The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1891-01-28
"LIGHTs AND SHADOWS OF THE OLD
CAMP FIRES"
BY ONE OF THE sold VETS. y

the charge home in his gun, withdrew the
ramrod and then fell back dead.
A private in General Siegel's command
tells the following story: 81 was loading
! and firing during the engagement at
Carthage, while lying fiat upon my face,
in order to avoid the bullets of the enes
my, which were flying about like 'Ciso.
bugs, in full bloom. While in this post
ton, shot from one of the rebels six
Founders struck the ground right beside
me, ploughed through underneath me,
came out on the other side and went on
as lively as ever. 1t didn't Inconvenience
me in the least, except that the raising of
the ground Topped me over on my back
before l had time to wink twice. wasn't
scared at all-certainly not hadn't time
to be-"
On the morning of the second days
fight at Chickamauga, Sept. goth, 1858,
General James Steadman, commanding a
reserve division of the Army of the Cum
berland, led his men on forced march of
four hours, to the sound of the canon, to
the relief of Major General Thomas, COM
mandiug the right flank OF the Union
army. His division was ordered at once
to the front, and General Steadman, halt
ing the Colonel of retreating regiment,
said: you may disgrace yourselves, but
this flag never" and snatching the stand
ard from the color-hearer, rallied the regi-
ment and led them to the front, and that
was why he was called 'sOld Chicka-
maugua.
M. w. Johnson, Go. F, 23d Michigan
Regt., tells the following incident of an
army dentist: While in camp at Louden,
East Tennessee, / was taken with terri
BILE toothaehe and | started to have the
sick tooth extracted. had not gone far
when / met sleek talking fellow from an
Illinois regiment. l am sorry to think
that there ever was such u villain living
in that State; | would much rather think
that he was from Indiana. |, soldier. like,
told him where l was going. He said
very innocently that there was no need of
my going so far to have tooth pulled, as
he was dentist and could do 1t as well
as any Surgeon, and that l would not
have to walk so far and would be out of my
misery sooner by having it done at once.
| consented. He looked around awhile
and finally found railroad spike and a
stone suitable for sledge hammer. He
told me to lie down upon my back and he
would take that tooth out quicker N
scat" / did as he directed. He placed
the spike against my tooth with one hand,
while with the other be struck the spike
laundering blow. Great Cesar Thought
a whole train of cars had run against me.
After recovering little, rolled over and
began to spit out teeth, blood and rail-
road spikes. Looking behind me, lying
on the track, fairly convulsed with laugh
ter, was that internal "Sucker." pray
ed for cannon that l might blow him
into the hereafter, but as my prs yer was
not answered he escaped alive, and have
been looking for him ever since, as want
to Pay him for that piece Of dental work
so that can die happy. Comrade, show
up let me know where you are, and
have Surgeon handy. But he never
showed up.
L. F. Gould and William Corrine, of
Co. l, 73d Illinois Regiment, after the bat
tie of Nashville, being short Of rations,
started out on a foraging expedition to
find something to eat. They rugged up
an old mule and with their Spencer rifles
and plenty of ammunition, passed some
half dozen log huts, but nothing was
found. AT length they espied a house
about mile off, which they were conf
| dent had not been visited. So they re-
newed their tramp to reach it. Through
by-ways and thickets at last they reached
the house 10 safety, seven miles from
camp, and were happy in finding plenty
to supply their wants. There was a wo-
man and two children in the house, She
said her husband was in the rebel army,
and that she had not anything for ''you-
uns Yanks," but their orders were imper-
alive and they soon found enough to load
up their mule. One shot porker aud a
couple of geese and strapped them on,
then they got few sweet potatoes out of
the garden. In the smoke house they
| found bacon and churn full of fresh
| cream. The latter they put into them
selves and their canteens. The best "fnd"
was half barrel of sorghum molasses
Some of this they wanted and must have,
so Corrine hunted around and found n
half-gallon tin bucket under the bed and
several sacks of meal, of which they took
one, and filed the bucket with the sor-
ghum. BY this time they had about all
the old mule could carry. While engaged
in loading the mule one set his bucket of
molasses on a stump near tie house, and
when be was ready to get 1t, it was gone.
The woman had ''stolen" 1t and taken il
into the house. This reasonable act
'riled" him and he stormed the fort in
search of his lost property, which then be-
longed TO Uncle Sam" She had hidden
it behind the bureau and the cover was
gone, so he took clean towel and tied
over the top. Then both started for camp
well supplied, aud were delighted to get
back safe. The boys were overjoyed at
their success. 1t was long after "taps''
when they rolled into their dog tents that
night. Who can describe soldiers
dream after such a trip, and in view Of
what they would have to eat the next day
Suffice it that they had royal feast for all
of Co. |, which was heartily enjoyed.
Why go out of town to have your