The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1898-07-28


ENhF go dry roads, and when
mule teams. cavalry,
artillery, and infan-
| try use the same road there is dust to
the depth of two or three inches. There
is no escape for soldiers marching in
ranks, no picking the way. In the old
| days dust didn't bother us as much as
mud. Given rain of two or three
hours and the average road in the
South and ten thousand men with their
| wagon teams and artillery could turn
| out the worst variety of mud ever cat
| alogued by mudologist
''As bad luck would have it, heavy
rains generally came when long and
important marches were to be made. In
the summer of 1868 the Army of the
Cumberland started on what promised
to be one of the most brilliant of its
campaigns. The men had had a good
rest and were in high spirits. 1t rain
ed ten or twelve days, and that high
spirited army was sorely beset Small
streams became roaring rivers. Bri-
gadeS and divisions were separated by
unfordable streams. Provisions and
ammunition teams were isolated. The
men huddled in camps like half-drOwn-
ed chickens or padded along the slop-
Dy roads with yells of derision. On
the first days march l heard only one
jocular remark. A downpour of rain
had come on us suddenly, fairly taking
the breath of the men marching along
the road. when a droll fellow shouted
at the top of his voice. Who in Sam
Hall touched the tent?' The fun of
this was in the fact that TO touch the
inside of a tent in time of heavy rain
was to make it leak, and in the further
fact that the man who made the re-
mark had been scored hundred times
for touching the tent.
''Our brigade broke camp at Cripple
Greek, south of Murfreesboro. Tenn,
June "a. 1t began to rain as we struck
tents, and rained all day and night.
There was rain on the 25th. heavy rain
all day on the 26th. showers on the
9th, rain in the forenoon of the 2Sth,
heavy rain all day on the Doth, show
ers on the Both, no rain July / and ,,
but heavy rain July 3, showers on the
4th and 5th, rain all of the forenoon of
the 9th, heavy rain all day on the 7th,
and rain in the forenoon July 8. Here
was campaign of two weeks with
twelve of the fourteen days rainy \
part of this time we had overcoats and
knapsacks but no tents. The greater
part of the time we had nothing but
blankets. Crackers crumbled in the
damp atmosphere. sugar and salt be-
came unmanageable and ammunition
was protected with the greatest diff
Guilty.
Yet in those two weeks the army
maneuvered Bragg out of his fortified
camps and drove him to the line of the
Tennessee. Harassed as they We're by
storm and flood the men Were not per-
mitted to lose sight of the purpose of
the campaign. The regiments were in
the presence of the enemy all the time,
and every function of army life was
performed. If the wagons did not
come up at night. half the regiment,
armed with picks, shovels, and long
ropes, went back for them. If an old
ford in a stream could not be used the
banks were cut down at another place
and a bridge thrown across If artil-
lery stuck in stream or swamp the men
waded in and pulled it out If river
could not be crossed in the morning
the regiments bivouacked near until
the waters receded, and then waded
in.
Nearly every day there was skir
mishing in front, and for three or four
days there was almost constant heavy
artillery firing on some part of the
line. In the first week out we crossed
Duck River and Elk River. pioneers,
pontoon men. cavalry, artillery, and in
fantry, all persisting in spite of the
rain. Camp life was not as dismal as
any mere description of the experience
of the soldiers would imply There
was variety enough during the day.
and when night came the men built
fires, dried their clothes as well as they
could, and sticking their guns, bayO-
nets down, in the ground. wrapped up
in their blankets and let it rain. Thsie
was everything in the weather to dis
courage the men, but everything in
events to encourage them.
I'VE knew when we struck the forti-
fications of the Confederates that we
had won the objective point of the cam
paign. Then a few days later the fir
ing of salute told us of the victory ut
Gettysburg and the capture of Vicks-
burg. The boys decided that under
the circumstances rain didn't count. 1t
was the season of berries, and often
as the men moved forward in the line
of battle they would gather from the
huckleberry bushes fruit enough TO
supply them for the day. They came,
too, on the most beautiful forest lands |
of middle Tennessee, and finally came
out of the campaign with no bitter
memories of the country except, rs
they put it. the rain was very Wet
''The mud was. such as few Chicago
men have ever seen. 1t was frequently |
knee deep. Men did not wear leggings
then, but they drew the long army |