The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1894-02-22
PICKET SHOTS
From Alert Comrades All Along the
Line.
The Tupelo Affair.

s. @. Miles, Co. f, 9Th Wis, Stetsonville,
Wis, writes: "You got the heading right, as
usual, in the contribution Of COmrade t. W.
Holman, Co. d, 21st Mo-, "A Comrade DIFF
| fers.' But the only place he has got in
| correction lie in the number of our division,
which, if he will take the trouble to look at
| Picket Shots in your issue of Jan. Is, he
| will find has been already corrected. What
he says about the Live Eagle Brigade and
the 9Th Wis. and s, G. Miles doing all the
| fighting, comes in all right; but it is copied
from previous kicker, and where he has
tried to say something original he has got 1T
mixed bad. He does not even remember
correctly which way his own regiment faced
| in the line-of-battle.
"And do not think the comrades in the
balance Of the line for mile to his left are
| quite prepared just yet to admit that they
had no part in the fight; but they will
doubtless let it pass on the supposition that
he was pretty badly ratified by the noise he
heard on the occasion farther to the right of
the line, and also mile OF two to his left.
"The assertion that our infallible old
A. j. Smith, or his right-bower, Fighting
Joe Mower, was ever guilty of the egregious
folly of placing troops in line-ofbattle with
either flank in air on an open field, and liza
BILE to be flanked by the enemy, is an accu-
sation that any intelligent soldier of those
valiant regiments will repudiate with scorn.
In all the numerous battles in which their
able generalship enabled their troops to in
variably triumph, they were never guilty of
any such laundering tactics. What the
would-be writer remembers as the left wing
of the army, which he says was swept from
its position and so terribly crushed by the
enemy in their night attack, was only an
advance-line of infantry and outpost of cav
airy placed by our cautious old A. j. to meet
the advance of the enemy, and give seasonal
BILE warning of their approach, so that the
main line-ofbattle can be well prepared for
the onset.
"Of the numerous friendly letters we have
received from comrades of most of the regi-
ments of Comrade HOlman's Third Division,
all agree in placing that part of the line
south Of the PontotOc road in position
facing in a southerly or southwest direction,
and not west, az claimed by Comrade Hol-
man. And all authorities we have seen give
the position of the line-Of-battle at Tupelo
as an irregular semi-circle, or a semi-circle
with angels to correspond with the contour
of the ground most suitable for the position
of the line-of-battle.
"And we know that in our position facing
west, the heavy fighting that we heard on
the extreme left flank of the line was slightly
south of east, and almost directly to the rear
from the position which our right flank of
the line occupied, the comrades very excel
lent 293-years' memory to the contrary not
withstanding."
Saving a Sutler.
Henry G. Kern, Sd Pa. L. A., Soldiers
Home, Erie Pa, writes: "After the surrender
of Lees army we of the Third Brigade, Army
of the James, composed Of the 18Th Pa,
10th Mass, and I'd n. H., were encamped
about one mile southwest of Richmond up
near fort and in a woods. There was one
suter up there with us, and about dozen
suffers encamped about halfway between
US and Richmond. / suppose they had
camped there to make big thing off of
Sherman's army when it came up there The
first part of Sherman's army that got up
there were mostly 'bummers,' who went for
those dozen suffers and cleaned them out of
every thing they had, and it was said that
they killed negro that was behind the
counter of one of the tents, because he drew
pistol on them. They never gave a cent
for thousands of dollars worth of canned
goods and everything that the suffers had.
After that there came about 1000 of them
bowling up the road to where we were en-
camped to clean out our sutler; but two New
Hampshire men ran out with their rifles and
got in line of battle near the suffers tent and
came to a ready with their rifles as if they
intended to shoot. The 'bummers all about
faced and marched away. 1 do not think
the New Hampshire boys would haV fired
on them, but they scared them"
Longest Service.
In regard to the longest service a comrade
sends the following record of George Van
dyke, of Keyport, N. j., which, he says, is
correct: He enlisted April Is, 1868, for three
years, in Battery c, Sd N. Y. L. A.; dis
charged at Syracuse. n. Y, July IA, 1865.
Enlisted Dec. Is, 1865, for three years, in Co.
B, Cd Battalion, 18th U. S.; discharged at
Fort Leavenworth, Kan, Dec. II, 1868 En-
listed Feb. o. 1869, for three years, in Co.
B, 22d U. S.; discharged at Fort Rice, d. T.,
Feb. q, 1872 Enlisted April %, 1872, for
five years, in Co. l, 4th U. S. Cav. dis
charged at Fort Concho, Tex, April 81,
1877. Enlisted Aug. 5, 1873 for five years,
in Co. /, 21st U. S.; discharged Aug. 8, 1880,
on certificate of disability, having served a
total of Is years and two months.