The National tribune., 1895-05-30
A RAW RECRUIT.
His Experience Following Sherman on the
Meridian Raid.

Meridian Raid.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: In Deem
Der, 1863, was a loyal 15-year-old lad suf-
ferng with malignant form of Dixie fever,
contracted upon the firing upon Fort Sumter
| in the Spring of 1861 and an only means
of relief folded my fifth reader in the old
frame schoolhouse standing out on the snow
| clad prairie in the little village of Naples,
| ILL.,, to become raw recruit in the ranks of
| Uncle Sam.
Then after passing a rigid surgical ex-
animation, and little prevarication on my
part concerning the date of my first dis
covery of America, 1 was finally accepted as
target for the rebs. Then / saw the old
specialized Surgeon jot down my age at II,
the prettiest II ever witnessed penned-
the seal that transformed me from a school
boy to a Union soldier.
went into the ranks of the old 14th H.,
then lying in Winter quarters at Camp
Cowen, in the rear of VicksbuIg Miss.
/ had barely reached the regiment and
connected with Co. K when Uncle Billy
Sherman dropped down from Memphis, and
we were off for the famous Meridian raid
10000 strong. 1t was march of 300 miles
into the very heart of the Confederacy, with
our communications completely severed for
80 days.
What made the excursion the more enjoy
able for me was the 14th. When formed
lis acquaintance it had passed it's day of
! rigid discipline, and the mess of nine old
soldiers to which / had been assigned in
formed me that they were literalists in
belief, holding that all private property in
Dixie, especially fresh pork, poultry, and
sweet potatoes, belonged to the privates
| Hence, they said, whenever / was favored
with the opportunity of lifting an old hen
or rooster off Southern sassafras-pole
must lift. And, should the privilege pre-
sent itself of peeling the hairy envelope off
a Dixie porker, / was to peel, and then be
sure and not permit either the lifting or
peeling to puncture the peace of my con-
science. For it was simply appr0priating
private provender by private for patriotic
purpose, and in no possible manner could it
be construed to mean stealing.
This most reasonable and easy doctrine
seemed to exactly fit my faith and fancy,
and L at once dropped the anchor of my
small sloop in the old soldiers doctrinal
hsrbor.
At Camp Yates, H., before leaving the
snowy and frozen North for the sunny and
fragrant South, had the misfortune to have
my nose, toes, ears, fingers, and forehead
frozen. and on this march they peeled off.
These burning and smarting rents in Ma
ture's uniform, added to other serious losses
of precious rawhide on my youthful anat-
omy in the shape of singing and painful
stone-bruises, blisters, and gals, 1 think,
constituted me PROFESSIONALLY one of the
rawest of raw recruits on the Meridian raid
However, was one of those unripe recruits
of our Uncle Samuel whose patriotic raw
ness easily enabled him to extract an i'm
mense amount of loyal comfort out of his
maiden excursion into the Southern Confed-
eTacy.
After our return to Vicksburg I very
gladly exchanged Sherman's leather pom
toons, as the old soldiers styled my big boots,
for pair of sewed army brOgans, and in the
future tired Dixie mud and dust with much
more comfort
On the Sd day of October, 1864, I was
taken prisoner in the valley between the
Kenesaw and AllatoOna Mountains, Georgia,
fighting to save Shermans base of supplies
at Allatoona Pass / was carried to Ander-
sonville and confined there and in other
Southern prisons until the close of hostilities
From the effects of wound, scurvy, and
exposure L contracted disease Of the spine,
that resulted in the entire loss of the use of
both lower limbs. For the past IA years my
only means of locom0tion has been in a
small, three-wheeled chariot propelled by
an attendant
And although my ardent love for the
Union when an armed boy in blue has cost
me life of suffering, have never regretted
for q single moment that / folded my fifth
reader for the last time at 10 to follow the
dear old Stars and Stripes.-WILL Il. SMITH,
Iawtey Fla