The National tribune., 1901-06-13
a COLD NEW YEAR.
On the morn of that New Year,
No bI,,rIa horn did ya hear

Neither the Blue nor the. Gray can for
get January ], 1864. With no fire, no
rations, our wagons 80 miles away, we
"Kentucky Confederates' were on out
post duty northeast of Knoxville, Tenn.
Longstreet's and Burnside's hosts had
left the country a barren waste. On the
previous day the weather had been COM
paratively warm and rainy. While lying
On the bare ground, the sky our only can
bly, there came Il sudden change-ice and
snow.
At break of day no bugle sounded. The
horn was frozen-likewise the bugler. We
had no fire, no coffee, no breakfast. Our
poor horses, shivering and whimpering,
were tied TO little "black-jack'' trees, and
the halters, covered with ice and snow,
could not be united by our benumbed
fingers. Perforce, we cut them with
knives and sabers. Without any forma-
tion, we started on the long tramp-30
miles. l say tramp" because no cav
alryman could ride his horse that day
without freezing to death. Leading our
horses, we took the infantryman's route
step" the men struggling at will, many
Of them leaving the column and wander
ing into the country afar, seeking COM
fort at the hearthstones of the simple
but hospitable mountaineers. As my
friend, Col. Theodore L. Allen, of the 9TH
Ohio Cav, would say, 1T was a long
time between drinks"-worse than Rog-
we came in sight of the glowing camp
fires we had the feeling of the redeemed
entering Paradise Regained."
CAPT. SAM DUNCAN.
Comrade Isaac c. Dennis, of the 14th
I'LL. Cav, writes interestingly of the foot
race" at Pugh's Hill, Tenn. Verify, we
were all running-the Confederates in the
lead. Undoubtedly Dennis was instru-
mental in the capture of Capt. Sam Dun
can, who was brave as Marshal Ney, but
too corpulent to run foot-race. Dun
cans reply that the Illinois cavalrymen
were 'winded' and could not hit barn
door was characteristic Of him.
No doubt Comrade Dennis will be
pleased TO know more of his captive. Capt.
Sam Duncan was a strengthening man,
rotund, slightly above medium hight. He
had dark hair, pleasant face, and wore
q heavy mustache-a bluff, rollicking, fun
loving officer; plain in manner and speech,
he cared little for "full-dress uniform
usually wearing a short cavalry jacket
devoid Of any insignia o. rank. He was
witty and immensely popular.
His comrades of the ''Buckner Guards
tell of an amusing incident that occurred
at the battle of Shiloh. Just before the
beginning of that conflict the opposing
lines were so close that ordinary sounds
could be heard from one encampment TO
the other. On the night before the battle
Duncan, then a private soldier, was on
picket duty. Being weary and sleepy,
he forgot military regulations and went
of into the Land of Nod" Very care
lessly he had dismounted and hitched his
horse to a fence rail. In a short time he
was awakened by a commotion in the
Federal camp, and, in his dazed condi-
tion, thinking the enemy was advancing,
he hurriedly endeavOred TO unhitch his
horse, preparatory to mounting and rid
l.a. I,, -. H., Il
fasten the rein in as brief time as he
thought the emergency demanded, and in
stead he shouldered the rail, mounted his
horse, and triumphantly rode back to his
company base.
This same genial Capt. Duncan was
the identical gentleman" who tried to
make his horse climb q tree, an episode
recorded in a previous installment Of
these "Bugle Notes" he is still living
and still jolly.
WHO WILL CARE FOR MOTHER NOW?
OF the many war songs L recall two
stanZas of pathetic one:
"Why am ! so weak and weary?
See how faint my heated breath
All around to me seems darkness;
Tell me, comrade, is this death?
Oh, how well know your answeri
To my fate meekly bow;
II you'll only tell me truly
Who will care for mother now?
"Let this knapsack be my pillow,
And my mantle be the sky;
Hasten, comrade TO the battle;
l will like soldier die;
Soon with angels I'll be marching,
With bright laurels on my brow.
i have for my country fallen
Who will care for mother now?"
THE MUD LARK.
When on short rations, consisting of
nothlng more than meager quantities of
"blue beef" and rice, with a modicum of
bread, made of unbolted -four, the Con
federate soldier frequently made quiet.
stealthy forages into the circumjacent
country In search of something for the
benefit of stomachs nearly always In an