JOAN OF ARC IN THE WEST.–

8. August 2008 by admin.

At a flag-raising at North Plato, Kane County, Illinois, after the Stars and Stripes had been duly hoisted, the assembly adjourned to the village church, where some speeches were made by patriotic gentlemen, and an opportunity was offered for young men, to come forward and enlist, the company at Plato not being quite full. Not a man went up! This aroused the patriotism as well as the “dander” of the village schoolmistress, who, with many other ladies, was present, and she walked boldly forward to the secretary’s desk, and headed the muster-roll with a name rendered illustrious as having been affixed to the Declaration of Independence, with the prenomen Mary. She was followed by another lady, and lo, and behold! the Plato company was not long in filling its ranks! The muster-roll, bearing the names of the spirited young vivandieres, has been sent to headquarters, and the company accepted by the “powers that be.” After that day four flag-raisings came off in that portion of Kane county, and “Mary” and “May” –the soldier girls–in uniforms of white, red, and blue, attended all of them, at the request of the officers, marching, as pioneers, at the head of their company. The Captain said he could not get along without them; and after the flag had been sent up, he allowed them to fire each three guns in honor of the Union, the Stars and Stripes. Much of the success of the recruiting service, and the patriotic fire in old Kane, was attributed to the gallant conduct and bright eyes of these young ladies.

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