The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1868-10-14
ysltIe|.al!ilgell('tl't,
ss 81. EsES M is ERABL L ES..

I'll IL E.EEi'SS EaE''S M lis LIZA b l. ES.
: BYsJoHN EsTEN oDKE.
:ssRheg called themselves s'Leo's Misera5
Pies
s.fgs Eha twas a grim piece,of humor, was
81 not reader? And the name had a.
someB hatcurion origin. Victor Hugo's
work, les AaffIserdJles, ii ad,bee n.translated,
.and Published by a house in Richmond;
sHhe.so1d diers,i tie great dcarth Of read
ing matter had seized upon it.; and thus.
zsbby a:strange chance the tragic story Of
.sssthe Great French writer, had become
skno@n TO the soldiers in the trenches.
Everywhere, you might. see tho .gaunt
figures in their tattereds jackets bonding
a.oFsrst the dingy pamphlets .Fantina, :" CO.
fssatte, or .Marius. !" or :'sSt. Denis, and
sthes woes of 90 can sValjean,"' the old gal
;saeY- Y-slaEe, found an echoein the hearts OF
these. braYs. soldiers, immured,sin the
trenohes and fettered by duty to tlelrs
smuskets Or their cannon.
: singular fortune of. writer !! Happy
!. M.aHugo! Your fancies crossed the ocean,
and, transmitted into Q new tongue,
S-whIleef away the dreary hours of tho old
ssoftiiers of Lee, at Petersbu re.
THUS, that history of aThe. Wretched,'
9 swasi ne, pabuIum of the South in 1864 );
! and asrthe French title had been retained,
esson the backs of the pamphlets, tho SOL
little familiar with the Gallo pro
1msaneiation, called the book, MLee's Mis-
prabfesr r Then another step was taken.
ZEE was no longer the book, but themselves
: whom they referred to by that. name.
TheseId qoteran of the army thenceforth
:aangbad at their miseries, and dubbed
::ss;stihemsslves griml We Lees Miserables -
The sobriquet was gloomy, and there
tsssgas something tragic in the employment
rot Sit;, Siit but it was applicable. Like most
popular terms, it expressed the exact
f6oughtin the mind of.every one-coined
sHhas situation into aFphrase.
Truly, they were 1.-The Wretched, p
stha soldiers Of. the army Of Northern Viz
giniia, in the: fall and winter of 1861
They had quarter of q pound of rancid
Nassau. bacon, from New England
FOR daily rations of meat. The handful of
flour, or cornsmeal, which they received,
MAS musty. Coffee and sugar.were; ;doled
:sscut a luxury, now and then only and
Sstiie microscopic ration became. Jest to
those who looked at i. a little agrease"
and corn sbread-the grease rancid, and
ezbreads musty-these were the food OF
ssthe army -. - - 3 ). e
heir clothes, blankets, and shoes were
no Be ter-.eg worse. Only at long in.
S gaerYals could the Gov ernment issue new
zones to- them Thus the army was in
tatters. The old clothes hung on men
sssssH6ks scarecrows: Theirgray jackets were
5 in rags, and: did lnotS keep out the chilly
wind sweeping over the frozen fields.
Their old, blankets were in ::shreds, and
: gave them little warmth when they wrap
S pod themselves up-in them, shiveringsin
tho long eold ds$nig ghts: Th 8 old shoes,
patched and yaWning, had served in many
"a march and bait ttle--and now allowcd-the
: naked soul lto touch the hard and frosty.
egronnd. ..,7 J. Sos. So. -.
Happy the man with new blanketl
Proud The possessor of a whole rounda-
bout hat mil ilEonaire orsfavorite child
Df; fortune passes yonder-the owner of
ansunpat atched pair Of shoes
sssssS Such were the ratiens and clothing Of
the army at that epoch I:-rancied grease,
:musty meal tattered jackets, and Worn
:. cut shoes. And these we're the Fortunate
onest Whole divisions often went with
out bread even, for two whole days
thousands had no jackets, mo blankets,
seand dsno shoes: Gaunt forms, in ragged old
s.shirts and torn pantaioons only, clutched
THE m1sket::;%AE AZ night they shuddlod to-
gethar for warmth by the fro in the
trenches When they charged, their
naked. feet left blood-marks on tho abatis
:: through: y hich they went at the enemy.
is not an exaggeration, reader.
These iacts>areS eSof record.
And that was a part only. It was not
: sonfy famine and hardship which they un-
derwent, hui. the incessant combats-and
mortal tedium--of the trenches. All
the trenches! Those words summed up
s whole volume Of suffering. No longer
in open field, no longer winter
quarters, with power to range; mo longer
{ freed dom, fresh air, heaIthful moyement-
the trenches!
4Here; cooped, ap and hampered at every
Eur, they fought through all those long.
1months:of the. dark autumn and winter
of|lS64 They wero no longer mon, but
machines loading and firing the musket
and stho cannon. Burrowing in their
Holes, and su5terranean eovsred-ways,
thsy.cronched in the darkness, roso at tho
sound of coming battle, manned the breast
works, or trained the eannon--day after
day, week after week, month after month,
they were there in tho trenches at their
grim work and some fat of Destiny
seemed to have. chained them there to
battle forever! at midnight, as,at noon,z
they y;sMere at thoir posts: In. the dark
x.,,,,oo -oa,1 !, L.,