The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-07-14

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from camB was 0nc Of those blind.
crooked ones, such a. can only be
found in the South. Where q big
pine-tree stood in the way, the road
ran around il; swamp-hOles were left
to take care Of themselves. NV ''re-
seryen-a Sergeant and ten men--
were stationed on this road, at the
junction of two other roads, one Of
which led toward Norfolk, the other
toward Weldon To the right and left
were numerous crossroads, leading
from the different plantations. The
men, in groups Of three and four, were
placed 70 the right and left Of the re-
reserve, about two hundred yards
apart, in such positions as would en-
able them to watch the roads and
fields without being seen. From the
reserve, one soldier was sent a hun
dred yards to the front, and another
the same distance in the rear. We had
no axes, but built rude barricade of
rails and brush across the road, that
it might annoy an enemy i'll the night.
Late in the afternoon | visited all
the posts, and cautioned the men to
keep sharp lookout, and 10 eXtin-
guish all fires before sundOwn. In
case of an attack, they were 10 de-
ploy at once, taking advantage of all
shelter, and not to fall back till their
resistance would be useless, and then
to keep within supporting distance of
each other. Should | have occasion
To visit them in the night, would
first signal by twice clapping my
hands.
The Division Officer of the Day-a
Major, radiant in uniform. fresh from
/ some suffers stock-visited the posts,
and instructed them i'll the details of
vidette and outpost duty. Particu-
larly did he charge them 10 make all
mounted men dismOmt before ap-
preaching to be recognized. Said the
/ Major, ''Should General Grant HIM
self come out here, make him dis
mount before approaching within ten
yards"
Just after sundOwn we heard a shot
! ia front; then several more in quick
succession, and the vidette came run
ming down the road, dodging behind
the trees, closely pursued by a party
of gTay-cDated caVairy-m ell, who were
cracking away at him with revolvers.
! The men were promptly behind the
little breastwork, and part of them
sent a vOllcy which caused the cav
airy To wheel, and Sallnp ont of range.
] The yidette remained with the re-
serve till dark, when he was sent for
ward again, and posted behind a tall
/ stump.
A heavy thundeT-shOwer came up,
and the rain fell in torrents. The
! darkness was so dense that nothing
| could be seen-not even the shadows
of the trees overhead. Grouped to-
gether behind our barricade, we stood
for two long hours, trying TO shelter
ourselves with rubber blankets, and
eagerly listening for the warning
musket-shot of The videttes. FIRE.
quent, binding flashes of lightning
would come, showing, for 4 second,
every thing around with a blue glare,
only to make the darkness seem black
er than ever. AT about nine o'clock
the rain ceased, and part of the men
lay down To sleep. Their rest was of
short duration. One of the pickets on
the right, hearing a noise in the BUSH
e., challenged, and was answered by
a shot. He instantly fired ut the flash,
and his comrades on post fired with
him. The crashing in the bushes in
creased, and the sound of retreating
footsteps could he plainly heard. Any
noise, at such a time and place, al
ways seems close at hand. Several
others challenged and fired, thus re-
Vealing the position of nearly half the
post. The vidette on the road in front,
nervous from the first attack, and
scared by the thunder and lightning,
imagined that he saw something, and
fired with the rest, and then rushed
back to the reserve.
In the midst of all this trouble, the
COW, who had been brought along, be-
came demOralized, and, breaking
from her fastenings, rushed Oft through
the woods, and was irrecoverably lost.
With her vanished all our pleasant
anticipatiOns of fresh milk, and ten
yards of new rope. She never fancied
me, and a few hours previous had |
milk her. Yet | mourned her loss.
4 few minutes later we heard the |
clatter of horses hoofs, and the jing- |
ling of sabre, coming in the rear
Then the vfClette challenged sharply, |
"WhO cum dar?'' "DivisiOn Officer |
of the dayi" was theresponse. Halt, |
Division Officer of the Day. Dis |
mount Advance, and be recOgnizedp' |
continued the sentinel. In front of |
him was a broad, deep mud-puddle,
and from the splashing we knew that |
the Majors horse must be III it. "I |
am in the water" pleaded the Major |
"yOu know who / am never mind /
the dismounting; l want to see your
Captain" and he started his horse
"Halt! Dismount !" was the repeated
order, and the soldiers rifle clicked
There was sudden checking of the
horse, and the officer commenced eX-
postulating: "This is all unnecess-
ary-" when an emphatic "Dis-
!" interrupted him. \ flash
of fsheet-lightning showed the Major
and up to his knees in
the puddle, while the black soldier
stood with his muskct at aim. In an
other second he would have fired
'You obey orders well" said the
crest-faIlcn officer; "but my new
trowsers are ruined. Where is the
Captain of the picket ~
Having aScertained the cause of the
firing, which was the object of his Wis
it, he said, az think you had better
advance all your posts about Il hum
dred yards, for the enemy must now
know your exact location. Do il ut
once ~ Then, mounting his horse,
he rode off.
The first duty of a soldier is implicit
obedience 10 all orders from superiors.
| must confess that ] had but little
relish for this work. IL was easy to
say, "Advance the posts" ;" but to go
around through the woods,
in pitchy darkness, and hunt up
each separate pOst-running the risk
of an ambush, or being shot, by mis-
take, by your own men; bitten by
and rattleSnakes; getting
lost; scratched with briers, and
dTenched with the wet under-brush,
or mired in the swamps-was difficult,
and disagreeable in the eX-
treme. For once, i was tempted Ia
disobey orders, and risk the cOnse-
quences. But knowing the bad effect
it would have on my cOTpany-aS
some had overheard the order-I de-
cided to make the attempt. Leaving
the reserve in charge of the First Ser
geant, started ont To grOpe my way
as best ! could. 1t was nearly mid
night before the work was accomplish
ed A dozen times lost myself, and
only by continual signaling did pick
my way around. The men We're alert,
and nervous ready to fire ut the
least prOvOcatiOn. Great care was
necessary in approaching them. |
have had plenty of disagreeable work
in my my,expericnce, but snothing
So Dokerish as this. -r @
Hardly had I reached the reserve,
when the vidette in the rear chal-
lenged, and soon the Division Officer
of the Day yrode up again. He inform
cd me that the troops had all been
ordered to the left, at Petersburg, and
were then on their way thither; and
that my company be gather
cd in, as quickly as possible, and fol-
low after. His directions were "FOl-
low this road to the right; then fol-
low that for a mile, and then turn to
the left-that will take you to Prince
George Courthouse; keep the Court
house Road four or five miles, then
take a cross-r0ad to the left. till yOu
reach the Jerusalem plank-road-that
will take you to Petersburg. Hurry
up, or the Johnnies may scoop all of
yOur Evidently he did not mean