Morris tribune., 1886-10-13
CONFEDERATE SAL.
Strange story Of Woman's Life ana TFssI'
Death.

three friends. l watched my opporCu
7 nifty, and soon had the satisfaction OF
seeing the group dispense, with the ex-
= ception of the man who had attracted
l nv attention. We casually drifted
;, into q conversation, and / remarked
II that the mention ct confederate Sal
q had excited my curiosity.
"Was she one of the heroines OF the
war;" l asked.
: : "Well, no." was the reply, sit would
l. take q considerable stretch OF the I'M
E agination to make her heroine, but
I she was right lively chara cter IN he'
d day"
ID '"Teu--me--11'-l
- the story" said /, as /
rendered a fresh cigar to my acquaint-
ance.
"Story, bless you, there is none to
tell, ," answered the old soldier, strik-
ing match. "She was just Confeder-
ate Sal, and that is all there is in it.
She was woman, you know, who was
up IN Tennessee with the army, knock
ing around in the camps. We simply
couldn't stand her any longer, and we
put her out of the way"
"Put her out of the way"
'Yes. and it is q rather remarkable
thing that although was in the war
four years do not know that l hada
hand in the killing of any human be.
ing with the exception OF Confederate
Sal"
"Who was she?"
'"The Lord knows. She made her
first appearance as sort ofpeddler, sell
ling stationery and other little tricks
She was rather good looking and had
some dash about her. Before long we
found that she wouldn't do. Several
times she was ordered off, but the first
thing we knew she would turn up again
in a few days, sometimes wearing a.
private's uniform. She was deter
mined to stick to us and we couldn't
get rid of her.
"Was she spy"
II don't think she was. i think
loyalty to the Confederacy was the
one solitary virtue that she possessed.
In several skirmishes | saw her pick
up musket and fight like a tigress.
NO, [ don't think she ever played US
false
"And yet she seemed to he sneet-a'-
ly obnoxiora5:
:"one was, sir; and there was a good
reason for it. That woman, sir, was
drunk half the time. l have known
her to break up a council of war by
forcing her way into the generals tent
when she was bowling drunk. She not
only drank herself, but smuggled liq-
uor into camp and made the soldiers;
drunk. Oh, she was a terror;
"She went on from bad to worse"
continued my companion, land made
herself g. most unbearable nuisance
No doubt the liquor she drank effect
ed her brain; and it certainly made
her a physical wreck and destroyed
what little beauty she had. Towards
the last she developed wonderful
cunning, the shrewdness, perhaps, OF
insanity, but l did not think of such.
an explanation at the time, or might
/ have been more mercifu1. Sometimes,
| when we were in quarters for weeks at
time, the generals wife came to Wis
it him, and stopped at some convenient.
farm house within the lines. When
Confederate Sal found it out she tried
a new racket. How shegot her money
was mystery, but she would ride up,
very nicely dressed to house and tell
! the inmates that she was the generals
wife and desired board for few days.
! as she wished to be as near as possible
to her husband. Of course she w0Qld
be given the best room and the family
ID hnIr has to l-al IL
Portable. Next day she would ride of
to camp and come back gloriously
booty. Then the ladies of the family
would put their heads together and
say that it was an outrageous shame
for the general to give the lady liquor
when she went to see him, that OF
course she wasn't used to strong drink:
and couldn't stand it. After another
day or two the woman would appear
at the house in a state of beastly in
toxication, and use such language as
to shake the inmates. Then our Off
GERS would be approached and asked
how our general came to have such q
wife, and, you understand, the whole
truth would come out"
"Did she run that schedule often?''
Several times. As the generals:
wife she made bills in the neighboring,
towns, borrowing money, bought
horses, and boarded with the incest
people in that part of Tennessee. WE'LL,
sir, the Queerest rumors imaginable.
got out about the general. His char.
acter was nearly ruined in Richmond
on account of these rumors, and hH
wife, one of the noblest ladies that
ever walked the earth, became All OBJ,
ject of suspicion among the strangers
who were not acquainted with ting
facts"
you said that confederate Sal was
killed."
Certainly, so she was. You know
those were rough times, and human
life was not very valuable. One day.
we found that Sal had been cuttingupn
in a particularly disgraceful way at a.
gentleman's house near the river She,
had passed herself off as the generals.
wife, and the very first night walked
into the parlor drunk as a billed owl
and scattered the company by dane
ing the can-can. She was put out
of the house and fell into the:
hands of some of the boys
who were passing. 1 was along:
with the crowd. We saw that there!
was all sorts of q row in progress.
and, after stopping long enough to-
get the drift of it, we took ConfedeHsate
Sal and hustled her to the river ttsnk.
We told her that we were gcsase to
throw her in, and if she waahed to
live she must strike for the opposite
shore. If she came back on, our side
we would kill her. Sal just gritted