The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-06-22
MAJOR SALMON'S WAR STORY.
The Thrilling Experience of a Recruit in the
Civil War.
st. Louis Republic.

st. Louis
The scene at the Union Station last
Monday night, when the First Battery
left for the South, awakened in many
Of those present memories Of the days
Of the Civil War. Mingled with
those who witnessed such stirring
scenes for the first time, were veterans
of the war. The former listened
eagerly, while the latter 4eveled in
"reminiscences, as they waited for the
train that brought the boys from the
Barracks.
In the crowd was Major Harvey
Salmon, Of Clinton, Mo. Friends
were gathered around him. Stran-
gers, joseled by the surging mass Of
people, pricked their ears TO hear war
stories.
81 was youngster at the outbreak
Of the war;" Major Salmon was heard
to say. sWe Missouri boys who
wanted to join the Confederate array
went in very different manner from
what our brave lads are going to-day.
We had to steal our way through the
lines in the dead Of night, on horses
that we picked up wherever we could.
Many fellow was killed before he
got into The ranks across the lines,
and years after his bones were found
bleached to snowy whiteness in the
spot where his body was thrown by
those who had shot him down. We
found all that was left of nephew Of
mine in an old house. Rats had
gnawed the flesh off his bones; only
clothes identified him.
ssMy first engagement, you say?
There were so many Of them | could
not tell just now which was the first,
but I had an experience in the early
5 part of the war that I will never for
get. I was with General Price at
Lexington, No., when he drove Multi
gan inside the fortifcations in Sep
] tsmber, 1861. The Federals had for
titled the town and it was rumored
about our camp that they intended to
surprise and gout us. The most siren
uous picket watch was kept night and
day. I was called out Of . sound
sleep shortly after I had retired one
night in September and told to go out
beyond the second picket and keep
! close watch. Ny instructions were to
shoot down the first man who hove in
sight and then retreat to the second
picket. was one Of those hazy au-
tumn nights common to that part of
the country. There was no moon,
but the stars twinkled through the
glsom, and every now and then one
fell, trailing thin streak Of light be-
hind.
Zone hundred and fifty yards from
camp alone and on mission that in
Yolved the utmost vigilance was the
easiest task for q youngster. Ny
brain was on FIRE with excitement. l
walked up and down slender path,
from where I had an excellent look
out oyer the country, fine, timbered
section, near Lexington.
ssMy eyes were strained out Of their
sockets almost, and my ears must
have stood away from my head, so ea-
ger was I to catch the slightest sound.
The leaves rustled in the wind, and
now and then branch cracked under
the weight Of a slumbering bird. 1
imagined all sorts of things. The war
was young then. and We wern't sea-
soned and hardened in experience. A
fellows Imagination gets very vivid,
and he is liable to see all sorts of
things that he is expected to see and
watch out for.
GLOSS of sleep, unusual excitement
and feverish desire not to be caught
mapping made me all the more fearful
Of being trapped. Just as 1 was
turning at the end of the beaten track
I saw a man coming toward fence.
I leyeled my double-barrel, ready to
do as was told, when the fellow set
his foot on the fence. I expected to
see him jump over the next minute,
but ne seemed to hesitate. He may
be- watching me, I thought, looking
steadily at him and covering every
movement he might make with my
gun. I refrained from shooting only
because I did not want to raise the
commotion which my shot would en-
tail without being absolutely sure Of
my business.
"It seemed to me that I stood for
hours glued to the spot. There was
that fence, that man with his foot on
it, ready to swing his body over, that