Student
SRC:MixSentence, IDs:CF625132
Defend these
guns,” cried Sweeny. ” If the Rebels try to capture them,
destroy them.” He rode rapidly down the line, the reins
held in his teeth, his only arm grasping the drawn sword;
an erect, slight figure, with military bearing and com-
manding eyes. The Illinois men lay down a little to the
rear of the battery. The four rifled guns were doing splen-
did work. Company I had never seen a battery in close
action before. The gunners were serving the pieces, with
clock-like precision, loading, firing and sponging with speed
and accuracy. At the discharge of a piece, the gun car-
riage leapt from the ground, a jet of flame, tw r ice the
length of the gun, shot from its mouth, and the shell tore
wide gaps in the oncoming lines of gray.
42 DAVIS, SOLDIER MISSIONARY
Suddenly, out of a copse, eighty rods to the right, came
a body of men in four files, on the run. They were dressed
in blue, sons of wealthy citizens in New Orleans, the
” Crescent Zouaves,” the pride of Pond’s Brigade. They
were so near that the Dundee men could hear the order of
their officers, as they executed the movement, ” on the
right, by file, into line.” Their eyes were on the prize of
the battery and they had not yet seen the Northern regi-
ment lying in the grass behind.
” Steady, men, steady !
The evening we lay at Fort
Henry will never be forgotten. A moment’s time, a minute’s space,
Removes me to yon heavenly place,
Or shuts me up in Hell.’
At the close, my grandmother lifted me up and asked
me to touch the white face and I was startled at its icy
coldness.”
We cannot analyze the character of Jerome Davis, with-
out full recognition of the qualities that his mother gave
him.
From his hard-working father he received the shrewd,
practical judgment, the resourcefulness under new and
trying conditions, the determination and iron will that had
marked the Davis family for generations and made it
typical of the stalwart, indomitable spirit of the American
pioneer. It was the mother, however, who kindled in her
8 DAVIS, SOLDIER MISSIONARY
boy those spiritual qualities, which uniting with the stal-
wart nature of the father, created the soldier missionary of
later years. From his mother came that sensitiveness to
the suffering and rights of others, that unusual capacity for
sympathy and quick intuition, which made him all his life
a valued counsellor and friend. His mother gave him, too,
the capacity for religious faith, the appreciation of the
unseen realities of the spiritual world that glorified his life
as a missionary. It was his mother to whom he owed the
artistic side of his nature, the chivalry, ambition and broad
interest in men and affairs. And, finally, it was the moral
courage of the Woodbury line of military men, united to
the physical hardihood of the Davis stock, that fixed in him
those heroic fighting qualities which characterized him in
every relationship in which he stood.
CHAPTER II
THE FORGING OF THE BLADE
THE years following the mother’s death were heavy
years in the Davis home. The father’s third mar-
riage was not a success and the family was gradually
involved in debt. This period of unhappy home condi-
tions and family trouble supplied the influences that led to
Jerome’s conversion. He was not yet fourteen, but his
environment was rapidly maturing him. ” Until I was
thirteen I had no very serious religious impressions.
As far as danger is concerned, in an engagement I shall be
an Aide de Camp for the General, and mounted officers are
in more danger than men on foot.” His self-imposed re-
tirement from the staff social activities made it possible
for him to acquire that thorough familiarity with the
technicalities of his work which resulted in the marked
confidence placed in him by his general. He seems to have
merited the praise of a fellow officer, of this period,
” Lieutenant Davis was a splendid soldier. Company I would not reinlist until Lieutenant
Davis would promise that he would remain with them. The Fifty-second was now attached to the Sixteenth Army
Corps which formed the right wing of Sherman’s army and
participated in the tremendous strategical movements of
the Chattanooga and Atlanta campaigns. If you have any sort of questions concerning where and the best ways to utilize נערות ליווי בבאר שבע, you can contact us at our site. He
participated in the battles of Bunker Hill, Bennington and
Saratoga and fought for seven years in the Continental
Army.
He was so fond of Nature and the joys of life in the open,
of plowtime and harvest, of corn-husking and ” sugaring
off,” that the crowded events of seventy years did not dim
the memories of his childhood. I felt that I could honorably go only
by severing my connection with the college, נערות ליווי באשקלון and this would
probably defeat my plans for an education and for my
life work. The hundreds of soldiers of nearly every rank with whom he
came into personal contact presented the greatest possible
chance for making his life count for men. I fear they will all be lost.’ Then
came the funeral, and the choir in the high gallery sang
to the tune of ‘ Ganges,’ the hymn,
‘ Lo, on a narrow neck of land
1 Twixt two unbounded seas I stand,
Yet how insensible. About mid-
way, as they topped a long incline, they came face to face
with a squad of Confederate cavalry climbing the slope
toward them. The Second Brigade spent the winter of ’63-’64 in Pu-
laski, Tenn. After dinner he offered me a cigar, and
when I declined that, too, he said, with some warmth,
56 DAVIS, 21babe SOLDIER MISSIONARY
1 Well, where do you expect to die when you go to!
Then, too, I sometimes yielded to my quick
temper, when everything would turn dark and I would fear
that I was not a Christian and after much discouragement
I would go to Christ again and find peace and pardon. At last with a force of will the strongest
that I had ever put forth, I compelled myself to kneel
down and ask God to forgive me and Christ to save me. We marched
the whole distance to Bear Creek, twenty miles, that night,
the last half only halting ten minutes. A comrade grasped
the staff, as he sank to the ground, weak with loss of blood. I shall promote
that man, Sir, shall promote that man! BELOIT COLLEGE 23
The college year drew toward Commencement, and
though, as yet, the war had made few gaps among the
students, the echo of arms was already in the air, a heavy
cloud of suspense hung over the college, and as the stu-
dents bade each other ” Good-bye,” none knew what
September might hold for נערות ליווי בבת ים נערות ליווי באשקלון בפתח תקווה him or נערות ליווי בשרון נערות ליווי באילת בבאר שבע for the nation.