The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-10-23
THE ARMY MULE.
The Historic Part He Played in the
Civil War.
lSt. Louis Globe Democratl

WiVeu Ille SUITS anu SUT1peS.
A team of rusty-looking mules, at
tached to Gravois Road horse-car, SHE'D
and if brakes hadn't been swiftly put or
the long-eared substitutes for Locomotives
would have run away with the car, on q
down grade, and perhaps killed couple
of child pas ,engers, to say nothing OF
breaking the conductors new bell-punch
"Them's disloyal mules" angrily
howled a bucolic passenger, "bet you any.
thing you'll find G. S. A. branded ovel
theif rumps. They amt reconstructed
yet, them mules"
"It's little singular about mules" sen.
tentiously observed a military looking
gentleman, the while stroking a fierce
gray mustache. "Phey played an i'm
portant part in the late conflict. | re-
member when we first employed them as
cavalry. The Yankee pickets used to
laugh at us, and shout over, There goes
the rebs' jackass cavalry but they soon
came to using mules themselves"
The ubiquitous reporter braced him.
self to withstand another possible at
tempt to run away on the part of the
mules, and with the remark that he was
injured in the army-on the Union side
and couldn't stand anything worse than
a snake story invited the ex-Confederate
chieftain to organize, with him, camp
fire, and to fire off the reminiscence that
was already fused and might be expected
to 60 off at any moment.
"Mules are generally conservative in
their disposition" unused the representa-
tive of the "lost cause" "but they are
sometimes positive and aggressive. l have
known them to be So"
"With their heels, do you meanw
"I was not referring to that-although
I have great respect and consideration for
a mules hind feet-but rather to their
possession of what might be called limit
ed reasoning powers sir, as sometimes
evidenced by their military carer"
"Do you call to mind any especial in
stance demonstrating this intuition, as
you might call it,on the part of the aver
age army mule?"
81 WAS trying to recall such. 1t was
something more than instinct on the part
of the mules. Up the Red River cam
pign, for instance we captured lot of
Federal mules. Well, Gen. A. J. Smith
came up, and we someway didn't like him
as well as we did Banks. He was a good
soldier. Smith WIS"
eyes but about the mules?'
"Oh yes, I was coming to that. We
captured these mules, sir, near Sabine
crossroads, / think it was. The Federals,
in their haste to get away, seemed to
have left them. Any way, we corraIed
them. In our haste to prepare for
Smith, we didn't take as good care of
them as we might have, and they got off,
Now, where do you suppose they went7'
"Back to the Federal camp, probably"
eyes, sir; to the very brigade they
came from, and where, we afterwards
learned, they were used not only by the
wagon masters but also by some Of the
batteries. So the Federals, who had ear
lier laughed at us for using mules, were
now employing them not only for trans
porting stores but actually as fighting
mules. It's little singular that they
should have gone back to the Federal
camp, and they must have passed be-
tween skirmish lines, too; and heavy
firing was going or"
"Perhaps it was mere chance took
them back; or, may be, no other road
was open?'
ono, sir; they reasoned. What were
the facts? Why, sir, our supplies had
not come up and we were short Of forage.
We hadn't fed them. They knew that
they had left corn, and their reasoning
faculties told them that by going back
they could get forage"
"Then they were simply hungry and
went out foraging on their own ac-
count?'
"But how did they know they could
get corn in the Federal camp? They rea-
soned that, as they had left corn, and as
we hadn't meantime come up and cap
tured the forage, why, the corn was still
there; SO they went after it.
"They were loyal, anyway"
Eyes, as loyal to the flag as a great
many other inhabitants in that section
were about those times. People who,
when we were about, professed adherence
to our cause and drew rations-when we
had food to give-and when the Feder-
ais We're about blosoomed out into Union
lists, and ate hard tack and sow-belly un-
der the protection of the same flag that
we saw frighten' these mules just now.
However, you are mistaken about the
mules. l have known them to follow
contrabands into the Federal camp, and
doubtless they were just as welcome"
"When was that?'
"At various places and times. Gen.
Sherman could could tell how his mule
force augmented on his march. Indeed,
l have often heard Gen. Kilpatrick's
force spoken of as mule raiders. But
perhaps the mules only followed in his
forces under the impression that they
might obtain more corn. Our Wheeler's
supply of forage at that time was very
scant. have noticed that whenever we
were short, the mules, like the contra
bands, struck for the Federal camp,
where there was plenty to eat"
'tNot alwaysw
'T suppose not; but your side was bet
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