Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - I. Ancestry and country home in Sweden—Home influences—My first school years—Christmas—Military life—Departure for America
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
IS
4.2 Story of an Emigrant.
ourcitv fanned our youthful enthusiasm into flame. Finally,
a detachment of the artillery, quartered in the city, was
ordered to leave for the seat of war, and now I could no longer
restrain myself, but besieged my parents to let me join that
part of the armv which was going to the battlefield, and
to clinch the argument I was cruel enough to send word to
my distressed mother that if she would not consent I would
run away from home and join the army anyway. This last
argument made her vield, and in the fail of 18491 became an
— j
artillery cadet, being then in my seventeenth year. But
although I won this victory over my mother, whose greatest
desire was that I should become a clergyman, she in turn
gained a victory over me by persuading the suigeon of the
batallion, who was also our family physician, to declare me
sick and send me to the hospital, although I had only a slight
cold ; thus my plan to go with the army to
Schleswig-Hol-stein was frustrated. This did not make much difference,
however, as the war was virtually closed before our troops
arrived at the place of destination, and my time could now
be more profitably employed in learning the duties of a
soldier, and in taking a course of mathematics and other
practical branches at the regimental school.
1 remained in the army a year and a-half, during which
time I received excellent instruction in gymnastics, fencing
and riding, besides the regular military drill. Two winters
were thus devoted to conscientious and thorough work at
the military school.
Knowing that the chances for advancement in the Swedish
army during times of peace were at this time very slim for
young men not favored with titles of nobility, and being also
tired of the monotonous garrison life, my friend Eustrom
and myself soon resolved to leave the service and trv our
luck in a country where inherited names and titles were not
the necessarv conditions of success.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
