The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1890-02-13
CAMP.FIRE STOKES.
A ooMMlssARWs STORY
Incidents oomie ana Tngie IN tho AFmY
0f the ratamaO,

ihplNhhla iNHlN HHN AiAhN W WN Af"p
Ut the roiomao'
Al tho beginning Of hostilities, tho
CommissarY Department oi tho army
was o meager affair lirigadierQeHeral
Taylor was at ils head, liut a. the war
went on, 10 sooa became evident that
the department needed oyerhauling and
enlarging, This was successfully done
by Colones Amos lieelwith, George
He'll, Thomas Wilson and some others
Of tho old regular army who formulated
bin 10 be presented 70 Congress. maxi
ing II o distinct and separate depart
mont with one Maior-leneral and aa
many lihgadlof-leneralai COlOnelsi MAJ
iors and Captains aa tho service required
The bin passed, and tho department
was reorganiled early Ia tho spring Of
1853
Az this time LieutenantCOlonel Goo
Boil was tho chief Depot Commissary
Of the Army Of tho Potomac, and sta
toned at Alexandria, Va Ito ran tho
largest grocery store this country ever
saw Ia fact, many In tho service had
only faint idea Of tho immense amount
Of storoH required 10 feed tho large Army
OF tho Potomac, or Of tho labor Of un'
loading vessels and Feloading Into
lighter draft boats, cars and wagons,
Al tho time Of MoClellan's evacuation
OF tho Peninsula In AuguRt, 1853, q large
amount Of stores ON land, AZ tho water
base, were ordered 10 be burned, After
throwing on 10 tho mountain Of hard
tack AMI other stores large quantity Of
Xxx CommlaRary whlHby, II was fired,
although before tho laat boat was we'll
out into tho stream tho johnnloa wero
trying 10 save some Of tho ratIma
During tho war thor6 were many mil
Hons Of dollars worth Of htoroa do
atroyod 10 prevent th0ir falling into tho
hands Of tho enemy,
II was In August 1899, that 0eneral
John P0pe was holding Lee'a army ~
bay along tho Rappahannooh river, and
after lighting tho second liul Run
battle, and was forced 10 change hih base
10 Washington on tho double quick
march,
lleioro going into tho battle tho
troops piled their knapRacta, oyerooata,
blankets and hayefiaOka, and loft them
In tho rear expecting 10 return for thom
after the fight In their hasty retreat
10 Washington they had no tine 10 ro-
cover their baggage, II was at this
time that 1 was ordered 10 tnk0 aWpply
train Of sixteen wagons, loaded With
marching ratioua, hardtaok pork oot'
foo and sugar and proceed toward
Fairfax Court House and Issue them 20
tho troops whoroyer I could find an OF.
lcor 70 receipt for thom,
tlcit Alexandria late IN thcaitcnoon,
with wagons loaded 70 tho top OF tho
bows We followed the London piSo
during tho night meeting no largo body
Of troops, but 6tragNlom by tho huns
jroda, all hungry and iootSoro. The
demands for hardtaclg were humorous,
/ could Issue only 10 o commlmary or
quartormaator, and WIS In tight place,
/ had 10 account for 0y0ry pound In tho
wagOna on my return, but tboro was no
resisting the demands for hadtaclt and
/ ordered tho mon 10 throw our Alty.
pound boXoa OF hardtAok-onough 20
give them q lunoh-and whonoyer | met
On onoor who wanted rauona malo
his invoices and receipts cover all my
oxtra Issues,
In tho afternoon Of tho noNt day
found myself we'll out into tho country
and could not learn whothor thoro woro
any moro Of our troops In front Of mo,
At last ! mot an old colorod man, and
aslsod him whore was. ll0 haid' "ll
you uua Marsor Llnkum'a mon2' Whom
lropliod "Yos," no galdi "For do Lords
sake, MOrsor, turn back Just aa quick a.
over you can, for do JohnnIol ~ right
obor doro, and doy catch you suro II dey
sec you,'
/ took him al hla word, and turned
tho train as quick as possible, We just
flow over ten miles OF ground toward AL
oxandrla In bottor tlm0 than army mulol
woro ever known 10 mako botoro, We
ratified into Alexandria with an empty
train and rcooIpts for Ave hundred ra'
tlons moro than started with,
In tho spring Of 1868 tho depot cone
mlssary az Alexandria had ouhand ready
for issue 100000 Atly.pound boxes OF
hard bread, 10000 barrola Of pork and
beef, boans, peas and rico, coiroo, caond
sugar soap and candies, pepper, salt and
vinegar doNccatod mixed vegetables
(Bronch) cabbage and curry oil In pro-
portion,
During tho winter months tho army
had to bo supplied with potatoes to kcop
of the scuryy When 10 became known
along tho Now England coast that tho
Government wanted largo quantities OF
potatoes, thoy did not stop TO put thom
In barrels but shipped IN bulk In sail
ing ycssols, Tho first load to arrlyo
camo from Mainc. On removing tho
hatchcs tho men who wore 10 unload
them jumped down, and before they had
timo to wink thoy were up 10 thoir nocks
In frozen potatoes Thoy had frozen on
tho way down the New England coast
and whom they arrived In tho Potomac
riyor II was warm enough 10 thHw them,
Tho consequence was that they lost over
half thoir load,
During the wlntOr OF 1859 tho brigade
field balso.oyons Toro found not 10 bo a
success Thorntion OF 00ur was wasted,
and what bread was baked was poor in
quality and short IN quantity
Tho idoa was conceived by Colonel
Boll OF building o bakery with copac'
ity to supply an army Of 100000 mon
with fresh bread daily On laying his
plans before tho Commissary'GonorOl
at Washington no was ordered TO build
tho bakery At Alexandria, Tho build
ings woro duly erected In tho outsltlrts
of the city ON branch OF tho Orange
g. Alexandria railroad Loading 70
Washington, and had capacity for
baking 100000 loavos every twenty-four
hours.