The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1898-07-01

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''and it's something that'll make
you understand a mite about the
stuff that the Southern soldiers were
made of. AS soon as South Caro-
lima seeded of course the organiza-
ton of companies began at once.
was right there, and | remember so
well Just the kind of day it was. 1t
was Dec. 20, but the air was as bal
my as one of your late May days
and summer was fghtin' off winter
mighty hard that year. Lord, we
didn't wait for formal call to be
made. 1t seemed so funny to me
for you young men to sit back and |
wait for a formal call, but l reckon
that was the wisest thing to do. As
l was sayin', before anybody thought
of making a formal call we began to
hustle men together in companies
of from IS to 100. How they pour
ed in the first year! Physical ex-
animation? l should say not. We
never thought of such a thing and
we had no limit as to age. Boys of
10 and less enlisted side by side
with men of 60 and more. Then
the drillin' began, and poor enough
drillin' it was. The OLD militia was
not a good school in which to train
soldiers. At the beginnin' the
whole company was an awkward
squad, but there was the maxim of
Colonies in that mob.
cit wasn't many weeks before
the companies which were ready
were called into service. There
were no army contractors in the
south, and each company had to fur
nish its own uniforms. In a regi-
ment of ten companies it was not
at all uncommon TO see ten differ
ent styles of uniform. But that's
neither here nor there. At first
Confederate gray was not used ex
clusiveiy. All colors except United
States blue might be seen, and that
color affected US very much as red
does a mad bull. Many of the vol
unteers went without uniforms. The
same diversity was seen in the KNAPP
sacks and canteens. The best KNAPP
sacks were made of leather, and
many of them were made of hides
tanned with the hair on. These
were waterproof. The canteens were
all sorts and shapes.
"Another drink? Well, just a
small toddy to moisten up my
tongue. Yes, never did more het-
erogeneous collection of caps, hats,
uniforms, canteens and knapsacks
get into one army. Blankets and
bed quilts were taken from the home
supply, and you talk about one of
these crazy quilts that the women
make! Why, one of these GOVERNS
is a somber-lookin' affair by the side
of some of the calico comfortables
that the Confederate soldiers took
into camp with them.
elbow the men volunteered, though!
They just poured in, and they came
a-runnin', too. There was not such
demand for offices as at the pres
ent time. Professional men, college
graduates, literary men-all volun-
teered without any understandin' as
to place. They went in the ranks
with the common people. The re-
cruits forgot at once that they were
men and learned at once that they
were things which must develop in
to soldiers if we would win. The
company officers, Captain and three
Lieutenants, and the non-commis-
stoned officers were elected. Regi-
ments were formed on the principle
of affinity, and that's one of the
reasons that we were able to stand
up to you as we did. The cOmpa-
ny officers in a camp of instruction
would get together and select men
for regimental officers, and thus
form a regiment of ten companies.
Then they began to drill IN earnest.
We had no West Pointers to act as
drillmasters. The Captains and
Lieutenants studied tactics day and
night. know because / was one
of 'em, a Lieutenant at the start.
We didn't have any aid from ex-
perts, remember.
"When the companies reported
for duty at the state headquarters
they were placed in warehouses or
other unoccupied buildings for a
few days until tents could be fur
nished. The common soldiers used
the A tent. Two upright poles
about feet lopg and a ridge pole
with a few wooden pins were all
that was needed to stretch these
tents. When stretched they were
about feet wide and six men occu-
pied a tent. 1t was close quarters,
and all had to turn over at the same
time. The Captain and Lieuten-
ants had a small tent. 1t was about |
ten feet square and had fly stretch
ed over it. That was the grand |
way in which the Confederate start