The National tribune., 1900-05-03

dreary. Winter wore away and the Spring
buds began to swell. my uneaSlneSS IN
! creased TO such an extent that told father
| and mother | could stand it no longer and
| was going to re-enlSt. AS parents will,
| they did not want me togo, and tried to per-
suadc me that had done enough, but told
| them could not be satisfied to stay at home,
now that had recovered my health; that
did not want to be discharged when l was
sick, and was going back to the regiment,
now that was man again. They gave
up the contest, not cheerfully, for they could
not forget how near they had been to losing
me, but with a fervent God bless you, my
| boy, as they tearfully saw me leaving the
| family roof-tree again to mingle i'll the
| turmoilS and uncertainties of grim war.
Father, mother, sister and brother have
long since joined the silent ma jority beyond
the grave, while the son and brother they
hardly expected would return from the war
still lives to pen this narrative of his expert
enceS.
IN SERVICE ONCE MORE.
On March 2S, 1864, i again enlisted for
three years, or during the war, and again
| repaired to Madison to secure Transports
| ton to the front. The day | got there the
4th Wis. Cav. arrived on veteran furlough.
/ STAYED at hotel there a few days before
! reporting at Camp Randall, in order to fix
up money matters and send home what
did not want to take with me. heveterans
of the 4th, many of them acquaintance of
mine, wanted to fix up a little before going
| to their homes, and, as in the experience of
the Rosendale Squad when we first went
| out, they found the willy tradeSmen of
Madison ready and anxious to accommo-
date them; but these were veterans and not
the grcenieS we were. These boys had been
at the front long enough to aspire to the
uniform of an officer, and l undertake to
say that Madison never before saw so
many Brigadier-Gencrals, minus straps,
| punched within its limits as while the 4th
| remained there.
| Not long before l went to the hospital
| had drawn new clothing. AS this was in
good condition and nearly new, l wore it
when / went back. The jacket, with its
Sergeants chevrons, had been worn the
least and was as good as new. This time
when | reported to Camp Randall found
Capt, Hobbs, formerly of Co: !, i'll COM
mand The camp consisted mostly OF
| recruits awaiting transportation to their
| regiments, with Sprinkling of veterans
returning from furlough.
Two days later was off for the front. 1t
was the custom to hold recruits in rendez-
| lnon-commiSSioSedo officer was handy to take
charge of them in transit. All enlisted
men had to be receipted for, like mules and
other supplies for the army. when away
| from their regiments, and these receipts
must be signed by commissioned officers.
Sdpl f1oDDS pldceu lou Vi Tie TecTultS uflOeT
my command. This was large COM
mand for Sergeant, and especially so for
one who had nothing but three yellow
stripes on the sleeves of his jacket to indi-
cate his authority; but | had seen service,
and made the best of it.
In due time reported with my command
at Nashville and was sent TO Zollicoffer
Barracks. At one time this building was
palatial hotel, but the owner being q
General in the rebel army, had been confis-
Gated and made to do service for Uncle Sam.
While the outside was pretentious and in
good preservation, the inside was far from
it. In many places the tiling of the rooms
was cracked and broken where fires had
been built on the floor for warming purposes,
and having been used so long for barracks,
the building was alive with vermin. The
whole thing was more like prison than a
barracks for civilized beings, and was a
disgrace to the service.
The only sleeping place was to spread
blanket on the floor and lie down quickly,