailor’s identity hinges on tattoos. Testimony describes extensive ink including the Washington Monument on one arm, multiple women’s portraits, an American coat of arms, a woman image on the neck area, a man and woman with a whip on the chest, and various designs across the torso and limbs.
A historic kettledrum that traveled from a British regiment at Bunker Hill to American service through Levi Smith Israel Smith and Israel Smith 2d. The drum bore four wars 1770s to Civil War era and was carried by G A R post 190 New Bedford, preserving its legacy until donated to the National Museum.
A Bangor crowd greets Admiral Schley after the Spanish American War as General Joseph Smith hosts a reception. Mrs Casey shows a bronze medal to Mrs D from Manila, saying the medal honors her son who served for safety, shouting that he is the man behind the gun.
A Wilderness veteran recalls seven days of battle ending with retreat. Two gun carriages were too damaged to move, buried with rough wooden crosses and inscriptions to fool the enemy. The gag mirrored a common practice of faking artillery strength with impromptu ramparts.
A young wounded man in a James Island hospital quarreled with General Williams as he cried out in pain. The general, noting the severity around him, told him to stop his noise and pointed to severed heads nearby, saying others lie silent.
A tenant at the McGavock farm felled a poplar and burned a stick of wood when a violent blast occurred injuring a young Black child. The shell, fired by Federal forces at the Battle of Franklin forty one years prior, had lodged in the tree without exploding.
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