Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1880-09-09
AFTER FIFTEEN YEARS.
The Rebel that sGaYe0aIY Yankeea a
s.Nf& ths y eBfanket' $sSS~ ~ b

tllC llluotl dUCO hONOP"E|NA hAAOAA
[contains AN engraving of Mr..
Augustus Van CIeef's fine mon
ument to the ''unknown deaf' at
Salisbury, N. G. 81 guess /
ought to know something of
what the Southern prisons were
like during the war, for 1 had
five months of it in Anderson
vile myself" .a. ,''
In a Pennsylvania train, a.
mong men of whom not a few
have taken part in the great
struggle themselves, and who
have each and all had at least
one relative engaged in it, such
an announcements is quite suffi-
cient to command general atten-
ton e. { ftUlgI1 HItifi y
"Noi did you, though2" r
"Spose you tell us the story,
mister; there's time enough fore
New York, l reckon"
"All right, if you care to hear
it. You see, when | first came
over from England, the war was
Just about beginning; and as
there didn'tseem tobe any thing
for me to dol thought I'd better
soldier than, starve, so i went
and 'listed right away. l wasn't
long in finding out that soldier
ing and starving might some
times mean pretty much the
same thing, for rations were
pretty scarce with lis once or
twice, when we got down on the
Mississippi. / tell ye, alter ly-
ing all night in a rice swamp,
stiff and wet and miserable, with
nothing to eat and only marsh
water to drink, it was just like
the breath of life to me to hear
the alarm sounded, and know
that we'd be at the enemy in a
few minutes more"
At this moment a pale-faced
man, who was going from seat
to seat with basket of newspa-i
pers and magazines, paused for
a moment to listen, with a look
of such evident appreciation that
it hardly required the testimony
of his empty sleeve to show that
he, too. bad been q soldier sold eq u his
time. ,HJKlnA y EUGll q
owe had plenty of fighting
down there" pursued the MARIA
tor, as the newspaper man pass
ed on: "but most of it was just
the sort that I didn't lfke-sRir-'
mislins among thick woods
where all YOU could see ofs
your enemy was the smoke Of
his piece as he fly at you,
where lots ofsouf fellows were
shot down without ever knowing
whohurtP EN-, I'd a pretty nar7
row escape myself that way one
night. MasIstanding sentry at
the outposts when q reb. let slap
at me from the thicket, and just
caught me across the cheek
here; you see the mark. | got
behind a tree quick as winking5
and there I stuffed my jacket
with grass, and put it UP against
a tree with a stick through it
and my cap on top, to look as
if / were peering around Tor a
shot; and then | dropped down
and crawled away into the BUSH
es. Presently IIheard the crack
of the reb's piece again, and,
looking out, / caught sight ofeI
his arm and "a shoulder, and
brought him doWnrWlth one
- .. ,..f .t, fra-ii-a ni f3ifEiV 20 rrciu3u
shot ID i.-aisJd 10 aisEoigGa a.9'' go 7' illt
swell, not long after that, /
and some more got picked mp
by the Southern cavalry, and it
wasn't a great while before we
all found ourselves hard and fast
in Anderson2iIle;; and there We
did have d time sure enough. !.
ssThe place has beenldescribed
80 often that I dare say you have.
4 pretty good idea what it. Mas
like. 1t was a, great, .gWide,I
swampy field, with a & stockadeI
around it, inside of which thou
sands of5us were cQopedr ruphkel
cattle ina pen. IF aman 'Hap-I
pened to have a blanket and
two or three bits ofsticks, so'he
could rig up a shelter against.
the sun ana rain, all the BETTER
for him If he hadn2the. gust took
his chance; and, 4 can can tteu yen
there We're were mighty few blankets
among us, and many of us had
little enough clothing either. .uosI
sAlI day long The iSsa]l SallIip III! kent EFT
alive. and at ni4nli
the damp and chill ate IIf INTO, our our
very bones, and set US shlyermg1
till otiHfeefh ratified again. AsII
to, food, 7 4han5'sj the time ~
gone all day upon a couple FofII
biscuits, and small ones at that;
and as to water, all we had was
from a stream that ran through
a cypress swanp, and you may
think what kintb sofisstuif shat
a.. N.ra i . .r