Charles Blanton, of the
Fifty-fifth N. C. Regiment, who once captured fourteen prisoners on the
skirmish line. Having heard his comrades tell of this heroic deed a few
years ago, I asked Mr. Blanton how he did it. He said: "We were ordered to
drive the Yankee skirmishers back and locate their battle line. As we
advanced on them we saw several taking shelter in a rifle pit, when six or
eight of us made a rush to take the pit, and when I got there they ducked
down and looked scared, and I ordered them to thrown down their guns and
get out of there quick, and they obeyed promptly. As I stepped behind them
I saw that I was alone--the others having all been shot down--and seeing
their battle line laying flat close by, ordered my prisoners to
double-quick to the rear, and I trotted them out all right. When I
commanded them to surrender, I thought my comrades were close by, and I
had them under good control before I knew any better."

Mrs. Stonewall Jackson refusing a $1,200 pension, while indigent widows
and veterans only get a pittance, may cause them to get $150,000 more than
heretofore. It is the happiest thought that our countrymen still
appreciate most highly the principle that money can not buy. Mrs. Jackson
belongs to history, linked to a name that will live through the ages, an
inspiration to the highest ideals of patriotic devotion, that bring most
desirable achievements that untold generations will be proud to honor.

A PATRIOTIC RECRUIT.

The soldiers life, even in the most strenuous and dangerous campaigns,
finds some relief in jest and laughter, like flowers strewn along the
thorny paths of hardships. When you hear an old soldier boast of his
exploits and miraculous escapes, you can credit him for having been both a
good forager and a good dodger. The best soldiers are ambitious,
patriotic, jovial, patient and uncomplaining.

When our Company F, Fifty-sixth Regiment, had been in the Camp of
Instruction a few weeks, a young, enthusiastic recruit came in. He showed
all the marks of a good soldier, even to a very fine opinion of himself.
He was eager to take a stand in the front rank from the start; and he was
speedily supplied with the regulation equipment. Then he called on some of
the boys at a game of marbles, who interrogated him about his outfit, and
inquired if he had got his marbles. He: "Do I get marbles?" They: "Of
course every soldier is allowed a set of marbles." He: "And where do I get
my marbles?"