Union and American. [volume] (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1875-1877, 1876-01-27


We called him Slam Bang for
short, and Old because he was old
in iniquity. HIS right name was
Klimmonds. rf iI.i v,/
He was a sober, innocent-look-
ing thing, about twelve hands
high, with a black head ard brin-
die body. His tail was cut of
short, which gave it the appear
ance,of a b%rushSbroom on "a stick.
His name was cut Short, and stood
in a row of bristles along his neck
His ears were nearly a foot long,
and were fulfof black, curly hair.
He would always he.d one ear for
ward whUereIans t his hitching-
post. whicA hjtoAiag>nsss wtSs his
reside+-se v4ile at ha4e. He had
a hn6bit Of sleeping @bibs standing
up, bat always with om eve open.
TsP hair en- his body was Icing aBa
stuck straiRhs ONT. Ike ssufd play
'possum on sleep, and wake ep the
eaickest, ana lick a mon higher
than any other MAKE in the army.
lie WIS a beautifRl aniBal 10
ride IN a saddle. Rhea melnted
ne wosld lie dusn aad tra~el on
lIs sids. If he. wea1an't do tibet
he weald back, and If Ire c@sldA't
set you off by bucasiRg, he would
bolt; and If that failed he would
rear UP and fall over backward on
you, and afseFward kick and bee
yeH if yea shaneed 10 Ire q little
slow in making yourself scarce.
He could squeal the loadest and
bite the biggest piece cut of a
board of any mule alive.
His principal amusemeut vas to
play sleep until some dog came
close to his heels, and then the
way the dogs hair would fly was a
caution. | have known him Ia
kick adog fifty rods at one clip.
If you would go before him and
just point your finger at him, he
would lay back both ears, part his
lips enough to show his teeth, and
with a desperate lunge and squeal
he would chase you up a tree oil
into some other place of safety.
His appetite was peculiar; some.
times he required a change of food
in the way of q soldiers overload
or q piece of tent. To this KIND
OF food he always helped himself
and he preferred an overcoat taker
fresh oil of a mans back in 6
rainy day to any other way il
might be served. Nor would he
ever eat a hole in a tent unless the
weather CHANGED to be rainy. NJ
halter, strap or rope would hole
him; he would bite a rope in two
the first bite.
He was of a solitary disposition
| never knew him to take a shine
TO but one mule, and that one haC
to either toe the mark or fight
when Slam was around. He
seemed to like horses on one nc.
count-they were a good mark t.
kick at.
The only thing you could easily
approach him with was an apple
One day a darkey gave him an
apple with red pepper inside of it
For the next half hour there was
fun in that camp. Old Kiln
coughed, sneezed and prayed. Hc
was Slamencholy for about q
month, at the end of which time
lie kicked a darkey (about the
size of the one that gave him the
apple) into the middle of an ad.
joining lot. After that Kiln en-.
ioyed better health.
One dag a shell from the enemy
whizzed over his head, making
terrible screech. Slam lowered
his ears fat on his neck, opened
his mouth and made a grab for it
but it wasn't there. The next one
burst and wounded him in the
shoulder. The wound was severe
and our mule groaned like a man
and made a great fuss over it. HI
recovered, was given to the cook
Of the officers mess, and afterwart
was a faithful and obedient ami
NAL.