The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1892-02-19
MORE OF THE WAR
"REMINISCENCES.
THIS TIME "COL." SCHEIFLY
TAKES A HAND
AND TELLS OF WRIGHTSYILLE
And Other Places-How a Square
Meal Gould be Made Out of
Discarded Bacon and Beef
Bones.

Sitting in the Seheify House the other
evening, after partsking of one of those
excellent suppers for which Mrs. ScheiAy
has become noted, Mine Host James K
Polk Scheihy was called upon for a war
story. Jim" responded reluctantly, bu
was soon deep in the subject Skipping
over his term of service in the 25th Regi-
ment the Colonel" took up "the emer.
gency."
Say, you fellows don't know what
soldering lie until you try it," said he,
'The 9th was crack regiment and con-
tanned many veterans of other regiments.
Captain Jacob Martz, now dead, was our
company commander, and Lew Boner and
M. p. Fowler our lieutenants. Poor
Boner is also among the dead. He was a
good fellow, as were all our officers-com-
missioned and non-commisioned.
I'VE we're at Wrightsville in June, and
had thrown up miles of rife pits, which
made the rebel scouts in the neigh hborhood
think we had thousands of soldiers on
hand You know, from history, that there
were not more than thousand men there.
BEN Hughes was the fifth Sergeant and
carried the colors of the regiment
Rumors of the coming of Early's com.
mand made us feel uneasy. Refugees were
coming in daily with horses, wagons,
cattle, ETC., and they passed over the
wooden bridge to the Columbia side of the
Susquehanna river.
"Pll never forget the time when the
order was given. to retreat, when all the
companies, mine (Co. e. excepted,
'skedaddled' pell-mell through the streets
of Wrightsville, through the bridge, and
on to Columbia, where the first stop was
made. Rumor has it that some OF the
City Troop did not stop until they reached
Philadelphia. But, however that may be,
Captain Martz's company marched through
the streets in an orderly and well-dis-
ciplined manner with colors flying amid
shot and shell. At Columbia the members
OF our company we're heroes and the
ladies bestowed many acts of kindness
upon us. They paid no attention to the
men who didn't have the letter E on their
caps. 1t WAS company e that was feasted
Many of the boys ate enough for six or
seven ordinary men. The Wrightsville
affair sharpened their appetites.
After leaving Carlisle our Quartermaster
(Patterson) was found missing and our
hsversacks we're all we had to fall back
upon. They were emptied before we
reached Pinegrove Furnace We were
wet, cold and hungry on our ar
rival there. l picked up piece of
bacon from an ash heap and, after wash
ing it clean, fried it, Not satisfied
with this, robbed a horse of his supper of
buckwheat bran, which he was eating from
a trough. made cakes of the bran and
fried them in the fat from the bacon. You
bet enjoyed the meal. At the next
camping place, which was occupied by the
rebels the night previous, we bad to de.
pend for supper upon beef bones the "rebs"
had thrown away. After washing the
bones made an excellent soup. You may
smile when l say that after getting all we
wanted from the bones some of us loaned
them to others. forget to say that l had
q haversack of onions when we left Car
Isle and l was offered ten cents apiece for
them, bat gave my messmates the benefit
of thsm, gratis. At the third camping
place l shot good-sized shost and hung it
up on tree in the woods. l then re-
turned to camp and informed the mess.
We all left the camp with our hsverssoks
and cut up his pigship, but before we could
fry and eat more than half of it we re.
oeived orders TO march. We were obliged
to leave the rest behind. We feasted on
what we cooked during the march and the
next morning we we're on the sick list 1t
was singular that l would get cramp
in my stomach every time we approached
farm house. l don't get them now.
The captain would detail some one TO re-
main with me until would recover,
meanwhile the command would move on
and on and as soon as it was olt of sight
the cramps would become so severe the de-
tail would be obliged 10 go to the farm
house and seek reliei which invariably
turned up in the shape OF some good
whiskey or brandy. generally got the
whole benefit of the relief the detail
looking on in sympathy with wide-open
mouth The trick used 10 tickle me.
After 'roughing IL for ten days we reached
Hagerstown, Nd, weary and footsore,
One Of my mess arrived there without
shoes and with feet bleeding, In company
with my bArefooted messmate l visited A
farm on the outskirts of town, where we
accepted an invitation TO breakfast We
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