Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-08-14
WAR MEMORIES.
ADDRESS or MIR. THOMAS ID. GOLD
BEFORE j. L. II. STUART CAMP.
fHE MARCH, THE FIGHT, THE BIVOUAC
prison Life ut Point Lookout and
EImira,-its Humors and Pathos
Graphically Described-An Aged
Patriot. l.9iias,,.s.I41a


Patriot. ll&ilijss,,,s.{1.8
TIE following Is the address delivered
by Mr.. Thos. d. Gold, of Clarke county.
before tho ]. Il. &. Stuart Camp Of Con-
federate Veterans, at their hail. on Sat
urday. and which is published in these
columns at the unanimous request Of the
camp:
Fellow Comrades,-A third of a century
has passed since the scenes and the
events occurred in which It is now our
highest honor to know we bore a small
part. but the lapse Of time. the care, the
trials. or successes Of life cannot eclipse
nor even dim our recollections of the
men, the times. the experiences OF those
DAYS. one step with memory and we are
seated around the campfire with loved
comrades; the story, the joke the song,
the merry laugh, are heard. We are on
the tonsome march. The cannon boom
In the distance, the column steadily
pushes onward the line of battle is form
ed the skirmishers are sent out, the line
advances, the enemy is in sight, muskets
roar. with yells we rush forward, the
guns are taken. the enemy is routed,
night falls. we biVOuac on the field, the
roll Is called; our gallant comrades
where are they? Killed. wounded, miss
ing 1t was my misfortune on two occa-
sions TO be missing and TO find myself
prisoner. At KernstOwn, in 1862, when l
saw our lines falling back in confusion,
thought all would be taken,
and decided to save myself by
flank movement, and. of course,
was picked up by the cavalry.
With 235 others, l was sent to the Balu-
more JAIL where we were the recipients
of the kindness for which the good people
OF that city were famous, and which
should forever bind us TO them with hooks
of steel. Books TO read and gold dollar
for each prisoner were given US. We were
then sent 10 Fort Delaware. from which
] was exchanged the following August
The second time 1 was taken with $500
others in the Bloody Angle at Spotsylva-
MIA on that ever memorable 18th of May,
1864, when Hancock broke our lines. We
were kept all that day at Grants head
quarters, where we could hear the heavy
musketry fire, the heaviest of the war,
hoping. as sometimes the roar seemed 10
come nearer. that the tide of battle would
reach US and free us. The rain, which
fell in torrents during the evening and
night we had to stand; fortunately, we
had not yet thrown our blankets away,
and. with Yankee oilcloth taken from
our foes. we were able TO keep dry. No
thing was issued 10 us TO eat until eve
ming Of the next day, when we reached
m IL g.ts- 10 Paint Il
out. on our march we met for the first
time negro troops, who said as we passed
them: Better put 'em down in dat hollow
and open grape and canister on 'em; dey
make mighty good guano." Our blood
boiled! If there had been no white guards
10 interfere we would have made guano
OF them. After landing at Port Lookout
and being divided into companies we soon
fell into the life Of the prisoner. The pri-
son was a large enclosure containing
forty or fifty acres. surrounded by a
close plank fence Is feet high, with
parapet on the outside Of the sentinels to
walk on. from which they could overlook
the prison. Ten feet inside was the
"dead-line" 10 cross which was to be
shot without warning Just outside or the
walls was the bay, in which we were al
lowed 10 battle, or we could remain on
the beach from sunrise 10 sunset. The
prison was laid off in streets running
parallel 10 each other into the main street,
upon which the eating-houses were sit
uated. at meals. We were marched by
into these houses and got our
very scanty rations-about half pound
of bread, two ounces of meat, and pint
Of SOUP a day, or ten bareback in the
Mace of bread We found there when we
arrived some friends from our command
and others. We were quartered in large
tents mostly; some built houses OF crack
.. boxes. obtained from the commissary
reinc the boxes as Notwithstanding and
covering with tent flies or oilcloths. /
lived I'm one with Ed. Bonham, who was
there when 1 arrived. and some others
They were more comfortable, and not SO
as the large tents, which had
as many as twenty in them, sometimes
Soon after my arrival there, our com
rades A Moore. Jr., and Charles IL.
smith we're brought in. With them was
Mr. Eugene Davis. cultivated CHRISTIAN
gentleman. a gallant soldier, man whom
10 know was a privilege 20 have as
friend an honor. To me he became such'
and / shall forever remember his KIND
ness 10 a boy who needed the wise couh-
sel and good example set by one whose
Quiet dignity subdued the rougn, ana
" hose pleasant manners and genlal con-
versations charmed all who were brought
under his influence. Twenty-Five years
after when nursing my son at Charlottos-
Vile. he sought me out and renewed lne
kindness of former days by eVerythnls III
his power that could comfort and help me
in sore trouble His patient endurahce,
without murmurIng OF the hardships oi
prison lifo helped many others. reinen-
Der that during the winter at Eimiras
where the thermometer was often IL or 10
degrees below zero, that his bed consist
ID OF two ollcloths, a blanket, and threo
,anteens filed each night with hot water
and placed around him; yet no was NV
-lably cheerful. Soon after our getting
settled we were entertained by the oi1
soldiers with stories OF the negro guaros,
and warned 70 be careful not TO be OUT
sitter dark, as the patrol which went
about over the grounds would arrest OF
shoot on very little provocatlon-in iaet. |
se could hear shots and whlstlng puiS"
II most any time in tho night.
A negro sentinel one day had brougnt
m with him his knapDack filled 10 the
hill. He put II on the ground at one enc
Of his beat. AS he paced TO and FRO an
old "Confed" could not stand the tempa-
ion 10 renew acquaintance with yam
pee knapsack. so when the fellows pach
gas turned he picked II up and was soon