Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-10-19
STORIES OF THE VAR.

ESAO1N1JS NJ Y fAA6s -
u Weighty Hayrrssck Which an
Old Cap ain Carried on the March.
From, the Albany Press. "A, .s31s>5 zss
EARLY in the war every soldier had a
passion for relics. This was carried To
extremes; every man was collecting ne.
mentoes for his father, brother and ais
tors and special friends. The first stage
demanded canon balls. pieces of shell
stained with blood, cartridges taken
from rebel cartridge boxes, shot guns,
squirrel rifles taken from tho bush wack-
ers, swords, and much-taike ed oftooth-
picks, bat this frenzy finally exhausted
atsesf, and the relic passion found ex-
precision in rings and ornaments from
camel coal and mnsset-sheils and pipes
made from mountain laurel. At the time
Of the eapture>of Fort Donelson every
body was in the first stage. The officers
and men first to enter the rebel lines
selected artillery sabres as the best
mementoes. Then they threw these
away and took shot-guns with the thought
that they had been in action and would
be IF use at hope. Then, after Il day or
two, they threw away shot-guns and re.
tanned she smallest bits Of expiofed
shehs. One old captain from northern
Ohio had worse attack than the orii-
nary man was afflicted with. He put in
day aftee day collecting guns, swords,
cannon halls, an. all sorts of things from
the battlefield. When the orders came
to move the captain was in quandary.
He solved the problem by sw.aring Mt
the government for not providing ade-
aUate transportation. He retained only
large artillery sack Handsomely made
Of leather, which he proposed
to use as ilaversack. He laid in sup
ply Of chicken, butter in teacup, bis
cult, crackers, a bottle of pickles, ground
coffee for extreme cases, pepper and
salt for fresh meat, and arranged all in
order I'M his roomy hayersack. He was
proud Of the institution, and examined
it frequently, each inspection n.a~ing
him the better satisfied with the whole
arrangement. While the haversack was
hanging ON the gun stacks just previous
to the start, some fellow pickad q six
pound cannon ball from the captais,'s re-
tected collection of relics and dropped it
in among the chicken. butter and bis
cnit. The march commenced. The cap
tain lost faith in his havelsack. He
changed the strap from the right shout.
der to the left and back again. and final
ly supported it with bis hand. Wien
the bault tor dinner came he was as
glad as any private weighed down with
lance ana selected a seat with
great deliberation ON log,
opened his havefsack with puck ering
lips. His but,ercup was broken and
chicken and bread and pickles were
one conglomerate mass. The captain
was astonded. His first reach into the
scass detected the cannon ball. He
drew it out, hurled it against tree, and
Wore 80 rs to fix the standard for the
regiment for the war. He was outraged.
After he had finished his dinner he
thought better Of the cannon ball VEN
ture, and declaring that as he had car
ried it So far he would carry it farther.
And he did, and it is now displayed as
a menento of the war at Defiance, Ohio.
This ended the relic gathering of the
company.
The provost marshals during the war
brought 10 the surface many rich stories
and these stories were enjoyed immense
ly by the soldiers in the field. In South
ern Ohio lived good Mrs. Blank, a wom-
an whose husband had left her years
before, writing to her from New York
eS&tt IL Ee Wde 4ioI w HotuS w1tiiiA tAiSe
days she could consider that she was
dead. II alive he would certainly be at
home in three days. He did not come,
and without und outstanding the mystic
riOus aIlnsiOns bis wife and alLhi friends
considered him dead. He was never
heard Of afterward. The widow had
two sons, one sta}wart young man,
che Other cripple When the first en-
Eolllnent for the draft was ordered
Widow was allowed to exempt
one son from the draft
and TO select which SON. She elected to
have the healthy son remain at home,
knowing that the cripple or invalid
could not be drafted. This gave her both
of her sons at home. Every one foresaw
that she would do this, and the provost
marshal met her with: "Before you
Gu claim this exemption, Mrs. B., you
must prese mt satisfactory evidence that
your husband is dead." Said the aston
ished woman: t'Of course he's dead,
and can prove it: have letter from
him in his own handwriting saying So"
And TO the very last the woman could
not understand why this repeated doc
faration should cause laugh.
wrote to the same officer, arout as fol-
flows: 81 think 1 ought to b.. exempt
aom draft because / have at home a
child that has been sick for two years.
The little thing has a spine in the back
and mas it very bad, and it takes all I;
can make to keep it comfortable. If I
went to war the child would suffer, and
L hope yon will excuse me-" This letter
is yet on file, and the man evidently
thought he had written terribly i'm
letter..