Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1867-11-15

To illustrate the necessity of concise
ness i'm all business communications,
we publish a little anecdote of an Incl
dent said to have happened during
Bank campaign on the Red River:
Immediately after the reverses 70 our
arms in the neighborhood of Shreve-
port, our troops were making mas
terIy advance to the. rear" and the
daily marches OF 25 or 30 miles were
rather more than was agreeable to the
infantry branch of the service. Conse-
quentIy 1t Jared Ill with any stray horse
or mule which might happen to fall
into the hands OF any Of the dough
boys,n for he was sure to, be pressed
into the service" and would usually
be seen bestridden by two or three foot
sore and weary fellows, and so piled up
with knapsacks, haversacks, guns and
equipments as to appear like walking
menagerie.
During the halt, to save the gunboats,
and while the whole army was engaged
i'm damming the river (it 10 to be feared
that the dams were often built with an
'snn by the overworked and not over
fed soidiers;) it happened that a plant
or, in the neighborhood, one Of the class
who were always Thoroughly loyal"
while i'm sight Of the stars and stripes,
but who found 10 difficult to remember
which oath they took last, this planter,
whom we will call Johnson "for short, !"
missed two of his horses, which, after
some difficulty were tracked to the
camp of the -ths Regiment and dis
covered to be In the possession of two
officers of the Regiment, to whom the
boys had turned them over for safe Keep
ing, thinking that under the protection
of pair of shoulder straps, che rights
of possession would be more apt to be
respected, than If retained in the
ranks. ss ..-,.t-sv.
Having learned this much in regard
to the, missing animals, off posts Mr..
Johnaon 70 the headqsartsi. ofdeneral
Smith, and demands that his property
shall be returned to him. and after
hearing his statement, the General di-
recteci, hiM Adjutant to inquire into the
matter. The Adjutant General, having
matters of much greater import on hand
hastily perined the following order aud
dismissed the matter from his mind. :.
e Headquarters DIV. Corps, 1854.
Col. 4-----, Com'd'g -Reg't. Vol.
Colonel: am informed that there
are two horses belonging to Mr.. John
son in your camp, and I'm the possess
sion of officers of your Regiment, one
branded X. and the other, claimed by
one of your captains. branded N u.
Should such be the case, you will i'm
mediately turn them over to Mr.. john
son - g q - - : : Sss.2 -. ~ -. 81
BY order of Brig. Gen, Smith,
--' -, A. "A. General.
A few hours later the General was
somewhat astonished by the return of
the same order, with the following en-.
dorsement:
Headquarters -th Reg't. VOL, 1854.
Respectfully returned with the infor-
nation that there are in the camp Of
the --th Reg't VOL, q vast number OF
horses, mules and jackmses, branded
with all the signs OF the Zodiac, but, IL
has failed To come to the knowledge of
the Colonel commanding, that there Is
I'm his Regiment any officer branded X,
and he feels quite confident that no one
OF his captains Is branded N. o. Should
he. however, be mistaken in this mat
ter, the officers bearing the above brands
will be Immediately turned over to Mr..
| Wary Respectfullv. etc. rh.Es