The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-15
AN ARMY RAID ON GAMBLERS.
The Captain Took the Pot for the
"Christian Commission"
From the Chicago Times-Herald.

"Christian Commission"
From the Chicago Times-Herald.
Capt Joe Woodnorth, the United States
pension agent at Milwaukee. told a good
story, one that ought not to slumber out
side of type another day.
In the campaign from Chattanooga to
Atlanta, after we had been marching and
lighting for six weeks, 1 was taken sick
and had to be sent back When l got so
could travel | started to the front to join
| the regiment. When 1 reached Chattanoo-
ga the officer in charge of a camp in which
there was large number of recruits draft
| ed men and others, had me detailed for
| duty with him. Many of the recruits were
substitutes, who had received large sums
| for coming to the war, Money was flush
| The officer in command was a Frenchman
! and as l afterward learned had made a
gallant record in his regiment, which was
! from Ohio
There was gambling in nearly every
| tent in the camp One evening the captain
came to me and said: Il am a soldier
| When i give orders 1 like to have them
| obeyed promptly, Just as soldiers should
| obey orders. Tonight l show you some
thing. First you sit down and write an
order directing that lights be put out in
every tent the minute taps are sounded
The order was made out and issued. At
8 o'clock, when taps sounded he touched
me on the shoulder and asked: Can you
| keep your mouth shut|
." L guess so; I'm willing to try
" That will not answer the purpose-win
| you keep your mouth shut?"
| II was kid private, he a fierce French
officer, and 1 said: Yes, sir, l will
Well, you say nothing about what you
see and hear tonight. Come with mer
I'VE went down one street and up an
| n ( 40 nr1a OIL
was being obeyed. Away off in a corner
| of the camp we saw a tent in which there
| was a dim light We started in that di-
rection. Suddenly the lights went out
we stand STILL the captain said, that
means nothing. They will light up again
pretty soon
1--WE had not long to wait. The lights
were burning again in a few minutes.
Now, l show you something, said the
captain.
"Stealthily approaching the tent, he
! threw back the flaps, we walked in, and
! there before us was number of men sit
! ting on the ground, with an oilclOth in
| front of them, upon which there was a
! large pile of greenbacks. Apparently they
| were just ready to see who would take pos
! session of a Jack pot
THE captain walked up to them, reach
! ed over the shoulder of a man and gath
cred up the big wad of money, crowded it
! INTO ms pockets anu III q savage NOAAG Sellu .
Gentlemen, did you get the order to ex-
tinguish lights when taps sounded?
zone of them said: Yes, sir
"'See that you obey that order hereaf-
ter
"Then we coolly walked out and passed
along the street until we saw another
| light. AT that tent we went through the
same ceremony with like results, except
that the Doodle in the second was much
! larger than that in the first. This will do
for tonight said the Frenchman, as he
went to his quarters. l asked how much
money he had captured.
"'Oh don't know; we will count it.
There was something over $500. I ask
ed him what he was going to do with il.
"'Oh we give this to the Christian COM
mission
1--WE went through the camp every night
for some time and got rich hauls at each
tent visited so the captain must have
gathered in several thousand dollars. l
was anxious to know what disposition was
to be made of the money. Though a pri-
vate l realized that l was his coworker,
and told him of my anxiety.
"'Oh he said, that's all right! We
won't bother the Christian commission
until we get large amount to turn over
I'VE never got a sufficiently large
amount to turn over; at least none was
turned over.
There was at that time an actress,
Lottie Holland, playing an engagement in
| a Chattanooga theater and the captain
became very much interested in her. Two
or three days after I had been ordered
to Gen. Thomas headquarters for service
/ saw a notice in a Chattanooga paper
| that a wel-known officer of a certain
Ohio regiment, who had been holding an
! important command. had presented the
| actress Lotde Holland, with a cluster of
| diamonds. / have always thought that
! the captain mistook Actress Holland for
| the Christian commission.
! mot long after that the captain was
returned to his regiment, and the next
time l saw him was at Nashville soon
after the battle in which Thomas defeat
| ed Hood. lie was out at the elbows had
no money, was hungry and thirsty.
| didn't have any clothes to give him. nor
any money, but there was something in
my canteen that he enjoyed drinking, and
| l divided my rations with him.
THE next time l heard from him was
| in 1888. lie wrote me from Dayton, O. He
was an inmate of the soldiers home. /
replied TO his letter, but got no answer.
! A year or two later / wrote to the COM
mandant about him ana he informed me
| that the captain had died Of consumption
! in 1888"