The National tribune., 1885-03-26
SHERMAN'S BUMMERS.
How the Boys Provisioned the Army.


To THE EDITOR: Your paper has for years
| afforded the veteran soldier great solace and
satisfaction in the perusal OF war anecdotes and
| "reminiscences. The recital of the campaigns
and battles of the rebellion goes a great way
| toward strengthening our recollections of those
| trying times Gen. o. o. Howards recently
! published accounts of movements in which he
| participated are instructive, and | wish that
more like them were s0wn broadcast over the
| land as The TRIBUNE has disseminated these.
Shermans march, with its excitiDgly inter
estipg episodes, has been written and rewritten
| Of but the "true inwardnesS of his brilliant
| march through the Carolinas has never been
| sufficiently exalted by the "glimmering touch
of the artists pencil" and / write this more to
| wake up the surviving " Bummers" of Sher-
mans army than for the purpose of chronicling
an incident that came under my observation,
and was much commented upon by officers and
men of Pap" WilliamS's Old First (Red Starr
Division of the Tenth Corps.
| When it is remembered that Sherman's army
consisted of $4,000 men, and that they, with the
horses and mules, were almost wholly subslsted
by the efforts of ID or 30 men detailed from each
regiment, it will be seen that the life of the
| hummer during the so days journey through
! South and North Carolina was an energetic one
at least, if the much-abused fellows did occa-
sionally have to plumber. But they taught the
hot-blooded people of impetuous South Carolina
cal manner how to put down rebellion by max
| ing war terrible, which could be done in no
better way than to vigorously strike at their
! 'breadbasket'
From every regiment, upon the arrival of the
army at the Branchvile Railroad which ran
from Charleston to Augusta. Ga, were detailed
from 10 to 40 men, with orders to mount them
selves as best they could and devote themselves
to securing the country on the tlanks of the
| advancing columns for food, forage, cattle, and
| plunder generally.
The Twentieth Corps commanded by Gen.
5. s. Williams, splendid General and a native
! Of Michigan, was the first to equip its bum
mers; some had horses furnished them, and
others got them as best they could. Kilpat
| rick cavalry gathered in many horse or
| mule that had been left in an exposed condi-
| tion during the night The writer procured
his mule from Kllpatrick's wagon train on the
night of our arrival at the BranchVille Rail
road running between Augusta and Charles
| ton. At first all of the regiments were not
represented, but before many days every COM
mand in the entire army had its band of bum
mers. Each regiment acted on its own hook
and had only one regulation to observe, and
that was to take its regular turn in the advance.
Each corps consisted of three divisions, and these
had to 20 to the right in the advance on alter
nate days, beginning with JackSon's First Dl-
vision. And woe unto squad of another
division who gained the advance on day
when it was not its turn When caught in
| such a proceeding the commanding General
| who was entitled to the advance would sum-
| marily arrest tho disobedient bummers, dis
| mount them and confiscatc the plunder.
/ remember the day of our arrival at Fay
ettevillc, n. C., when ~ bummers of the First
Division, Twentieth Corps, drove the rebels
from the town and across Cape Fear River,
taking possession and securing vast quantity
of -four, meal, meat and tobacco. This day
the Second Division. bluff old Gen Geary in
command, had the right to the road" and
when he came up and found the condition of
affairs, and realizing that the honor of captur-
ing Fayetteville, with all its glory and plumber,
had been nsidiOusly appropriated hy the in
significant AZ Red Star bummers, his wrath
knew no bounds. He sent for the commanding
officer, and was answered that there vas
commissioned d officer there-that tee men were
composed of bummers from the 9th Ind. and
18th n. j., and that Hoosier-Jerseyman
named Hi Hand. of the 18th, was running
the thing" The staff officer hunted up the
cheeky Hand, who had heretofore considered
himself equal to almost any emergency, and
was looked upon as sort of plnmed knight by
the men of the expedition. The General sent
for him to report at headquarters, whittier the
do-as you'll please Hand went, and after some
little time was ushered into the terrible pres
once of the mighty Geary.
What is your regiment, and by whose au-
tbority do you presume to dis0bey orders in
the manner you have done in advancing upon
this place. thus laying yourself liable TO cap
ture and deaIh?"
The culprit was temporarily paralyzed by
the manner and substance of Geary's reception.
But he readily recovered and told the Gen
eral that he and his comrades had not seen their
division for II days; had been down on Lynch's
Creek, plundering the people, converting the
natives educating the negroes, and making
o 4o1I fI,nt
outside Of the stores which they had captured
on the retreat of the rebs from Fayetteville, he
had 10 men running large grist mill at Rock
Creek, six miles from there, and that he had
80 wagon-loads of bacon and meal, 40 horses,
and 1900 negroes, which he would turn over
to the proper officer in due time, and that he
really must be off, as he had letter-diary of
the trip from Savannah which he wanted to
send TO the New York Times by the first con-
veyance. According TO a staff officers account,
who was present on the occasion, " The brave
old General was paralyzed; he was dumb
founded. What was to be done? 1t would not
do to compliment the 20 year old boy. and still
he had proven himself the most successful for
ager in the command" Suffice to say, Gcary
released the brave and reckless 42 bummers,
and bade them report to their command Be-
fore leaving, Hand exchanged horses surrepti-
tiously with Geary's Adjutant General, and
Joined his command, a veritable hero in the
eyes OF OInccrS ana men.
The advance from Fayetteville to Godsbor-
ough was impeded by rebels and foraging was
discontinued for the reasons that it was unsafe
and the country had become so barren that
there was nothing TO plumber. But all Of this
vast army Of bummers participated in the bat
ties OF March 10 and 19 and proved themselves
as brave aud dutiful III the ranks as they were
adventurous and successful on the flanks"
What has become of poor Hand | do not
positively know, though know his account of
Sherman's march was published in the New
York Times, and that il was the rst newspaper
tidingS received in the North Of Sherman's
march from Savannah to Fayetteville. He
went West after the war, became an editor and
Mayor of city in Kansas, but his love OF
whisky and adventure led him to abandon
business, neglect his family, and finally fall in
with the grand army Of dissolute printers
which have infested the country since G
war. Brave, genial, intelligent, educated
without his " besetting sin " Hi Hand would
have long ere this ranked as man among men
in any community or State.
j have no doubt every regimental squad of
bummers had one like Hand. and to them,
more than any other agency, does Gen. Sher-
man to this day credit his success in pro-
visioning his army during the memorable
march through the Caroinas. Perhaps some
of the boys can recite more "reminiscences like
this. And if So can't We have them ?-HENRY
C. HARRISON, 9th Indiana " Bummer"
The Trouble Safely Over.