Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-07-03
Salt gake Democrat.
ON THE PICKET LINE.
Adventures Which Never Found
Place i'm OFFICIAL reports.

GA good many of those picket-line ad
ventures said Il gentleman IN the rail
wav mail service, "never found place il
the official reports or the letters of army
correspondents. They were in every case
violations of instructions, and to have
spoken of them to superior officers would
have been to invite punishment; SO by g
sort of freemasonry of the picket line
some OF the most startling adventures OF
private soldiers never went to record. AS
/ for myself, l was a little conscientious in
the matter of obeying orders, and only
! in one case did make any departure
! from the strict line of a soldiers duty.
1t was while we were in front of Chatta-
nooga that it became fashionable along
! the picket line to exchange papers. The
! plan was for a Confederate who wanted a
paper to come to the front, shake South
ern paper as flag Of truce, and in this
way invite exchange.
''The pickets on either side in that i'm
mediate vicinity would cease firing. The
/ Union soldier would start from his line,
and the Confederate from his line, and
they would meet half way, shake hands,
exchange papers, and, if there were no
officers in sight, sit down and have chat.
This had been kept up for several days,
when there came an order from head
| quarters 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 no rebel re-
sponded to waving, or shaking, or flutter-
ing of paper or handkerchief, and we
knew then that orders against exchange
had been issued on that side as well as
on ours.
''But one morning quite early my part
nar discovered a man on the rebel line
frantically waving a large paper He
suggested that we slip away from the re-
serve and go out and see what the man
wanted. He took paper, waved it, and
we started toward the rebel front. When
we had proceeded about half way to the
point of meeting, the fellow ceased to
wave his paper. We were puzzled at
this, but finally concluded that he was
down in hollow and we would see him
when he came on high ground. So we
walked on and walked without warning
into group of soldiers at the rebel pick
et-post.
"The men were just ready TO take
breakfast, and after the first hurry they
joked us good deal about our extraordi-
nary 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 understood it. As this was the case
he took the position that we had come
into their lines, and that he
could not allow us to return. | 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 soldier .
n Germany, exhibited the greatest non .
balance, and he joined in the Jokes at .
our expense and proposed that he make
he boys some coffee that was coffee. The .
had a very poor excuse for
hat article, and without more ado he
proceeded to make little kettle of
,offee, the aroma of which seemed to
the coffee hungry sharp
shooters. When he had poured the
,offee into the cups and had expatiated
N the good it would do the men he took
Up his rifle and said to me, Now let us
tart for our own line | followed him,
nd not q rebel soldier on that picket
,ost lowered the cup of coffee from his
Ups, or looked in our direction. | never
Iisobeved orders after that"