Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1900-11-14
SOLDIERS AT HOME.
fNN1
THEY~TELL SOME INTERESTING
ANECDOTES OF THE WAR.
How the, Boys of Both Armies Whifed
Away life in Camp-Foraging Ex-
periences, Tiresome Marches-Thril-
ling Scenes en- the Battlefield.


Andrew gtackson Grayson, a veteran of
both war and pen. was when four COM
rades aud myself surprised a squad of
Confederate soldiers who were out
skirmishing around the country down
in Tennessee. Gen. Buell's magnificent
army broke camp al. Duck River, near
Columbia, Tenn, about April /. 1869,
and began the seven days march from
Pittsbnrg Landing. on the Tennessee
River We had been tramping four
days and on account of a scarcity of
bareback and loss of sleep we had be-
| come, nncommonly hungry and were
just aaaut tagged cut. The roads were
so dry that about four inches of the
surface had been converted into fine
dust by the moving army wagons, ar
| tillery, cavall.r and infantry.
Finally / III; de up my mind TO drop
out or the ranks and institute a hunt
for something 70 eat. Shortly after |
had dropped oit a lieutenant, who was
somewhat tired and hungry himself,
joined me, and by the contagion of ex-
ample we were shortly reinforced by
sergeant and two pllyates, which made
our cbmpany FIVE in number. We
placed ourselves under the command of
| the; lieutenant IN order that he might
! stand. between lis and the rear guard
whose, duty it was to apprehend all
stragglers from the ranks of the army.
Asfnye stood quietly by the roadside
| waiting for the last of long line OF
wagons, horses and men to pass, we
wefe lspied by the captain of the com
! paffy which lad been detailed to act as
! the FEAR guard that particular day.
! FAT in here you fellows he called out.
No struggling allowed Our lieuten-
ant promptly replied: III be RESPONSE
BILE fer these men, captain, and bring
/ themIin all tight. They are not able to
| travel now
.|"TTt1e captain acquiesced in the ar
range and we were left ;, our
own devices. As soon as the army had
i disapp cared Ia the distance ave struck
pttAway from the read tc ward he in
| terror, in search of something with
which to appease our hunger. The
hasases along the road bad empty cup
bbalSis fact which we well knew.
! After we had covered about three miles
eve came TO the brow of hill which
overlooked beautiful valley. As we
glanced down into the valley we noted
4 -thf,t it looked rich and fertile, and ac-
\ cordingly we lost no time in making
4 the descent. We could see a white resi-
.dence good distance away; also a grist
lmpl-nearby, and a long millrace leading
to II. A or ok wound its way tortuous-
qytiown tie valley, and soon became OBJ
bafiks. 1t was indeed landscape fit
FOR the brush of a great artist. We
We're not, however, in the art business,
hut in the more prosaic and enjoyable
occupation of trying to get hold of some
I grub In short time we were at the
Tfsidence of the proprietor of the mill,
rnohose name we afterward learned was
1Ieussell. We were agreeably surprised
7 to observe seated on the large front
porch an attractive and benevolent
Hooking young woman of about 49,
Lsls. As we drew near she rose and come
st0 meet us, saying in a low tone of
voice: L know you are Union soldiers.
rahd have come to warn you. Father
Is rebel, although too old to enlist in
the war. He is this very minute enter
tanning rebel captain ard six of his
men down there by the spring house
They have liquor and are drinking free
ly, so hope you will not go around to
gthe other side of the house where they
might see you. My mother and l are
Union sympathizers, and would not like
ITO have you captured We thanked the
young woman for her kin jness, and
told her that we were desperately hun
CRY and must have something to eat
pretty soon. My father and his friends
awill soon be returning TO the house.
.the girl said, for mother is now getting
dinner ready for them The guns be-
longing to the other rebel soldiers are
stacked near the door which faces the
spring house. You men are all well
armed, so | will just carry their guns
around TO this porch, where they can't
get them. and then you viii be safe
THE girl disappeared and in a few
moments returned carrying a gun in
each hand. Her mother saw what she
was doing and proceeded TO lend her
daughter "a hand with the result that
in short order the dangerous weapons
were on our side of the fence. We now
1 had the drop on the Johnnie Rebs. but
intended, so long as they conducted
| themselves properly, not TO modest
! them Being ourselves absent without
leave, we did not care to bother with
prisoners, and. on the other hand, we
did not like the idea of being captured,
as that would cause us to be reported
as absent without leave and eventually
sell announced that dinner was ready
the old gentleman and his companions
came marching slowly up the path from
the spring house. We took a position
from which we could readily see them
as they advanced toward the house.
They looked a pretty warm set for us
to tackle. All of the men wore uni
forms Of a dirty gray in color and
seemed under the influence of liquor.
As they stepped on to the back porch
we marched in at one door of the din
ing-roOm aud they in at the other You
should have seen how those Johnnies
stared at us They were fairly stricken
dumb with amazement to find them
selves confronted by band Of Yankees.
Look here. captain said our lieuten-