Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1886-03-06


without the protest of battle.
We of the artillery remained five days
in our Corinth camp before fresh horses
reached us, and the time was pleasantly
spent in rural excursions, under orders
to supply ourselves and our horses with
daily ratIona from the cribs aud store
houses of the inhabitants. 1t was our
first experience in authorized foraging,
o pastime in which, in later years
of the war, we became proficient
and fairly earned the distinctive title of
"Sherman's bummers," for we were the
nucleus of that army which afterwards
followed the great western leader from
Atlanta to the sea. But it was about
Ooripth in the fall OF 1862, that we
gained our rudimeutary instruction in
a speciality which afterwards rendered
US entirely independent of a base of
supplies. We secured the adjoining
country day by day despoil-
ing plantations and bringing in wagons
well laden with the luxuries of the land.
Flour and corn meal took the place of
hard tack, and tender spring chickens
and youthful turkeys were the palatable
substitutes for salted side meat. With
our new fare came fresh necessities
We had no facilities for
utilizing our con6scated flour and corn
meal supplies and the country afforded
nothing in the way of utensils. But busy
on the movements of soldiers and the
dormant genius of the camp developed
in surprising proportions whenever its
activity was invoked. Our tents were
pitched in the Corlnth cemetery-not o.
| cheerful abiding place, and one full of
CHASTITY possibilities. The boys had no
scruples against appropriatipg and
demoliahing large vault which was a
part of the cemetery property and from
| the brick within it's wall ovens were
| speedily constructed. A marble slab
from the head of a grave was found to
answer SO well for an oven floor, that,
in the absence of other conveniences,
this material was utilized to some extent.
| cannot reflect upon this fragment
OF wars experiences with
out some Gualms of conscience, for it
was afterwards maliciously told upon US
that every loaf of bread from our ovens
bore upon its under crust the embossed
legend, sin memory Of" This was pos
sibly campaign eXaggeration. But we
| learned many valuable lessons IN utility
during those days of comfortable camp
life at Corinth.
| The 9Th of November found ue, with
recruited horsehesh, on the road once
more, and en- route to join our command
which was reached by the 12.h and
found in camp at and about Davis Mills
an unimportant point some six miles
from Grand junction. We had lost
nothing in the line of adventure by oul
tarry ut Corlnth, as thus lar the move
ment had been an uneventual one
We remained at Davis Mills five days
living almost exclusively upon meal
ground from confederate corn at the
mill which gave name to our camping
place. Utterly destitute OF kitchen con
veniences, the bill of fare was limited tc
mush straight, with but one variation
We acquired longing for the
old Corinth cemetery, with it!
luxurious appointments, during those
severely monotonous experiences. Bu
one cannot always revel in the extrava
gancies Of life in time of war II wa!
during our stay at Davis Mills that Gen
eral Grant reviewed the army, military
indulgence do not remember of agai1
experiencing under his command unit
the fall of 1864, on the day before he lef
his western veterans at Chattanooga tt
assume personal command Of the Po
tomac army. General Grant was moi
much given to the pomps and vanitiel
of military life.
| November 17th we packed our KNAPP
sacks and moved to Moscow, fifteen mile
distant, point on the Memphis
Charleston railroad where branch roa
started northward tc SSomeryllle. Th
winter rains of that latitude were upol
us, the weather was outrageous and th
roads fathomless dressing OF aboml
: nable mud, through which we houndere
until late at night before reaching ou
destination. Moscow proved to be
j hating place until the 28th, when W
j again broke camp and our column
8 headed southwark for Holly Springs, th
L Tallahatchie country and Pemberton
9 army.
y The army haG, from necessity, bee
. living largely upon the products of tt
" country during it's Moscow tarry an
y when the march was resumed a dlspos
tion to gather the necessaries of Ii
from fields and storehouses had becon
Is habit SO irrevocably fixed that stri
3 gent orders against foraging we
Al honored only when the regularly d
d tailed guard was watching coveted ar
r clea. The guards not being severely
in earnest in the performance of an u
in pleasant duty, their protection was ST
Of fcleltly inefficient to give the soldier
RS ordinary sagacity reasonable opportu
as ity to indulge the oaprices of his apr
Il. i