“'The night of this march my messmate, John Martin, a boy of my own age and my neighbor before coming to the army, was taken quite ill. It was his turn to be on guard. I took his guard duty that night, and was entirely without sleep. When not on post I was attending to him, as he would have done for me. The next day John was not able to carry his knapsack and gun on the march, and as we had no transportation, I carried his as well as my own. The burden was very great for me, and when we arrived in camp I was completely exhausted. John was not able to stand my guard, and when I told the Sergeant my condition, he would not excuse me, and gave as a reason that I had no business to carry John's gun and knapsack, inasmuch as I had no orders from him to do so. I think the Sergeant would do much better as a General than as a Sergeant. I may do him injustice, and I would not do that for the world, but I do believe that he entertains the same high opinion of himself that I do of him.' “At which remark old Gen. Sleeman laughed again, and said, so as to be heard, 'That boy will be a man some day, and, by the eternal, it would be a crime--yes, a murder--to shoot him.' “Continuing, James Whitcomb said: 'This, gentlemen of the Court, is my excuse, no more, no less. I hope that John Martin may be called to verify my statement.' “When the boy sat down the whole Court were in tears. “John Martin was called, and he did verify everything that had been stated by James Whitcomb. This closed the evidence in the case. The Court adjourned until the next day at 12 o'clock. When they met they began the consideration of the verdict. The Judge-Advocate charged the Court that the evidence was clear and conclusive; that the law fixed the penalty; that there was no way out of it; they must find the fact that he did sleep on his post, and that fact being found, the verdict must be death. “The Court was two days coming to a conclusion. When they did, my God, it was enough to make a man's blood run cold in his veins. They found him guilty on all the charges and specifications, and sentenced him to be shot to death, with only ten days' respite. The sentence was approved, and orders given to manacle the boy and double his guard. Gen. Sleeman raved like a madman, and came near resigning; said if the boy was shot he would at once resign. As soon as the judgment of the Court was known, Jackson took a leave of absence for ten days and left on the train that evening for home. He came, and on his arrival was looking like a ghost. All ran to him to welcome him.