Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-06-18
A PICKET-LINE ADVENTURE.
exchanging Newspapers with Rebels
During the War-Making Coffee.

Inter-Ocean.
4 good many of those picket-line
adventures never found place in any
Official reports or the letters of army
correspondents. They were in every
case violation Of instructions, and to
have spoken of them to superior Off
GERS would have been to invite pun
ishment; so by sort Of Free Masonry
of the picket-line some of the most
| startling adventures of our private
soldiers never went on record. AS
! for myself, was little too conscien-
tlous IN the matter of obeying orders.
and only in one case did Imake any
departure from the strict line of a
soldiers duty. 1t was while we
were IN front of Chattanooga that it
became fashionable along the picket
line to exchange papers. The plan
was for confederate who wanted a
paper to come to the front, shake a
Southern paper as a flag of truce,
and in this way invite exchange.
The pickets on either side in that
immediate vicinity would cease firing,
| the Union soldier would start from
his line and the Confederate from mis-
line, and they would meet half way,
no officers in sight, sit down and
have chat. This had been kept up
for several days when there came an
order from headquarters that no more
papers should be exchanged. But
the boys, choosing their time for
exchange, continued the practice
against orders There came a week,
however, in which 40 rebel responded
to waving, or shaking, Or futterings
of paper or handkerchief, and we
knew then that orders against ex>
change had been issued on that side
as well as on ours.
But one morning quite early ny
partner discovered a man on the
rebel line frantically waving large
paper. He suggested that we slip
away from the reserve and 60 out
and see what the man wanted. He
took a paper. waved it. and started
toward the rebel in front. When we
| had proceeded about half way to the
point of meeting the fellow ceased
to wave is paper. We were puz-
zled at this, but finally concluded
that he was down ia hollow aud we
would see him when he came up on
high ground. So we walked on and
walked without warning into a
group of soldiers at the rebel picket
post.
The men were just ready to take
breakfast, and after the first furry
they joked with us good deal about
our extraordinary willingness to get
into their clutches at breakfast time.
When we spoke of the exchange of
papers, the officer in charge informed
US that orders were positive against
exchange, and that all his men un-
derstood it. AS tbs was the case he
took the position that we had come
willingly into their lines, and that
ne could not allow us to return. I
saw at once that his men disagreed
with him, but the question was how
we were to get away.
My partner. who had been a sol
der in Germany, exhibited the great
est nonchalance, and he joined in the
jokes at our expense and proposed
that he make the boys some coffee
that was coffee. The Confederates
had very poor excuse for that
article, and without more ado he
proceeded to make a little kettle of
coffee, the aroma of which seemed to
fascinate the coffee hungry sharp
shooters. When he had poured the
coffee into the cups and had ex-
patiated on the good it would do the
men, he took up his rifle aud said to
me, NOW let us start for our own
line" I followed him, and not q
rebel soldier on that picket post
lowered the cup of coffee from his
lips or looked in our direction.
never disobeyed orders after that.