St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-04-22
Written for the FARMER.
A Village Ransacked
AND A PRISONER At NINE.

AND A PRISONER At NINE.
"a story Of scenes and incidents
n st. Taumany parish, during the
ate civil war;
MADIsoxvILLE, La,
April 10, 1898.
PART SECOND.
My father had some money, but
could buy nothing except some
rorn in the ear, which was old and
paying as high as ten dol
lars . barrel, and hauling it forty
miles. When cornmeal could be
found in the village, it was sold at
The enormous price Of forty dollars
} bushel. The corn We ground BY
hand in . small steel burr mill,
thereby getting meal, grits and
husk. Coffee could not be had at
any price. although . few families
had it all the time. We used sweet
potatoes ~ . substitute. They had
to be cut in small pieces and then
dried in the sun, then dried again
In IN oven or stove, then roasted
and ground the same a. genuine
coffee. and it was hard to detect
the difference. A great many
parched meal, and others used the
seed from our coffee weed, I sup.
pose owing tina name coffee being
attached to it. Father was very
fortunate in finding an opportunity
to purchase . barrel Of molasses,
it was forty miles from
home. He paid $llO for it. Would
not our planters Of to-day be glad
to obtain such . price for one
barrel Of molasses? We ate mush
and molasses fox dinner and sup
per. and in the morning would par
take Of molasses and mush, for .
change. In the country or piny
woods they Jared some better, hav-
Ing their hogs and chickens, corn
and sweet potatoes to fall back on.
To get salt to cook with. many had
10 dig the ground floor up in their
smoke houses and put it in water
and boil It down. Burnt corn cobs
served Us - soda, . very good sub.
Btitute. Tallow was used to cook
With instead VI lard, as it was 90
scarce. Our ladies became shoe
makers. They would save all the
Doles Of their shoes, and make new
nppers Of cloth or canvass, and
now them onto the soles, making .
very soft and elastic shoe.
After the troops had been here
some time we became more familiar,
md they became more mischievous.
They would shoot down . COW any
where and take the heart and liver,
the carcas to pollute the air
md cause sickness. They began
up entertainments - soon
u their tents were pitched. They
made them by piIing logs one on
he other, about four feet high,
hen covering them with dirt cut in
'quares Of six or eight inches in
ire. Some Of the breast-woyks
IT'LL remain to be seen by anyone
Who has . desire to behold our
,elics Of the past war. Our village
'ronts on the banks of one Of the
oveliest Of all rivers, called by the
Indian name Tche:uncta, which /
.hink means corn cob. This beau
;iful stream bounds US on the east.
md afforded the Federals . grand
opportunity to defend our village
NTH their navy. The north. south
md west extend to the soft Gum
'wamps, and it was through these
almost impenetrable swamps that
hey expected to see the rebel
;roops make their way to attack
hem. For this reason they made
he breastworks, to keep them in
he swamps, and then make the
lannon's play . conspicuous part.
They cut logs and hauled them to
he river, for what purpose I can
not say, unless It Was to lay waste
Dur land q much q possible. Our
ront was guarded by Federal gum
,oats. and now and then . stray
,omb came whizzing over us. OF
his I will speak later on. Guards,
y pickets, were stationed ON the
'onchatoula and Covington roads,
he only outlets to our village ex-
'ept by the river or through the
wamps about . mile to Lake Pont-
hartain. A citizen desirous of GO
ny into the country was compelled
o hsve . permit from headquarters,
n order to pass the pickets. On
me occasion an alarm was given
y the pickets stationed on the
'onchat0ula road, that the sharp.
G name applied to :he
ew scattered rebels who happened
D deem it proper to hide in some
bscure place and fire on Federals
'henever IN opportunity presented
self, were advancing down the |
Dad. The bu0le sounded and the
attle dag Was raised, and the |
alvary began to form in line. linn
CINE, in my boyish fancy, they |
ere about 100 IN number. Soon
hey began their march to meet the |
nemy, but none could be found,
I'd to this day no one has ever
cen able to explain Why the alarm |
- given. It was supposed to be
false alarm, to keep the troops in
ctivo training Rnt I 6O nOf /