Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1890-06-12
CAMPFIRE STORIES.
A SOLDIERS ROMANCE.
His First Meeting With the Girl Who Al
forwards became His Wife.

not all touched with roseate hues, yet l
love to recall the scenes of camp-life
and yalor of my comrades on the field.
Memory alone can picture the days OF
campaigning, for 1.-The pen has no wing
sped their flight"
Nearly thirty years have passed since,
as young man, ! enlisted to fight for
the Union, yet my heart is thrilled with
sorrow when recall the scenes on a
field of battle, though my comrades have
one by one gone down to the silence of
the grave, until but few of us are left.
| When first the sound of fife and drum
stirred the patriotism in my heart,
| left the farm where / had been born and
raised, donned my uniform and became
soldier in the Tenth Illinois Cavalry.
| With sobs and tears my mother babe me
farewell; was her only son. But like
many others / looked forward TO the
/ glory and pomp of war as something to
be attained with little effort, and my
| leaving home was a matter of small
moment to me. l was not yet twenty
three when l joined the army and was
full of life and vigor. Alas! soon be-
gan to learn some thing of the vicissi-
tudes of war. Raw recruit as | was, my
! ardOr was soon cooled when, for miles
and miles, we marched over rough roads,
or stood on guard in cold, pouring
rains. And when seasons of suffering
came from sickness or wounds, the stu
alton was changed completely. How Of
ten longed for my mothers presence
during those hours of pain. / have seen
the time when would have give every
thing l possessed in the world for
touch of her gentle hand. Never in my
life did realize mothers worth as |
did during the war.
l served two years as private and as
such was discharged.
In the winter of 1868 and 1864, our
command was stationed at Silver Rock,
Ark. Our brigade consisted of the First
and Second Iowa Cavalry, Third Mis-
souri, Cavalry end Tenth Illinois Cav
airy. During March, 1864, the whole
command, under General Steele, started
for Shreveport, La, to join General
Banks, but news being received that
Banks had been defeated in battle, We
turned about and reached Camden, Ark,
where we kept up a continual sllirmish-
ing with the enemy for some time. We
left Camden by night, crossing the river
on a pontOon bridge, and on the second |
day after leaving, we stopped at the Sa-
line river, ard divided the cavalry from |
the infantry, the former going two miles |
further on to intercept the rebels at the |
crossroads. We stood picket guard |
there all night in a freezing rain, and |
when dawn came were nearly exhaust |
ed. But we were soon livened up by |
hearing the sounds of fighting in our
rear. The rebels had attacked the in
fantry across the river, and we were
soon in the midst of the battle. The
fight lasted about two hours, resulting
in victory for our side, and a complete
rout for the enemy.
But the dOwnpour of rain continued,
and most of us were nearly starved, hav-
ing eaten nothing since the day before.
Weary and worn from loss of sleep and
exposure to the rain and cold, we began
to forage through the neighborhood for
to warm up the Inner man."
A few of us started out on tramp
through the wet and cheerless woods, to
find some signs of habitation. We soon
emerged from the trees and came in full
view of a fine farm house, with all the
appearances of wealth and comfort sur
it. There was no help for it;
we had either to beg or steal, and
most of the boys were in favor of the
Of Nd Hrn
Of the number skulked about the barn,
where number of chickens were cack-
ling, with the intention of catching
some of them and filling their caps with
eggs. The other two concluded to go
boldly up to the door and ask for food.
! am both sorry and glad to say that
went with the crowd to the barn, and
vas the first to enter the wide open door.
was astonished, however to see slen- ;
Ter. brown-eyed girl descending from
he hay-lOft with her apron full of eggs.
suppose my sudden appearance fright {
med her, for at sight of me, she slipped I
rom her hold, and fell several feet to {
he floor of the barn. | sprang forward, ,
md with many words of apology assisted I
Ter to rise, while my comrades, with I
rue gentlemanly instincts, held back I
md awaited developments. The young
ady was not hurt, but the eggs were t
demolished. At sight of '
hem pouring from her apron, she broke V
nto merry laugh, which set us on good f
erms with each other right away. She I
id not seem at all frightened. and when v
informed her of the strait we were in, r
he invited us to the house, an invita- !
ion we were not long in accepting. Z
)ur hostess expressed much sympathy /
or us, and introduced us to her Y
ather, by whom we were well re- r
laced before US, to which it is not nee l,
ssary to say we did ample justice. AL k
hough our appearance was not at all f
legant, each being splashed with mud, o
and rough, yet | am glad to s,
ay the boys were one and all polite. l fl
lust admit that l could not keep my n
yes from wandering to the face of the n
retty girl who waited on us at table, fl
nd whenever l caught her eye she n
lushed. But the day was on the wane, -
nd we babe our fair entertainers fare Y
ell, to return to camp with lighter
carts and more comfortable bodies. We
earned afterwards that this family were
,bels, but they certainly showed no t.
gns of it to us. C;
Two years after the war l met the
Oung girl in Northern city, and re- il
ewed acquaintance. She told me that al
er father was dead, her property lost, re
hot cha 1r,a i,f ba xrnrld
q to make her own living by teaching. a
found her to be a most charming and tc
vable girl, and Undue time she became &C