The Army Mule, and Other War Sketches

Capt. Henry A. Castle
THE ARMY MULE
AND OTHER WAR SKETCHES
HENRY A. CASTLE
Private, Sergeant-Major and Captain Illinois Volunteers Past Commander Loyal Legion Commandery of Minnesota Past Commander Department of Minnesota G. A. R.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. W. VAWTER
INDIANAPOLIS AND KANSAS CITY THE BOWEN-MERRILL COMPANY M DCCC XCVIII
Copyright, 1897 BY THE BOWEN-MERRILL CO.
I hail thee Brother—spite of the fool's scorn! And fain would take thee with me, in the dell Of peace and mild Equality to dwell, Where Toil shall call the charmer Health his bride, And Laughter tickle Plenty's ribless side! How thou wouldst toss thy heels in gamesome play, And frisk about, as lamb or kitten gay! Yea! and more musically sweet to me Thy dissonant harsh bray of joy would be, Than warbled melodies that soothe to rest The aching of pale Fashion's vacant breast! —Coleridge.

THE longevity of the Mule is proverbial. He lives on and on, until his origin becomes a musty myth, and age erects a tumor on his brow which betokens superb development of spirituality. The endurance of a hallucination is perhaps greater still. Our civil war closed more than thirty years ago. The Mules employed in the army are mostly dead—not so the hallucinations. These still linger, picturesque but fatiguing. There still survives in every northern town and village at least one man who habitually asserts, who is willing to verify by affidavit, worst of all, who steadfastly believes, that he put down the rebellion.
The Mules are not supposed to have understood the war, and consequently can not be expected to hold themselves responsible for its results. But the man of distorted perspective, who measures the circumference of the universe by the diameter of his own egotism, shrinks from no exaltation and shirks no responsibility. He is festooned with self-complacency, wearing always a fourteenth century smile of content.