'Co. Aytch' - Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment, Samuel Rush Watkins [the first e reader .TXT] 📗

things real? did they happen? are they being enacted today? or are they the fancies of the imagination in forgetful reverie? Is it true that I have seen all these things? that they are real incidents in my life's history? Did I see those brave and noble countrymen of mine laid low in death and weltering in their blood? Did I see our country laid waste and in ruins? Did I see soldiers marching, the earth trembling and jarring beneath their measured tread? Did I see the ruins of smouldering cities and deserted homes? Did I see my comrades buried and see the violet and wild flowers bloom over their graves? Did I see the flag of my country, that I had followed so long, furled to be no more unfurled forever? Surely they are but the vagaries of mine own imagination. Surely my fancies are running wild tonight. But, hush! I now hear the approach of battle. That low, rumbling sound in the west is the roar of cannon in the distance. That rushing sound is the tread of soldiers. That quick, lurid glare is the flash that precedes the cannon's roar. And listen! that loud report that makes the earth tremble and jar and sway, is but the bursting of a shell, as it screams through the dark, tempestuous night. That black, ebon cloud, where the lurid lightning flickers and flares, that is rolling through the heavens, is the smoke of battle; beneath is being enacted a carnage of blood and death. Listen! the soldiers are charging now. The flashes and roaring now are blended with the shouts of soldiers and confusion of battle.

But, reader, time has brought his changes since I, a young ardent and impetuous youth, burning with a lofty patriotism first shouldered my musket to defend the rights of my country.

Lifting the veil of the past, I see many manly forms, bright in youth and hope, standing in view by my side in Company H, First Tennessee Regiment. Again I look and half those forms are gone. Again, and gray locks and wrinkled faces and clouded brows stand before me.

Before me, too, I see, not in imagination, but in reality, my own loved Jennie, the partner of my joys and the sharer of my sorrows, sustaining, comforting, and cheering my pathway by her benignant smile; pouring the sunshine of domestic comfort and happiness upon our humble home; making life more worth the living as we toil on up the hill of time together, with the bright pledges of our early and constant love by our side while the sunlight of hope ever brightens our pathway, dispelling darkness and sorrow as we hand in hand approach the valley of the great shadow.

The tale is told. The world moves on, the sun shines as brightly as before, the flowers bloom as beautifully, the birds sing their carols as sweetly, the trees nod and bow their leafy tops as if slumbering in the breeze, the gentle winds fan our brow and kiss our cheek as they pass by, the pale moon sheds her silvery sheen, the blue dome of the sky sparkles with the trembling stars that twinkle and shine and make night beautiful, and the scene melts and gradually disappears forever.

THE END.

Appendix: Transcription notes:

About "Company Aytch":

"Company Aytch" was printed as a series of newspaper articles in 1881-1882.

First printed in book form, 2000 copies, in 1882.

Second printing of 2000 copies in 1900.

  Reprinted in 1952 with an introduction and commentary by
  Bell Irvin Wiley.

  10 or more printings by Collier Books starting in 1962, with an
  introduction by Roy P. Basler.

The following modifications were applied while transcribing the printed book to etext:

  Quite a few of the sub-headings in the book were printed with a
  trailing period, while the majority were not. For example, in
  chapter 11:
    SHOOTING A DESERTER. versus TARGET SHOOTING
    DR. C. T. QUINTARD. versus GENERAL JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON
  For the sake of consistency, I have removed these trailing periods.

Chapter 10 Page 123, para 3, fix typo "minne ball" Chapter 12 Page 168, para 1, fix typo "Breckenridge"

  The following words were sometimes printed hyphenated, sometimes
  not. In this etext, they are not hyphenated:
    arch-angel battle-fields foot-lights grave-yard hill-side
    horse-back re-organization shot-gun up-stairs/down-stairs

  The following words were sometimes printed hyphenated, sometimes
  not. In this etext, they are hyphenated:
    battle-flags

  The following words were printed using the "ae" or "oe" ligature:
    Caesar diarrhoea Thermopylae

I did not change the following:
  Some words in this book appear to be mis-spelled, at least by
  current usage:
    descendents geneology

  The author, intentionally or not, consistently mis-spelled
  several names, including those of Capt./Col. Hume R. Feild and
  Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston

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