The National tribune., 1900-03-15
COLD CHEERS FOR PATRIOTS.
Hardships Borne without Complaint by Hen
Supporting the Old Flag.

EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: Having
seen so muc h complaint from the soldiers oi
late over the rations L ncle Sam gave them,
| am constrained to make some remarks
incident 10 the ration business out OF my
observation and the experiences Of the
Sixteenth Corps. Let the '9S and 80 sol
diers compare their rations Of today with
what ] shall narrate, and see if fault-find-
ing is right, and if they still decide they have
cause, then how much credit the veterans
OF the civil war deserve.
We knew our Government was furnish
ing-uS wholesome IationS (but nothing Ia
be compared to the rations the army now
gets. and plenty of them, when it was pos
sible to get it to us, and when it was short
all | mon soldiers knew as well as the Off
GERS the cause. SO, as it was generally
unavoidable. we simply accepted condi-
tions, and did not kick against what could
not bc helped.
When we defeated Hoods army at Nash
vile we at once followed him up, driving
him back day by day. attacking and seat
tering his forces wherever he made a stand;
marching through mud shoe-mouth deep
very often, hesitatng at nothing; lying on
a couple of rails at night without tents,
with our wet and muddy clothes clinging
to us in a way far from agreeable.
But not a murmur was heard; for did not
we enlist with the expectation that we
might sometime have 10 do a little fighting,
| and that once in a while we would have to get
off the sidewalks and spfing-beds and away
from pumpkin pies, warm buScuitS, and
other good things? Seriously, we did not
expect the comforts Of home when we en-
listed, and we did expect h&rdships and
| plenty Of them, and that many brave
boys must fall. Our country was in danger,
and we responded to her appeal for help
with the determination to accept what
might come with the best possible grace.
We pushed Hood back until he crossed
| the Tennessee at Muss0l Shoals, where his
forces scattered, and we abandoned the plir-
suit, realizing that we had destroyed his
army, captured hundreds of his best men,
and demoralized the rest until their future
worth as an army was nothing.
We crossed the Tennessee and vent into
Winter quarters at Eastpoit, Miss, where
began our tough rations. We built log
cabins, and got into them, and felt for
once that we were lucky to have roofs over
our heals. And, remember, we did not
ask the Government to build our houses,
but cut down the saplings and carried them
on our shoulders, notched the logs for the
corners. split out our own boards for the
| roof, mixed mud. and daubed up the cracks,
split sticks, and built chimneyS. plaStering
the inside with mud To prevent their catch
ing fire, and if We had had plenty to eat
would have felt that we were blessed above
the average mortal
One morning, shortly after our arrival
at Eastport, our Orderly detailed a comrade
to go with him to draw raticns. They re-
turned and called the company up for the
issue. We were each given one pint of
shelled corn. and only this, for one full
days rations.
This seemed pretty tough, but we put the
good with the bad, and came to the con-
clusion that the good was ahead; for with
good quarters, and no marching to do, we
could stand 1t: So at one time we would
parch the whole of our days rations Of corn,
and placing some in ollr pockets, go about
munching it with a relish, only wishing
we had more, but never blaming the
Government, for we knew the Ohio River
was full of ice, preventing the transports
from getting up to us with rations., Thus
we subsisted for about 10 days, and felt as
well as we ever did with plenty. But
don't think for an instant that we were not
longing for hardtack and belly, washed
down with some good old black coffee
AT last the ice broke up, transports came
not with rations, however, but to carry
us to Mobile via New Orleans, to help
Gen: T.. r. S. Candy capture Mobile.-J.
w. LACoCK, Sergeant, Co. c, 93d Ind,
Efiingham, ILL.,