The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-12-13

letters U. s. N. They had all heard
of ''horse marines" but a navy mule
was real wonder. 1t was explained
that they had been taken from the
planters to haul bales Of cotton to the
feet and afterwards turned over by
naval officers to the army quartermas-
ters, with the privilege of reclaiming
them, hence, they were branded for
Identification. In one instance that /
know of, an iron-clad gunboat of that
feet was attacked with single six
FOUNDER field piece, fred from the
river bank while she was aground, and
her officers and crew were forced to
abandon her, as her eight guns were
so hampered by the fve-hundred-
pound bales Of cotton piled over them
that she could not return the fire. |
should state that the official records Of
the union and Confederate armies,
now in the course of publication by
the war department, contain nothing
with reference to this war-trade, as
all statistics and reports Of agents Of
the cotton exchange bureau were
burned by the Confederates at the
evacuation Of Richmond. There was,
however, a trade between the lines
that had in it no faint of treason. 1t
was carried on between the pickets all
along the line and at the outposts,
across rivers, in miniature boats, each
carrying a cargo weighing not more
than five or six pounds, shipped by its
owner to consignee with whom he
was at open war, and who, with invio-
liable good faith, always sent the tiny
ireighter back with the return cargo
desired by the consignor. There were
no weights or measures, or coin, or
currency used in this small commerce.
liz was trade in kind, where each had
to reckon" or 'guess" the quantity
Justly due the other. The Confeder-
ate craved coffee, but was obliged to
find an ill-tasting substitute for the
fragrant berry in parched sweet pota-
toes, wheat and oats. The unicn sol
,diersyearneds for the comforting weed
to which Byron paid the tribute Of
nlerited praise in the lines. Sublime
tobacco which from East to West,
cheers the Tar's labor or the Turk
man 8 rest. =
AS coffee was part Of the Federal
Army ration and tobacco was to be
had in abundance within the Confed-
crate lines, it was very natural that
the parties in interest should seek to
arrange system by which they could
barter one product for another.
All picket firing between the two
great armies in Virginia having ceased,
BY mutual agreement, in the autumn
Of 1862, the trading between the sol
diers commenced at their outposts
soon after. It had been going on
west Of the Mississippi from the be-
ginning Of the-war, and the fraterniz-
ing went 30 far in Arkansas that the
cavalry of the opposing armies some
times tested the mettle Of their
chargers BY running horse races to.
.gether for moderate purses. The
tradsng had to be- done covertly, but
many subordinate officers winked at it,
to please their men. Generals Grant
and Lee both issued strict orders pro:
hibiting it, yet still the trading went
on. j.s g. .,s -, -,
Special ofort was made by General
Lee to enforce those orders among his
troops in the fall Of 1863, when the
armies lay encamped on opposite sides
sof the Rappahannock. That stream
varied from seventy-fve to two hun;
idred yards in width. The plan Of
trade was as follows: A soldier stand,
ing on one si6e would send a diminu.
tive boat, either dug out Or made o1
bark, filled with coffee, to the other
side, by attaching . long string TO il
and diletting the current take it across,
or near enough to be reached with {
rod BY the one who was waiting for it.
This system of river trading having
been known to General Lee, specia.
instructions were issued to detect ano
punish his soldiers who were engaged
in it. It became all the more neces
sary toNcheck the illicit commerce, as
it was reported that visits were being
inserchanged at night between the two
camps for the purpose Of carrying 1T on
With those instructions in view
General John B. Gordon, one after.
noon in the early days Of November,
1853, rode out to inspect the outposti
Of his division accompanied by his
sta,if and bodyguard. His famous
command carried more battle scars
than bayonets, and he hoped that
there was no violator Of General Lees
order in it's ranks. On arriving at an
outpost near the river bank, he ques
toned the captain commanding it as tt
whether he had received the order te
prevent all trading with the enemy
and was answered that he had. Not
wlitllstanding that officers assurance
that he would be vigilant in the en-
forcement Of the order, General Cor
don 8 suspicious were aroused by the
apparent confusion in the manner Of
some Of the men when the guard was
turned out to salute him. He coul6
not explain it on the theory that they
were abashed by his presence, for they
were accustomed to that, and they mac
often shown that they were as devoted
to their knightly commander as eve
was Scottish highlander to the chic
of his clan. The cause Of their trepi
dation was soon revealed. The gen
eral had scarcely ridden sixty yards
beyond the outpost when he noticed
that the tops of some Of the tall, slen
der reeds on the lower bank Of th'
river were being shaken. There was
no wind stirring to account for th'
motion, and all cattle and other rov
ing animals in that section had lonl
since been disposed of by the all-con
suming soldiery. He therefore or
dered sergeant Of his escort to par
the reeds and see what was in them
The sergeant hurried down to tn
lower bank, and was soon heard to ex
claim 'sBy George! What is this
Come out here !"
At the word there stepped out int
the sunlight a tall young man, appa
rently about twenty years of age. HI
had very handsome face and his fin
physical proportions were very plainl.
revealed, for he was stark naked. a