Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1893-11-18


Say, corporal, you was in the war
and did YOUR share of retreating l
guess. Did you ever see a PAM ?"
We'll, said the co -poral, dry Y, -
a Always managed the line of retreat SO
l never got taken prisoner. Did l
ever see a panic? You know when
Banks went up the Red river in Ga?
His boys had picnic from the time
they LETT Franklin, midi o. March,
till they got 10 Natchitoches-Alac
intosh, the darkies call it. There WAS
good foraging every day, ana big
sugar-houses ever few miles Did
you ever drink any sugar house rum?
Well, YOU don't want to.
after we left Natchitoc hes We got
into the pineY woods; wasn't but one
road through the hull state, 1 guess,
and that was narrow-just about room
for two teams to pass.
well, Banks had his hull army,
about 10000 men-they'd make line
more'n three miles long-an l don't
know how many batteries OF artillery,
an about ten miles o. wagons-had
them along TO fetch back the cotton
he expected to get-all stretched out
on this one road. But the wagons and
the troops didn't get along together
first-rate, and some how or other the
wagons got most ahead of the army.
The regiment | belonged to was on
wagon-train guard one day-'twas the
Sth of April-an' long in the after
noon we heard firing ahead. Us fel-
lers in the ranks didn't know there
war reb around. Banks didn't
nuther, l guess.
well. we kept on moving up the
road kind o. slow. an doubling up the
wagons thick till the hull road was
chock full We couldn't 20 ahead and
couldn't turn out to get by. cause Of
the heavy woods on both sides, so
there we was stuck, an the fighting
was getting hotter in front every min.
ute. No use guarding the wagons
any more-they couldn't get away;
nobody couldn't get EN-; so we
marched off toward the front.
jest fore dark we come to little
clearing, and formed line of battle on
the right of the road. There wasn't
no fighting after dark, but we laid on
our arms all night, an could hear
troops marching and wagons rolling
the hull night long, though we didn't
know what it meant.
orders to move. There wasn't any
troops in sight nor nary wagon. We
started along back down the road we
had come up the day before, scairt,
expecting every minute the rebs
would take US in the rear; but they
didn't, an after we'd marched two or
three miles we got careless again, an
things seemed just as they HAD all the
time.
Bout o'clock when we got most
back to Pleasant Hill, we heard big
noise behind u.s. A squad of cavalry
came flying down the road, turning in
their saddles and firing behind 'em
fast as they could with their seven
shooting carbines. They rode right
into us, shooting, and hollering the
rebel cavalry is coming! Cit ouJ Of the
wayn Fore we could realize what it
ali meant they had passed us and gone
on to the front. Then the was vol
ley in the rear, and the bullets sung
around our heads lively, an then we
skedaddied. Less'n two winks the
wasn't a man in the road. Every one
of 'eTn took to the woods. The under
brush was so thich you couldn't see a
rod, an the bushes triDped us up,
and every man that went down left
everything behind him that wasn't
fast to him. Then we begun to strip
down for business. Guns were pitched
away, then knapsacks, an overcoats,
an haversacks, an canteens, an belts
an straps.
"Well, we just cleaned ourselves,
an how we did run. We run for about
a mile till we got to Pleasant Hill,
where there was clearin'. There we
found our brigade in line q battle.
We went on to the rear of them, but
it took us Tnore'n an hour to git our
wind and to gather our wits enough
to know whether we was a regiment
of soldiers, or jest lot of scairt Yam
KEGS. "-Na,ional Tribune