Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-10-27
After Fifteen Years--An American
Soldiers Story.

After Fifteen Years--An American
Soldiers Story.
ayes, they had hard time of it there"
says short, sallow, keen-eyed man, glsncing
over the Illustrated Newspaper which con-
tains an engraving of Mr.. Augustus Van
Cleef's fine monument to the "unknown
dead" at Salisbury, North Carolina al
guess / ought to know something of what
the southern prisons were like during the
war, for | had five months of it in Ander-
sonville myself"
In Pennsylvania train, among men of
whom not a few had taken part in the great
struggle themselves, and who had each and
all had at least one relative engaged in it,
such an announcement was quite sufficient to
command general attention.
"No did you, thought"
"S'pose you tell us the story, Mister;
there's time enough fore New York,
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't seem to be anything for me to
do thought I'd better soldier than starve
so went and listed right away. wasn't
long in finding out that soldering and starv-
ing might sometimes mean pretty much the
same thing, for rations were mighty scarce
with us once or twice when we got down
on the Mississippi. l tell ye, after lying
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 to know that we'd be at the
enemy in few minutes more.'
At this mOmpnt a pala-farad man whn
was going from seat to seat with basket Of
newspapers and magazines, paused for mo-
ment to listen, and with look of evident
appreciation that it hardly required the tes.
timony OF his empty sleeve to show that he,
too, had been soldier in his time.
ave had plenty of fighting down there"
pursued the narrator, as the newspaper man
passed on but most of it was Just the sort
that didn't discriminating among thick
woods, where all you could see of your en-
emy was the smoke of his piece as he let fly
at you and where lots of our fellows were
shot down without ever knowing who hurt
'em. I'd pretty narrow escape myself that
way one night. | was standing sentry at
the outposts when Reb let slap at me from
the thicket, and just caught me across the
cheek here; you see the mark. got behind
tree quick as winking, and there stuffed
my jacket with grass, and put it up against
a tree with stick through it and my cap on
the top, to look as if was peering around
for shot; and then l dropped down and
crawled away into the bushes. Presently |
heard the crack of the Reb's piece again,
and looking out just caught sight of his
arm and shoulder, and brought him down
with one shot.
"Well, not long after that | and some
nd a1r ltl
aud it wasn't great while before we all
found ourselves hard and fast in Anderson
ville and there we had time, sure enough.
"The place has been described so often
that dare say you have pretty good idea
what it was like. 1t was great wide,
swampy field with stockade around it, in
side which thousands of us were cooped
up just like cattle in pen. If man hap
pened to have a blanket and two or three
bits of sticks, so he could rig up shelter
| against the sun and rain, all the better for
him; if he hadn't he just took his chance /;
| and can tell you there were mighty few
| blankets among US, and many had little
| enough clothes either.
"All day long the sun kept roasting us
alive, and at night the damp and chill ate
into our very bones, and set us shivering till
our teeth ratified again. As to food, many's
| the time I've gone all day upon couple of
biscuits, and small ones at that; and as to
water, all we had was from stream that
ran through cypress swamp, and you may
think what kind of stuff that was.'
"You must have been powerful hungry,
reckon" remarked sympathetic listener.
Hungry? Well, III Just tell you some
thing about that. One day young fellow,
the son of the general that had US in charge,
came into the pen to look around, with his
little poodle dog following him. He'd hardly
turned his back when that dog was chopped
up and eaten bodily; and when his master
came to look for him there was nothing left
but bit of skin about so big. They
stopped our food for a whole day because
we wouldn't say who did it but we told no
tales--not weW
"Now | should tell you that to make sure
of our not 'scaping they'd run wire all
around inside, about eighteen feet from the
stockade; and that eighteen feet was called
the dead line, because if prisoner only
put his head over that wire he got bullet
in him next minute from one of the sentries.
| "Well, one night late in the fall I'd got
as close as | could to the dead line, so as the
stockade might shelter me bit from the
cold wind. (Ugh how it did bite through
me that night"). | was just wondering if
could live through till morning, and hardly
caring whether | did or not, when a sentry
just outside gave a psf that made me
look up.
Say, Yank,' he whispered, Il guess
you'll want blanket tonight. Catch hold
Of this And he rolled up his own and
chucked it to me- Il can git along without it.
| "'God bless you says land that was
all. chucked it back to him first thing
next morning, so as he shouldn't get found
out; but guess it saved my life, all the
same.
"Not long after that lot OF us were ex-
changed, and | among the rest. can tell
you hardly felt the ground under my feet
when | went out of that filthy hole free
man-though just at first was as weak as a
baby, and could hardly stand without being
held.
"And did you never hear no more o. that
feller as Civ yer the blanket 7" asked one of
the audience, with undisguised interest.
| Never, worse luck and don't suppose
| ever shall now, for it's good fifteen years
since it all happened, and I've never been
south since"
AT that moment sharp voice said;
Say Pank, guess you'll cant blanket
tonight ,"
The soldier started as If he had been shot,
and, turning hastily, found himself con-
fronted by the thin face Of the one-armed
newspaper man, lit up with knowing
smile.
"Why, if here amt the very man him
self" shouted the narrator, seizing him
with both hands. Well, who'd ever have
thought itY You're just going along to
New York with me, old chap, and you don't
ever go back to peddling papers while I'm
about"
And the ex-prisoner was as good as his
word = nap;a ss.r A, Gaod Co,nDans