Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1899-05-06
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GEN. wHEELER's cH1vALRY.
How He Made One Little Girl Happy
When He was n Dashing Com
federnte officer.

It was in the town of Athens, Tenn,
in the year 1864. The territory covered
by the eastern division of the state in
which the town lies was then on the
border, and was fiercely contended for
as disputed ground by both armies
the federals and confederates.
Alternately the hosts of each had
swept over the beautiful hills and fer
2,le valleys, like the ebb and flow of
the tides, each leaving death and de-
struction in it's wake. All the able
bodied men subject to military draft
had gone to one or other of the armies,
and the country had been robbed of its
horses, it's focSs, and its herds.
The boys and old men converted
handsaw files into bowie knives, which
they carried by day and slept with pis
tolls under their pillows at night. No
man of any prominence of political
opinion was certain one day that he
would not within "a hours be taken
from his family and hustled off to
Camp Chase or Libby prison-if he was
not left along the neighborhood road
side with bullet through him.
While East Tennessee was, by large
majority, loyal to the union, the town
itself, exclusive of the blacks, was
about equally divided in political SEN
timent even some families being di-
vided, with members in both armies,
father against son, brother against
brother. Two of the principal streets
of the town ran east and west, parallel
with each other, and lay only block
apart. The one from the south was
from the inception of the war desig-
mated as jeff Davis street, because near
ly every citizen on it was either n rebel
or rebel sympathizer. The one north
of this was called Lincoln street, near
ly all of it's residents being Lincolnites
or unionists.
On the latter street, however, there
was prominent merchant whose SYM
pathies were all with the south and
who had son in the southern army.
His storehouse was east of the public
square of the town, and on the corner
of the street, while just opposite, on the
other corner, were the storehouse and
dwelling of prominent union man
who had sons in the federal army.
The confederates were gradually
yielding the ground to superior forces,
but were doing so doggedly and sullen-
ty. One day the "Yanll" would sweep
through, carrying off with him every
thing that could be eaten or worn, and
bringing general disnay to the citizens
of southern sympathies; the next day,
perhaps, would come the confederates
looting the town of everything portable
belonging to citizens of union senti-
ment, and causing the Lincolnite resi-
dent to betake himself to the brush
there to remain till he could hear from
a neighboring hilltop the clatter of the
hoofs of his enemy's horses leaving the
town.
Following the trail of Burnside's
army like sleuth hound, was, on the
particular occasion of which 1 write
a troop of confederate cavalry, on, per
haps, the last important raid the con
federates ever made through the town
By this time they deemed all persona
property of Lincolnite as contrabanG
of war and subject TO seizure. Iincolr
street was full of cavalry horses and it: