The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1868-01-17

duu W IuiuStC IL eCCio "Aou euOhD ~
received. Ez l reserved yoor note
and red it, my sufferins come back to
my mind so wildly that the fountins
NV the CRATE deep wuz onseeled, and
| wept scaldin teers. / wept ez l
thot how l suffered, how / he'd wasted
in Basteels the time SO much needed
in furtherin tine CRATE coz in wich we
wuz all engaged; when i thot how,
for three long weeks, i wasted away,
pinin for the free air outside Nv my
prison walls; how, for all that time,
l wus exposed to the horror Nv seein
around me feends in human form,
clad in the bloc alluz detested; how
1 wuz compelled to listen, perpet-
ooally, to sich songs ez:
"weTl rally round the flag, boys,
Well rally wunst agin.
shoutin' the battle cry NV Freedom"
And that other detestable air, wich
never hear without thrill Nv hor-
rOr-
"John Browns body lies a mo idrin in the
grave,
Bot his sO.e Ia 3 marchin on"
Wich it is. And also how for three
long weeks l wuz compelled to live
no, not live, but eggslst-with not a
drop Nv anythin stronger or more
revivifyin to drink than coffee; en-
doorin the namelis horrors wich fol-
lers the sudden takin away Nv that
on wich we live, and wich our neral
ez well ez physikil, nachers depend
But out Nv regard to my feelins, !
close these harrowin rehecshens.-
Shood l dwell onto EN-, / shood be
entirely unnamed. When l think
of them three weeks without whiskey.
reason totters onto her throne, and
wonder that / am still alive. Trooly
/ am spared monument.
1t would not be out Nv place in this
conneckshun for me to dwell for a
moment upon the SACRIFICES l hev
made and the torters to wich / hev
bin subjected. l hev, l may say it
humbly, suffered probably more than
any NV the glorious company NV mar
tyrs, tor rlghteousnis' sake. My first
taste Nv Fedral tyranny wuz in 1862
Well do / remember the day. A
draft wuz impendin. The tyrannical
Linkin, revelin in the gorgus halls NV
despotic power at Washinton, he'd
isshood his oppressive decree for
"three hundred thousand more" l
went, confidently, to the eggsaminer's
offs for my eggsempshen, but in the
face Nv the most positive ashoOrence
on my part that he'd bronkeetis and
liver complaint at that time, and he'd
he'd at different times NV my life de-
lirum tremens, wuz laft to skorn,
and pernounst ez sound ez brick.
/ determined not to imbrue my hands
in the blood NV my brethren Nv the
South. / shuddered at two ijees.
First, lat being punctured myself, and,
second, at puncturin any NV my
friends NV the Confederacy. There
fore, l made my way ez best l mite
to that refuge from the persekutor,
Canady. Need 1 dilate onto the ter
rors NV that passage? Need l state
how walked from my then place NV
residence to Detroit, and how / swan
across the river at that pint on a log,
and how, when on strikin the sacred
soil, l struck q taboo and shook my
fist at the stars and stripes, wich l
saw wavin on the tother side ? No.
For all NV 700 hev done it, eff not in
Cansdy, somewhere else. The draft
wuz over, and / returned, supposin
it wuz. all rite. Skarcely he'd / reach.
ed my humble home, when / wuz ar
restid, and dragged to q military
camp. 1 he'd bin drawd, and l wuz
taken ez q deserter. ] did not serve
tho. Ruther than to carry q Fedral
muskit, / desertid in ernist, and wat
military life l did see, ] saw in the
Confedrit ranks. But that wuz short.
The Kurnel NV fhy regiment appreci-
attn my style, ordered me to be dis
charged, on the skore that l Good do
the Confedrisy more good operatin
with the Dimocrisy Nv the North than
l Good carryin muskits in the ranks
NV her brave defenders. He wuz
pleased to say that ! wuznt worth a
d-n ez q soGer, anyhow!
My second inkarssrashun wuz Nv
a more tryin nscher. he'd bin called
TO organize and drill county wich
he'd determined, come veal, come wo,
they never wood, under eny cirkum-
stances, submit to be dragged to fight
in a coz wich they didn't believe in.
They he'd resolved in their meetins
to die in their own door yards a
thousand times each, ruther than
submit to the drafts wich wus i'm
pendin too often, or to the onconsti
tooshnel taxes wich the monster at
the he'd NV the Government wuz a
levyin. We wuz in camp, 900 strong,
when a company Nv soljers wuz sent
sgin US. Wun by wun the defenders
Nv their rites bethot themselves Nv
biznis wich they had at home. Wun's
wife wuz momentarily expected to be
confined. another he'd forgotten to
feed his cattle, and thirds oldest
son, the heir NV his house, wuz to be
marrid that mite. Eggsortin NV US
to fite bravely for our rites, and die
rite there before submittin, they left,
Fust wun at q time, then five in
squad, then ten, then q hundred, on
IL all wuz gone but me and nineteen
others. / was restrained by pride;
he nineteen others couldn't git away
win to barl NV new whiskey wich
led bin rolled onto the ground, and
vich they he'd monopolized atween
m with the only tin cup we he'd in the
amp. They we're, ez reward for
heir herOism and the sufferins that
all elected to offs that fall.
Iwuz treated with frightful sever
ty. / wuz kept on the ordinary
ashens nv q private soljer. l wuz
ot allowed the peroozel NV the
richmond papers, and l wuz COM
elled, afore bein released, to take
ne oath NV allegiance to the Federal
And wot hev / got for it Good
ord, / shudder when ] think nv the
NV man! The party /
IT wich ] suffered all this never sol