The National tribune., 1897-05-13
TRICKS OF THE coLoRED SOLDIERS.
A Suffers Clerk Tells of His Experiences in
the Army of the James.

| A Suffers Clerk Tells of His Experiences in
the Army of the James.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: In Septem-
| Der, 1864, the 9Th q. S. c. 7. was at Deep
Bottom, Va, and the suter was II. P. Elias,
q man from Cincinnati.
| l think the men were in Diapers Brigade,
and the General had established price-list
for the suffers goods. At this time the 4th
q. S. G. 7. was at Dutch Gap Canal, and /
was then clerking for Cooper, the sutler OF
the 4th. He established his own prices.
A move was made towards Richmond,
Sept. %, 1864, which resulted in the battle
| of Fort Harrison, or Chapin's Farm. The
4th and 9Th u. S. c. T. both participated,
and after the lines were established and
things auieted down the suffers moved to
| their regiments.
After Elias moved he discarded the price
| list and substituted one of his own. In a
few days Gen. Draper discovered that his
price-list was ignored, and Elias was ordered
to leave the army in three days.
He disposed of his team and most of his
stock, but the three days were fast going,
and he sold out his tent and the remainder
of his stock to his clerk, Robert d. Kuhn,
who was directly elected or appointed sutler
Of the regiment.
Kuhn wanted a clerk. 1 left Cooper and
the 4th and agreed to go with Kuhn.
l reached Bermuda Hundred and found
Kuhn. He had just bought four-mule team
and wagon with no cover, and had no
driver. He had tent At the front with the
regiment, and boy there with it, named
Henry Penuiman, from Mount Vernon, O.,
but no stock of goods of any amount.
He had bought goods and had the wagon
pn m n
driving the team to the front. knew no
more about driving mules than a mule does
about driving men, but started.
/ got stuck in the mud-hoes twice, having
to unload an awful conglomeratiOn of goods,
had some of my stock made away with by
the boys" and arrived at my destination
after having been "a hours on the road,
driving less than 10 miles.
The sutler was always regarded by the
soldiers as a robber, and they looked upon
him as lawful prey. There may have been
exceptions. If they could get the best of
him any way, that was all right. Their
conscience never troubled them about that.
Many of them were always studying some
plan to beat" the sutler, and regi-
ment of men would invent a great many
schemes. The colored troops would often
come back with complaints about wrong
change.
Look a-heah, boss, guv you half
dollar for 10 cents wuff tobacker, and you
only guy me back 90 cents" was sample
Some would come around in the evening
and perhaps buy few cents worth of some
thing and see how things lay inside the
tent; then in the night, when everyone was
asleep, they would creep up to the tent, cut
hole through, reach in and take everything
they could reach. After having our tent
cut twice we used to pile brush around it,
SO that one could not get to it without max
ing a lot Of noise.
Another scheme was to come after dark
and want % or so cents worth of something
IN their haversack, and when it was handed
to them they would run with it and disap-
pear IN the darkness After that had been
played once or twice wouldn't let 20 the
haversack until the money was put into my
hand.
One evening the money was in my hand
and / turned around to the candle to look
at it and it was a piece of rag instead of
scrip, and that fellow was out of sight.
After that the haversack didn't go out until
l had the money aud had looked at it.
Then it was Where's your money ?"
After search in his pockets, clar, Boss,
/ done lef' it in my tent. I'll bring it down
in the morning" Back into the barrel went
the cakes.
Coffee was high at that time, and some OF.
the men who didn't care for it used to save
their rations Of coffee and sell it TO the
sutler for about half price and take their
pay in his goods. They used to take the
coffee-grounds that had been stepped, dry
them and mix with little new coffee aud
60 down and sell it to the sutler. We soon
caught on to that.
Some new scheme was coming up most
every day, and if the sutler was o robber,
the robbery business was not confined ex-
clusively to the sutler. The suffers life was
not all sweet MILK
! went with another sutler on Feb. IA,
1865, and remained until the close Of the
war. close with rather amusing parody:
:" Breathes there u man with soul SO dead
That he ever TO himself has said,
To - with the suffers gingerbread?'
And still you'd look with more surprise
On one who'd curse the suffers pies,
And chaos shall reign earth and seas,
Ere they will curse the suffers cheese"
&C. Il. OsGOOD, Manchester, N. II.