Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1879-09-11
A WAR REMINIsCENoE.
By one of MOrgan's Men.

lNs5 lA1Oh'| Weso ~
duty tosa point about half way
betweenMc cMinnville and Wood.
bury, Tenn. This place was
crossing of the road from the a
bove towns, and what was call.
ed Jacksonboro and ShortMoun-
tain road. The country imme-
diately around camp was very
poor, and had been SO thorough
| fy foraged that the most accom-
plishcd ssbummer" could not gel
"square meal" in a radius of
six or eight miles; the people
had been literally stripped of
everything in the way of forage
or provisions, and many were
forced to leave their homes to
procure sustenance fortheir fam
flies. Our rations consisted of
a scant allowance of "hard tack
and sow belly,o and owing to tic
difficulty, or rather fmpossibili-
ty of getting anything extra by
Cumming" the boys christen-
ed the place "Camp Starvation
name it was justly entitled to.
After having become loeated
and having tried in vain through
the reighborhood to gcb sup
plies, / came to the conclusion
that as it was a ''groundhog
case" I would make a trial
on a still house which ]
knew of, situated in a mountain
gorge some twelve or fifteen
miles distant. Now be it tknown
that this same still house was on
"debatable ground, that is ii
was between our picket lines
and those Of the enemy, and was
visited by both parties andihad
been the scene of several sharp
skirmishes, as well as the place
of capture of many struggling
soldiers from each. side: buf
when a soldier is hungry dnd
dry he will take desperate cham
ees to get grub and whiskey, es-
pcciaIly whiskcy. Having set
tied the matter Of going in my
own mind, / communicated my
plans and intentions to H, a
mess-mate Of mine who / knew
could be counted on ina close
place and asked him to accom-
pany me. He was as Iexpect-
ed, anxious for such a4l0lie; and
agreed to all my propositions.
just here / must describe my
| friend H.. He was about
twenty-one years of age, five
feet nine or ten inches in heigth,
very heavy built, weighing ful-
ly two hundred and twenty
pounds clear blue eye, profusc
| fiaxen hair and countcilance of
decided German cast, to which q
curling blonde mustache, gave
rather a brigandish appearance.
He was q good shot, a magnifi-
cent horseman, Notwithstanding
his size, and one of the coolest
closest fighters / oIersaw! We
had been intimate friend in boy
hood, had joined the army to-
gethcr and had sworn to stick
to each other even unto death
if need be.
On more than one occasion did
the necessity Of a risk of 'life
arise in our four years service.
vet / never saw him falter OIL
hesitate no matter how great
the danger. 75ra i teq
Getting permission sof our
commanding officer, The over
night, for a scout in front, we
started from camp a couple of
hours before daylight, so as tC
get out of range of feragine
parties. About ten O'clock il
the morning, otter a hearty
breakfast with an acquaintance
who lived in the vicinity, VIZ
1came in sight orfthe still house
] The house was located at I
spring near the head ofiIthC
gorge with only one road lead
ling to it. This road ran up thC
lspring branch from the mait
creek a mile or SO distanb ant
like many other soldiers, wher
lit reached the still house it stop
lped. To guard against surprise
we approached the place from
the rear, going up1byia q noun
tain path and hitchcd our lor
lscs in a laural thicket two d
lthree hundred yards from th'
lhouse, where there was no dan,
ger Of their being seen By any
chance passer by, and taking
Jour guns 1--WE each had a caval
.lry Enfield and a pair Of navy
pistols) followed Che path dowr
1the mountain to the still house
This Temple of Bacchus wa
la log structure, some twenty b,
Thirty feet in size, with a low
lswagging roofand oycrhangin:
caves, the walls were low, Their
being barely room enough for
Imam to stand under the caves
and requiring o considerabl
lstoop to enter the door. N
sign of a chimney was about
neither was there any window
land the smoke from the fuinac
had to find its way out as bes