Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1898-06-13
Madison, June 9.

Madison, June g.
Wednesday was reunion day at
Camp Randall. The 23d Wis. led
all other regiments in point of at
tendance and the success of it's re-
union. It's tent was headquarters
for good cheer and "reminiscences.
The members were called to order
by Capt. w. G.. Pitman of Madison
and Col. William F. Villas was elect
ed permanent chairman and made an
inspiring opening address. Col. J.
NJ. Bull of Worthington, Mimi, re-
sponded eloquently to earnest calls
and Lieut.. John l.. Jolley of Vermil-
lion, S. OAK, made some witty re-
marks. w. G.. l.. Mats of Verona
spoke a German piece and L. D.
Frost of Winona and Lieut.. Basil
Smout of Wells, Mimi, also gave
short talks. Several reunions have
been held by this regiment but no
permanent organization was effected
until Wednesday when one was
formed on motion of G.. w. Neither
wood of Oregon. Col Villas was
elected president, Col. Bull vice
president and Capt. Pitman secretary.
A vote of thanks was extended to
Capt. Pitman for making the reunion
such a success and condolences and
regards were sent to Col. Hills, who
| is sick in the soldiers home at Mil
waukee Over 100 veterans were
| present besides several wives and
daughters of members and after the
reunion group picture was taken in
front of the tent.
One of the features of the 23rd' S
reunion was the reading of letter
written by George D. Kellogg, a
fruit grower of California, to Capt.
| Pitman. The letter was accompanied
by large crate of big, luscious
cherries which proved a veritable
feast for his old comrades. At the
reunion of the 23rd in Milwaukee a
consignment of peaches was received.
Mr.. Kellogg's letter was written al
Newcastle, CAL, and bears date OF
| May 81 1t was in part as follows:
God knows that next to heaven
and home, / would rather be at the
reunion of our old regiment than
anywhere; yes, possibly [ would be
willing to stay out of heaven a few
days longer, and absent myself from
the pleasures of home for short
! time to be there. How can the civil
liam understand the comradeship, the
| bond that has been welded under fire
of battle and tempered in the south
ern swamps; how can he appreciate
| the tie that binds together those
that are born of general exposure
| and strengthened by a common eX-
perience? Nevertheless outside of
ones own kith and kin there is no
grasp quite so cordial, quite so warm
as that of an old comrade. I realize
when the roll is called that many
will not respond | wonder who will
| respond III E r e. as of old. Many
have answered to their last roll call
here who are now responding at
reveille on the eternal camp ground.
Isolated as I am, have not been able
to keep track of many of our boys.
[ understand that since our last re-
union, among others, Col. j. j. Cup
Ply and Capt, Sinclair w. Botkin have
passed over the river. am glad to
know that there are many of the
| boys that are left who will be in
camp, however, and whom [ would
SO dearly love to meet. I should be
disappointed not to see Capt. Sumner,
Stoltze and yourself there. By the
| way will Capt. Tolford and his goats
be present, or isn't he alive yet? Of
course the goats are not dead, as
goats never die, that is, such goats
as his. This is self-evident, for only for
their imperishable nature they would
have died in 1864, very shortly after
! they ate up my poncho, or not very
long after they swallowed Geo.
WARES haversack and canteen. Of
course Bob Bird Cor is it undignified
to call him by so familiar name as
'Bob?O, Jim Karnes (there it goes
again, did not mean to call my old
orderly 'JimO, Johnny Estes, capt.
Bennett, Col. Bull, Joe Tillottson,
Billy Post and blushing Billy Steven
son will all be there. Yes, and then
there is Hank Goodnow, and [ must
always associate Henry Scheler and
the rams tallow pie shortning with
him; Billy Keepers, Jack Howe, L. D.
Frost, Taft, Zimmerman, Schroeder
and lots of others, but / must stop
before Gabriel Kiemig blows his horn
to tell me to stop. If Gabriel would
only blow the dinner horn for mess
of bean soup, [ think I would try and
find my old plate and answer the
summons. Well, I cannot call you all
by name in this little missive, but I
wonder if you would not just think
of me for a moment when you are all
together and renewing old times
just think of me as you used to some
times when you had sent me out on
picket without rations and
later sent me hard tack to
keep me vigilant. If the weather
will permit I will send you
little reminder to reach you
about the 9th or 18th, probably of
cherries about the size of the minnie
balls that the Johnny rebs used to
fire at us to keep us awake. They
will be for general distribution at