The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-11-02

.M Ian
j "r. r.re been mustered out and hear
~ ]. nj ,aubliug about the conditions and
s;ons Of camps, it makes me smile,
g,It ','I t,ov that every old Confederate
Zil,, With me.
gps, ',',t all this minds me Of the first
f. II soldiers | ever saw, and they,
y t,,nmbled, then, but they came to
.svhat fools they were and of how
"A. n. they knew of what the war was
]. ~ he. This first camp had good
u. With plenty of straw and cover
I and with the boxes they received
= =, ,heir homes they lived about as
I. ,,.ud United States soldiers of
H. are living-they looked fine,
l,tsd E proud and only had to do a lit
4 d,i]liug every day to please the
g., and allow their officers to show
,JltS
I gss,, saw that regiment in another
| In At a different time, and if any
I, had told me that fourteen months
Ella have made such change I
Mia never have believed it. On
] frat visit | saw the lines of white
Sts looming up long before l arrived
8,be place, and big fires were burning
4 cooking meats were smelling, and
! ve]l.dressed soldiers we're fat and
siug and kicking up their heels like
s|lug FLIES in playfulneas, but my
land visit was different, so different
1. it impressed me from that day to
4 whenever it is called back to
'pd They were at the 'front" now
Ahey we're in the trenches, and as 1
Lied over the hill / saw down in the
jley what was called their camps.
biugy brown blankets or oilcloths
re stretched over o bush that had
an bent for the purpose, and little
33ouldering fires seemed to struggle
Ii the cold mist that was falling.
sre was no smell Of cooking meats,
| ].cllcking men, but a stiffness most
Il death and serious desire for
Il! sweet rest, even upon the ground
Ah one small small blanket for every
!! was good dark before I found the
bpany was looking for, and from
er hundred they had shrunk to
be eighteen or twenty. These I
Ind and they had gathered, for I
} news from their homes, news
|n Georgia, and some Of them cried
ile some stood stock still and only
aened I had letters for many Of
lu, and l shall never forget how
|srly they kneeled by the dim little
b and read them over and over, and
Der will forget how sad the ones
|ked for whom I had nothing-none
en- old soldier can understand how,
] it was to receive nothing on an
|,sion like this.
was the hero upon that occasion
never was before nor am ever to be
lin, and it is hard to tell when l
hld have stopped talking if the rat
OF guns from toward the trenches
/ not scared me so bad that I
Pied. The report was soon spread
that the yankees were moving
'Eard, and there was such hustle
'ong the soldiers in falling into line
y l didn't know what else TO DO
2 'c go along with them, and go !
At daylight I found myself in
As they called trench and in
p! 9f the first line Of battle I ever
4
| had been longing for dayligh. .o
fs, for | thought our conditions
fse than anything that could be,
when it had come I changed my
p and changed it quick. Just as
20 light enough to see, fellow
ny close to where I was said that
||s'uld freeze to death anyhow if he
not stir a little, and SO he
f|s0tened J himself and peeped over
oank In our front. This was fatal,
|ae poor fellow; he raised his head
+ TOO high and ball hit him zip,
. twinkliog. He just dropped
: 10 the mud, gave few jerks
was va. dead, but the fight began.
/ fellows then began to pick at
r. and before sun-up I wouldn't
|'e7en a chew Of tobacco for my
S'ees-but | didn't have to be told
6ssp down in the trench; I done it
|taoat any telling.
['i' went on all that day. The
4 I 10 10, the trenches kept picking at
Y Y other and once and awhile the
h nuns would turn loose and big
4. y went squealing over us, which
il me lay lower still, aud when
|,ness came again I didn't t need any
f. 10 help me away from there. T