e
firing, and retreat out of reach of the deadly bullets.

Some of the Rebel officers took their surrender very much to heart. They
were proud, insolent, and defiant. Their surrender was unconditional,
and they thought it very hard to give up their swords and pistols. One
of them fired a pistol at Major Mudd, of the Second Illinois, wounding
him in the back. I was very well acquainted with the Major. He lived in
St. Louis, and had been from the beginning an ardent friend of the
Union. He had hunted the guerillas in Missouri, and had fought bravely
at Wilson's Creek. It is quite likely he was shot by an old enemy.
General Grant at once issued orders that all the Rebel officers should
be disarmed. General Buckner, in insolent tones, said to General Grant
that it was barbarous, inhuman, brutal, unchivalrous, and at variance
with the rules of civilized warfare! General Grant replied:--

"You have dared to come here to complain of my acts, without the
right to make an objection. You do not appear to remember that your
surrender was unconditional. Yet, if we compare the acts of the
different armies in this war, how will yours bear inspection? You have
cowardly shot my officers in cold blood. As I rode over the field, I
saw the dead of my army brutally insulted by your men, their clothing
stripped off of them, and their bodies exposed, without the slightest
regard for common decency. Humanity has seldom marked your course
whenever our men have been unfortunate enough to fall into your hands.
At Belmont your authorities disregarded all the usages of civilized
warfare. My officers were crowded into cotton-pens with my brave
soldiers, and then thrust into prison, while your officers were
permitted to enjoy their parole, and live at the hotel in Cairo. Your
men are given the same fare as my own, and your wounded receive our
best attention. These are incontrovertible facts. I have simply taken
the precaution to disarm your officers and men, because necessity
compelled me to protect my own from assassination."

General Buckner had no reply to make. He hung his head in shame at the
rebuke.

Major Mudd, though severely wounded, recovered, but lost his life in
another battle. One day, while riding with him in Missouri, he told me a
very good story. He said he was once riding in the cars, and that a very
inquisitive man sat by his side. A few rods from every road-crossing the
railroad company had put up boards with the letters W. R.