Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-01-07

Is rather hard 20 dodge" nevertheless we man
aged 10 get around them some way. The firing
bad oeen continued forss0fn days, the pFincipai
ire coming from the barn" which was dread
70 al OF u. when otse afternoou Il was Thought
afvissble to burn the bari. aiofessid. Wei
ae called "a ali ourpickets and got ali ready Tor
n start having shavfngs. paper. matches. &c. o.
DO the JOB. when the commandant Of the job said
he guessed be would postpone il and very lucky
fos as we shoasd certainly have been cut -
piece- had We attempted It. However the BOYS
we're ready FOR the fnp very funny indeei.l 80
We took posts again as usual A few DAYS
after certain sergeant thought he could burn the
barn Sithoat losing man. tie went 70 the 9TH
Ger IN command OF the psckets and told him " hat
he tlou2bt be could DO Go ehsad. 10 not
know sng thing aboat ~. lie bad instructions
not . tire AZ the enemy without they allyanced,-
Md Ut course did not wish to know ANYTHING
about it. az the same time wished il burned
HE sergeant went into an old blacksmith shop
close at hand and made out of iron some slugs.
fourteen IN number about the size Of bis musKet
balls, took them % his picket post. built = small
fire and heated them red hot. Previous " this lie
had made arrangement with the bows TO LEI
them know what was going he would put IN
his powder, then damp rag and fire as soon rs
possible OF course. As soon as he fired at the
barn with his hot shot the boys their different
posts would pour IN yolley OF ball and buckshot
to prevent the rebels from extinguishing the fire
And 50 IT went on, hot shot after hot shot, tue
rebels succeeding in putting out the fire until the
last of the fourteen, which did the work il
having been aimed at the corner, where they
could not handily get at it, and If they could our
fire was so severe that il was rather dangerous
undertaking the job What glorious fire il
MADE, and how the boys enjoyed il, as it was Il
perfect terror. All the firing. or the principal
-
but we could only occasionally see them. There
was one prominent person, however. that We did
see once in awhile-that was cussed black dark
ey, who had a sporting rihe. and did some sharp
work. One day, however, he happened 10 show
has head little too much, and one of my bows
Frank l., drew a bead ON him. and down came
Mr.. Niger 80 letst We had every reason TO be
leye 50. as an ambulance came round shortly af-
terwards- Que thing IS certain, we had more
sharp shooting from him.
There are great many little incidents that
kere very interesting. One day | happened OF
certain post and noticed white flag IA handker
chief moving; | returned it as best / could with
my dirty one, soldiers seldom have clean
one; il moved on, and finally came gradually
the field; | followed il. and finally we met
| met seven OF the rebels face To face; | told
them came unarmed; they said, ESQ do we;"
said mo two OF YOU have bayonets so they had
but the mention of them when they cast them of
and stuck them into the ground. | asked them
what they wantedZ They said they wanted the
firing stopped. | told them that was what we
would like, and would DO so If they would;
they said they would pass the word down
the line ami have it stopped. These were Viz
ginianS that | met. They said those IN the barn.
(this being some time before the burning of it,
were South CarOlinians and we must look out for
them. returned 10 my post and sure enough |
did have 10 look out for them. | was sitting on
the fence with some of the boys unconscious of
the lead messengers which were aimed at Us ,
when bail struck the rail ON which was setting
and within about six inches of my hip. believe
that WIS my first appearance as a circus perform
er | think | turned back summersault, as
fine i one as YOU would wish To see. over the
fence, and laid in the sand under the protec-
ton OF one of our Notifications. The bows be
gan to inquire whether | was struck or not
replied that | thought / was not and that was
not irving TO dodge that ball but to dodge those
that were To come So we had good laugh
over the amusement, as the men call it, but do
not call being shot at quite 50 close an amuSe-
ment; there Is rather too much of a reality.
About two hOuls after this meeting Capt. W
Capt. ID. and Captain of cavalry came up,
Cant. W. had some business from our General to
communicate; so planted the flag which they
very quickly came to. This interview was very
interesting While Captain W was transacting
his business the other gentleman and myself
amused ourselves in cracking jokes, trading but
tons, &c. After performing our mission re
turned quite satisfied with our visit among the
Yahoos. Thus endeth the first chapter of picket
duty