The National tribune., 1882-08-19
AN INCIDENT OF SHILOH.
How Hughes and Newton Reeapturcd Their supper
WRITTEN FOR The NAroNAL TRIBUNE By A. NEWTON, 46rH
Rect. III VOls.

upon the field in the midst of drenching
shower Colonel Davis lay on q stretcher cross
and hungry; to him came up Captain Hughes,
bent on u foraging expedition inside the
cnemy's lines When he came up the follow
ing colloquy ensucd:
Captain: Colonel, what are we going to do
for something to eat? The boys have had
nothing since morning, and they are tired and
hungry"
Colonel: "Sit down and suck your thumbs"
Captain: THAT would be poor supper for
tired and hungry men, Colonel"
Colonel: Well, what are you going to do
about it? There are no provisions that can be
got. Our cOmmissary is not here, and there is
no other way but to submit to the situation"
Captain: :" know where there is some grub
if the rebs have not found it,"
Colonel: "Where?"
Captain: "1n my tent. This morning when
the battle commenced I hurriedly collected
few hams and sack of hard-tack and hid
them in the corner of my tent, and if the rebs
have not found them they are there YETI
Colonel: what good do you suppose they
can do us there?"
Captain: Il don't suppose they can do us
them here, where they can do us good"
Colonel: "Nonsense-the height of folly to
dream of such a thing"
Captain: We'll, 1 am willing to make the
trial, anyhow"
Colonel: How are you going to get there?
Our encampment is in the possession of the
rebs; besides, our picket is between us and
them"
Captain: "Well, if I can find a man who
will go with me will see what can be DONE
if you will let US CO."
At this juncture l stepped up to the Captain
and said to him, Captain, L will go with you."
Captain: Colonel, see here, I have got a
volunteer. Now what do you say? Can we
go?"
Colonel: "You know my mind. Such an
attempt would be nothing less than sheer reck-
lessncss."
Captain: 90 am willing to run the risk"
run the risk" repeated the Colonel sneer-
ingIy. Then raising himself upon his elbow
he spoke sharply: GO along, and if you get
killed or taken prisoner you needn't blame me
for it,"
1t was now very dark. We made our way
through brush and over logs the best we could.
We had mOmentary views of our surroundings
from lightning, but the darkness was made
more intense when the flash had passed away.
At length we heard the words, "Halt! Who
comes there?" The Captain responded, "a
friend. viii the officer of the picket please
come here?" The officer came to US and said
"Who are you, and what is your buSiness?"
The Captain informed him who we were and
explained the object we had in view. The
officer replied: Boys, that is a dangerous
undertaking, but if you want to go l viii let
you through. The Captain then inquired:
"Do you know where the rebel picket is
placed and whether it passes through our
encampment?" The officer replied: ''The
two picket lines are about half mile apart
The rebel picket passes somewhere through
the lower part of your enCampment." The
Captain then turned to me and said: "Shall
we go or nOt?" I was unwilling to answer
this question. l felt that as he had led thus
far he should continue to lead, though l sus-
pected he might be testing my courage. 1
therefore said to him: Captain Hughes,
told you 1 would go with you; you have only
to lead, and it viii be my business to follow,
whether we go on or return. "Then," said
he, "we will CO." The officer passed us
through and said: "Boys, hope you will be
successful. Keep your eyes and ears open,
and know what you are about" We soon
came upon piece of ground where the timber
had been recently cut off, but there were logs
and brush here and there scattered over it.
We had not gone more than twenty rods
when the surrounding darkness was suddenly
lighted up, accompanied with a deafening
report 1t was the bursting of a bomb in the
air. We threw ourselves upon the ground for
a few minutes, and then proceeded. We soon
came to the northwest corner Of our encamp-
ment. The Captain said to me in a whisper:
"This is Company AS line of tents; we will
now go along on this end of the camp until we
come TO my line of tents. We did so, and
then halted and held a short consultation
and arranged our programme. We were to
examine every tent carefully as we came to
them. He was to pass on one side and myself
on the other and come together. In this way
we could keep behind the tents as much as
possible and render ourselves less liable to
be seen by the rebs during a flash of light
ming. In case we were discovered each must
take care of himself. In this manner we
plCSoSu OuI way untlI VIC S6IuO W IIlC captains
tent. He then whispered in my ear, "This is
my tent; we must be careful, for there may be
rebs in it; besides, We can't be far from the
rebel picket"
l crept upon my hands and knees around to
the door Of the tent and listened attentively;
then went around to the other side and found
the Captain lying upon the ground. He said
to me- They didn't find them" He had
pulled out sack of hard-tack about a bushel,
l supposed, by the feeling, and was then pulling
out hams. Said he " How many hams can you
carry?" l replied, 81 think l can carry four.
One under each arm and one i'll each hand;
l will try" "Thcn," said he, Il will take
three and this sack of hard-tack" We took
our burdens and left. How we got out of the
camp have no recollection The first recol-
lection | have of my whereabouts l had STUN
bled over a log into a brush heap had some
difficulty in finding one of my hams. On get
ting righted again | could neither see nor hear
anything of the Captain. For a few minutes
/ was bewildered, not knowing which way to
go, but it soon occurred to me that had Just
stumbled over IL log, and this was Il sufficient
indication OF the course we were travelling and
that L was on the piece of land before men,
toned, where the wood had lately been |
chopped off. therefore knew that was not |
far from our picket line. l pushed on, and |
4, fI,o fo,,, I