The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1891-03-12
THE OLD hRMY.
Gen. Dragg One Of the Best, onlcera ia the Sc

achievements Of certain prominent Generals
during the late war are very fair and Just and
fully borne out by history. But his descrip-
tion of Braxton Bragg's character is OveTdrawn /;
indeed, he might Just Is well have slid that he
was a iend in human SHAPE, or devil incar-
nate. Having served in his battery &C, 81
u. S. l.. Al five years-from 1852 to lSj7-he
being my Captain four years ought 10 have
learned TO know him. That he was ovcrbear-
ing aud too strict n disCiPlinarian is true, hut
that he was gentlemanly 10 his brother officers
and also 10 his men who attended strictly 10
their duties is also true. The officers under
his control were moro afraid OF him than his
men. aud when in command Of post, whoever
happened to be Officer Of the Day had better
not play billiards too long or go TO bed too
early.
He had but ono quarrel that know Of, and
that was with Lieut.-COl. Morrison of the 18th
u. $. Inf, who was in command of four COM
panies Of his regiment at Fort Gibson, when
we arrived there in the Fall OF 1853 Said
Morrison required q detail from our battery
daily for garrison guard 10 which Bragg OBJ
jected, he claiming his men had guard duties
enough 10 do when doing the necessary stable
guarding. But the quarrel didn't last long.
Bragg wrote 20 his friend JEFF Davis. who was
then Secretary of War. for permission to com-
mand his own company, aud JET granted il
forthwith. There was rejoicing in Battery c,
because we didn't have 10 mount guard any
longer with the Dough boys" and Bragg's
victory over Morrison made him in our eyes
both hero aud a beneiaetor.
Bragg was severe on druukards, and had no
patience with any Of them. lie had them tied
up, bucked aud gagged, confined on bread and
water, from one TO three months pay stopped,
with bal-and-chain thrown in for ornamental
purposes j suppose. There was nothing he
didn't try 10 stop drunkenness. At Jefferson
Barracks, in the Summer Of lSJ3, Bragg had a
"shower-ba constructed by leading the
water from cold spring into a purforated
hogshead near the river bank. under which
hogshead we had 10 stand preparatory 10 a
swim in the river once week, as a sanitary
measure l suppose. Well, all men getting
drunk were taken under that hOgshcad and
kept there till they were sober which never
took long 10 accomplish. The remedy was
"probatim est" and IL saved the Corporal Of the
Guard the hard and disagreeable work Of tying
and bucking aud gagging tho deIinquents.
Jefferson Barracks was then headquarters Of
the 9th u. S. IuE, also OF tho Department OF
the West, commanded by Gen. Clarke. Gen.
Hancock aud Gen. Mcdowell were on Clarke's
stan. The former was then First Lieutenant
and Adjutant the latter Captain and Quarter
master Hancock was splendid looking officer
both on foot or horseback. There was magnet
ism about him, and yOu couldn't help but like
and admire him, as he was the bcau ideal Of
htlAitAs AltDhHSll WAS Hu AhFbIltt Win inc
boys; indeed, no hadn't as many friends as had
Bragg.
Ia June, 1854, our battery was ordered 10
Fort Washita, ChiCkasaw Nation, where we
were stationed with Light Battery NJ, I'd u. S.
Art, Capt. and Brevet- Maj Henry j. Hunt
commanding battery, till December, 1856. At
this fort we had splendid times. Our battery
here cultivated about Is acres Of land. from
which we raised lots Of everything for our
fables lur paVk va tradsd on fnr Yavag Ia.
Of which we got four pounds for one pound Of
pork. Indeed, we lived here like Well-tO-dO
citizens in civilized country. Bragg com
manded the post until his resignation. when il
deyolved on Maj Hunt. Bragg aud Hunt were
always on the best Of terms Hunt was an officer
aud gentleman in all that the term implies,
and take pride to this day in knowing that
he proved Of inestimable service TO our cause
by having been the efficient Chief Of Artillery
Of the Army Of the Potomac.
Among the officers who served with our
battery here were Gen. Joseph ]. Reynolds,
who commanded q division ina the Army Of
the Cumberland; Asst Ad't-Gen. Chaunccy
McKeeyeT. Of Washington. ID. C., aud Brig
Gen. III. G. Gibson now the Colonel Of the 81
U. 5. Art They were all First Lieutenants
then. The only officer that became acquainted
with and who turned rebel besides Bragg, was
Lieut.. A. Long, Of Mai. Hunts battery. Ho
became Gen. Lees Military Secretary, l be-
lieve.
Both batteries received orders December,
1856. from JEFF Davis to proceed via Fort
Smith. the Arkansas aud Mississippi Rivers 10
New Orleans, from thence TO Fortress Monroe,
for a school Of artillery practice. aud 70 turn
over our batteries at the Little Rock Arsenal
aud have often thought since, that JEFF Davis
and his successor, Floyd, concluded that those
batteries were in a most excellent place for
their friends TO get az In their contemplated
rebellion aud i more than once thought when
tho rebel batteries hailed US with their shot,
shell and canister, that one Of those very bat
tcTIes might be the one We were once SO proud
Of
On the resignation Of Bragg, Capt and
Breyet Maj. John +. Reynolds, the commander
OF the First Corps, who laid down his life at
Gettysburg July /, 1863, became thrYqgh
Bragg's influence with JEDI Davis. Captain OF
our battery. The announcement was hailed
with delight by the old vets, Reynolds having
been one OF the Licutcuants under Bragg in
Mexico. They knew aud believed in him In
their estimation, any other choice Of Captain
would have been an insult 20 each member of
Bragg's battery. The vets claimed that Rey-
nolds could drill a battery as well as Bragg
which the non-vets doubted very much. As
Reynolds was "A detail Of officers at Fortress
Monroe, engaged with ordnance and artillery
matters, he did not take charge Of the battery
~~a-A-'N-ANNN- y
service.
We were at Fortress Monroe like lot Of
peacocks minus their tails, for our glory had
departed when the battery had been turned in
at Little Rock. We drilled at the COumbiads
up on the parapets. II was nothing but the
mOnotonous two, three four, in battery and
from battery, which whole drill can bo learnt
by any - fool in one hour. Just imagine a
man to have TO do il for nine or 10 months
steady, five days a week Aud this kind OF
business was called school Of practice" by
JEFF Davis, who ought to have been hung for
getting Us into that misery, if for nothing else.
Out of the eight batteries then in the United
States service, ours was conceded 10 be the best
drilled, aud Bragg the ablest artillery officer.
We had men in the battery who had served an
enlistment in Thomas SheTman's battery tEl,
Sd Art; alsD one from O'Brien's battery lBJ,
4th Art, the CannOneers idOlized battery,
who freely gave in that Bragg excelled as a
drillmasteT. l followed the story of the Can
nOneer with intense interest, Tegretting that
could not have been IN that or some other good
battery during the war instead OF having
served in an infantry regiment.-JOHN VI.
GEIssLER Corporal, Battery e, Sd Art, and
Private, Co. i, 18th Mimi, Twin Lakes. MINI.
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