The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1880-01-09
EERISEsCExsEs oY GEs. Tmouas.
stories Wbieb Were fold by Camp FIrea-
Tesiilnony TO Thots1as's RirmnesA Had
r0rethouaht.

WAsnisoroS, Nov. Stories
of the war, and especially Incidents IL
lustrHting the peculiarilies of Gen.
Thomas ~ man and commander, form.
ed the staple Of gossip among tie vet
Grams Of his army lately assembled here
10 do honor 10 his memory
When General Slocum nnl General
Ketcham met at the reunion they ex-
changed hearty greetings. In tho 30.
cial chat which followed they were both
reminded Of an episode IN which they,
next 10 General Thomas himself, eel.
the chief actors. In March, 1858,
Lieutenant Porter Of the Indiana Vol
untcers, two privdtes snd Il wagon mas
ter, became detached from their train
while out on foraging expedition, and
were captured by party Of guerillas.
Tho Lieutenant was in house signing
receipts for the grain with which his
wagons were loaded, when the foremost
wagon, containing the two unarmed
privatcs aud the wagon master, started
off ahead of their escort The Lieuten-
ant rode on 10 halt the wagon, and on
bis approach was forced 10 surrender To
party which had already captured the
wagon. The four prisoners were made
to ride until midnight, when the party
halted and prepared b. camp. Tho
lands Of tie prisoners were then tied
behind item, and they were made 10
stand ia n row two or three wards from
their ciptorr At signal the latter
drew their revolvers ard fired at the
prisoners. Three were sh1t dead at the
iirst fire, hat Lientcnnut Porter waa
not hit lie sprang a~ay in the dark
ness. aud after doubling on his pursuers
several times, at last tlrcr himself oven
banl: into the river. hasiug first sue
ceeded in FREEING his handa. lie finally
reached camp in safet,.
when the circumstance nf this Htroc
igy were made known L. General Them
NJ. bis Indignation lucw 30 bounds
After considering the matter he decided
upon "A novel method Of retaliation, and
one which Subsequent events proved te
ie most eiIcctnai preventative Of guer
lila murders. This WAS to levy $50,
U0U 0u the property Of the reheis liy
ing within Il .circuit of ten miles Of the
,isct, ~ here the miltsirfH were commit
t-s, The proceeds 20 be devoted 10 re
l.cvire iha fnuiliea of tie rnurdeted
ia'p. GeIenL S!ueum Ans charged
wilii tie caucuIi'm of this oidei,, ana
detailed CDlai, keiclHui, nov ths
,.ril known Representative IN Congress
( of ll,r NllIih New York district, tc
make thc asscsament, an.l seize proper
g to cover the amount named, ii ne
l.,.ltrr mn,ho,l Of collecting should sug
geese i,.eic Doubts were uApreraa.
with rsgatd To the success Of the effort
i'ut Colonel i<e;cI,am proceeded so Wig
oro,isiy ia his work that he was ena
bled TO collect and sell property to the
amount Of S3j,Gi0. General Siocum
IN reporting the result TO General
Thomas, paid Colone. ketclam high
compliment for his skill aud energy.
He also recommended that after the
sum Of $4,000 To the family Of each
of the dead soldiers should have been
paid, and few hundred dollars assess,
ed upon persons who hal afterwards
proved to be friendly hal been repaid
the remainder, about 5000, should be
divided among the families Of two Other
soldiers of the command who had lost
their lives at the hands of the guerillas
All this was done.
General Thomas himself was not il
man of many anecdotes. lie told nj
stories for the sake of stories. nor wa
he one who taught by PARALLELS, as Dir
Lincoln; but hc had military habit o
speech, concise, pithy and epigrammat
ic. His reply to Gen Sherman, ~,
criticised his abundant baggage, that b.
did not propose TO march without foo,
10 eat or "A bed TO sleep in, il familiar /,
all and Characteristic Of the man. /
was his eonsiderate attention to th,
comfort and health Of his men tha
earned for him the famous nickname o
''Pap." When it is considered tha
perhaps two-thirls of the gaps in th
ranks of regiment ut the close of
campaign are due, not to the bullets o
the enemy, but To the thoughtlessnes
or incompetency of those in charge Q
the health and strength Of the army
his care in this respect fully warront
the admiration and love from his oil
subordinates of which tho recent dem
onstration was an expression.
At the same time he was too goo
and Just General to permit this desir
fol comfort to degenerate into indu
gence, and he was especially opposed t
predatory forasing for luxuries. 30
one OCCASION" said General Negley th
other night, "whiIe the army were a
Murfreesboro, the General sent for m
to insist upon stricter discipline {
my division. There had heen n FIRE i
the town, and before the bricks wei
cooled the soldiers had carried them o
10 tho camp for chimneys It, is poss
ble that the fire had been Of incendlar
origin; such accidents often happe
near camps. At any rate Gener'
Thomas gent for me and said: 'Th
must be stopped, or the first thing yo
know they will carry off the who
town."
Said distinguished noval officer /
tho reunion Thomas was an oil
fashioned sort Of man. lie reminde
mo of Zach Taylor. He took the r
fuse which Sherman left behind an
: worked it over, retreating before Hoo
until he got ready to fight, aud then !
claoned linn out Personally he was