The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1874-05-30
WHY L EXCHANGED.

of morning and afternoon parades, Wis
iting the mems dinners and teas, and
other regular work. In addition to this
we had occasionally to mount guard and
to pass twenty-four hours IN sort OF
half imprisonment.
II is one of the regulations OF the
service that when officers or men are on
guard they should always be IN state of
readiness to 80 fall In " on parade at
moments notice. If you feel very
sleepy and desire rest you must take 1t
while you are buttoned up to the throat
and strapped down at the heels. A
lounge in an arm chair, or probably
little horizontal refreshment upon
sofa, is the extent Of rest which an otfi-
Ger on guard is supposed to indulge IN.
Among my brother subal ems In gar
rison it was our usual practice 70 IN
fringe upon the strict letter of the law,
and when the principal part Of our duty
had been accomplished, wea used - IN
dulge ourselves by diyestiLk our limbs
of their armor and seeking reirensh-
ment between the sheets of little camp
bed that was placed in the inner guard
room.
1t was part of the duly of an officer
on guard to visit all the s6ntries during
the night, the time for visiting them
being usually an hour or so after the
field officer had visited the guard the
field-officer being colonel or major who
was on duty for the day, and who came
once by day and once by night to see
the guards and to see that all was as 1t
should be. There was no exact limit TO
the number of times that the field Off
Ger might visit the guards but it was
the usual thing, and had become almost
a custom, for him to come once by day
and once by night, so that after the last
visit the subaltern usually waited an
hour or so, walked round the limits Of
his post, visited all his sentries, end
then turned into bed.
1t was bitter cold morning in Janu-
airy that my turn for guard came on. L
marched my men to the post, relieved
the old guard, and then, having gone
through the regular duty and dined,
endeavored to pass the time until the
field-officer had visited me. The pre-
vious evening I had been at bali in
town, and in consequence was very
tired and sleepy, and looked with con-
siderable longing TO the period when l
could refresh myself by unrobing and
enjoying a good snooze.
At length I heard the welcome chal-
lence. g." Who comes there % which was
answered by the response, Grand
rounds" and g Guard turn out - was a
signal which L willingly Obeyed, for l
knew that in an hour afterward / would
be in the arms of the god of sleep.
Slipping on my cloak and cap, and
grasping my sword, 1 placed myself in
front of" the guard and received the field
officer, who briefly asked me if every
thing was correct, directed me to dis
miss the guard, and rode off without
saying good night, proceeding which
thought very formal.
Giving directions to the sergeant to
call me IN an hour, for the purpose of
/ visiting the sentries, I threw myself
| into my arm chair and tried to read a
novel The time passed very quickly,
as I had a nap or two, and the sergeant
/ soon appeared with lantern to com uct
me round the seDtries.
| It was terrible night, the wind blow
/ ing hard, whilst the snow and sleet were
/ driving along before it. The thermom-
/ eter was several degrees below freezing,
/ and [ felt that I deserved much from
my country for performing so conscien-
tiously my arduous duties. The SEN
tries were very much scattered, and
| had TO walk two miles to visit them all.
1 accomplished my task, however, and
| returned to The guard-roOm, where
| treated myself to q stiff glass of grog
and throwing off my regimentals
| jumped into bed, feeling that l really
deserved the luxury.
In few moments / was fast asleep
not even dreaming Of any of my fan
partners of the ball, but sound asleep
| Suddenly became conscious of a great
noise, which sounded like drum being
beaten.
At first 1 did not realizC my position
and could not remember where I was
but at last it flashed across me that
was on guard, and that something was
the matter. Jumping out of bed,
called TO know who was there.
Tue sergeant answered in a great
hurry, saying:
'Sir, the feld-oficer of the day is
coming. and the guard is turning out.
rushed for my boots, pulled them OIL
over my unstockinged feet; thrust my
! sword-arm into my large regimental
cloak, which pulled over me /; jammed
/ on my forage cap on my head, and
! graspiDg my sword, looked to the out
ward observer as though fit for pa
/ rade."
L was just in time to receive the field
Wis oEg9a sanain asked . me i! my eqard
/ tone of surprise, and said 7 9, sir
all correct.
/ could not imagine Why my guard
/ should be visited twice, as such a pro-
/ ceeding was unusual, and perhaps my
tone seemed to imply that L was sur
prised. Whether it was that, or wheth-
| er treacherous gust of wind removed
the folds of my cloak and exhibited the
| slightest taste in life of the end of the
night-shirt, know not but the field
| officer when he had received my answer,
! turned his horses head in the opposite
| direction, and said:
CHOW, sir, want you to accompaD
me around the sentries.'
Had he told me that he wanted me to
accompany him to the rAgion low ]
should scarce have been more horror
struck for already I had found the
change of temperature between warm
bed and a warm room, and the outside
| air-and to walk two miles on a windy,
frosty night, with no raiment besides
boots, night-shirt, and esOak, was really
suffering for ones country and no mis-
take. I dared not show the slightest
hesitation, however, for fear the state of
my attire my be suspected, though
would have given a weeks pay to have
escaped for only five minutes. A non
commissioned officer was ready with q
lantern, and we started on our tour of
inspection.
The field officer asked several ques-
tions connected with the position and
duties of the sentries, to which 1 gave
answers as we'll as the ehattering of my
teeth would permit me. The most ner-
vous work, however, was passing the
gas lamps, which were placed at tpter-
walls of one and two hundred yards. uThe
wind was blowing so fresh that it IVES
with difficulty could hold my cloak
around me. Every now and then an ex-
ira gust of wind would come around a
corner, and quite defeat all the precau-
tions which had adopted to encounter
the heavy gale. managed to dodge in
the shade as much as possible, and more