The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1901-09-05

I
ball had crippled one wheel tit was side
wheeler John soon found himself alone
on this boat. He rushed down below
| deck, and found the engineer.
Get this boat out of this" said John.
But If l go above III be killed."
"Well, you'll be shot, instantly, II you
don't"
Well. the engineer thought John meant
what he said, so he marched up, let the
steam on, wheeled the boat away from
the landing. then got her out in the mid
die of the river, then by running the one
wheel first ahead, and then back, got her
down the river to where she was taken
in tow by the other boats, and under the
convey of the gunboat the retreat was
safe.
Well, bluff and buster" sometimes
win, and this saved Uncle Sam $4,000.
Were l writing a history of the war l
would give an account of the attack and
retreat on Walnut Hills; but that has been
told by others, and is foreign to the in
tentions of this paper.
HOLDING FOR HALF.
On our way down to attack Arkansas
Post they ran our boat ashore, to get some
rails, | guess. There was a plantation
and planters house a few rods from
shore. l went out a little behind. l think
the Chaplain and | were distanced that
time. There were 40 or 80 of the boys
that had about two chickens in each hand.
and it was a general skirmish all around:
l could not see anything loose, so | looked
on. Pretty soon up came boy, and says
he: Sergeant, hold my chickens"
NO" said /; Il might see something
loose myself. Hold your own chickens.
I'll do this; I'll hold for half"
agreed" said he.
/ soon had bargain with another, and
another, until l had eight chickens, Of
which / was halloween. Just then the
bell rang and we rushed aboard. We
cleaned the chickens, of which we had
four. There were eight or 10 in our
'mess," and of course we had to plan
how we could get the most out of them,
so we decided to make a chicken pOt-pie,
with the accomplishments, such as our
wives, sweethearts and mothers would
prepare for us when we got home.
We called on the Quartermaster and
got some -four; on the sutler, and got
some soda. Here our assortment was at
an end; but we did the best we could.
OF course, we had salt and pepper in
abundance. We mixed up the -four with
Mississippi River water, put in as much
soda as it would in our judgment bear.
This was for the complexion, and it was
canary-colOred; then we cut it into strings,
or long pieces, and cooked, and cooked,
until all said it was done.
l have dined since at a number of large
hotels and restaurants, but the equal of
that chicken stew l have never tasted or
seen.
There was one catastrophe attached,
and on this score my conscience has al
ways given me trouble. One of our
"mess' was sick on board this boat, and
so to be fair we sent him his share. OF
course, his comrades cautioned me not to
yiun fpr If Iii
him. / was too generous-pOor fellow
he ate his allowance and it killed him.
Early one frosty January morning in
1863 we were landed on the north bank
of the Arkansas River, and Immediately
went on picket. There was nothing in
sight but marsh and woods and a few
'scaly" looking calves; these were too poor
for our Illinois soldiers to eat, so they
were left uninterrupted.
One of our boys had discovered an old
cabin, and a 'scrawny" old woman in
charge, and a few bee-gums, and was
planning the attack they were evidently
rebel bees, but just then an Orderly rode
up and communicated to the officer in
charge that we were ordered to take part
in the fight. OF course it was known to
us all that McCIernand was chief in com
mand, but the gallant Sherman was in
command of our division, and we felt we
were safe. In fact, the depression of our
retreat had worn off, and was followed
by period of eyutation. This is the
way the matter seemed to us.
While we were on picket at Yazoo n
staff officer of Gen. McClernand had WIS.,
tied our line and from him had received
the account of the battle of Stone River.
His description was such as to leave on
our minds the impression of a hard-fought
battle, and defeat rather than a vic
tory. OF course, the facts were some
what different, as we afterward learned,
but altogether we felt somewhat "blue"
/ think our temper was about that OF
Paul Jones when his flag was shot away,
and his ship on fire, and the British com
mander called out, "Do you surrender?'
NO." said Jones; 81 have not yet com
menced to fight" / confess | began to
think it was about time good fighting"
commenced.
And now was the time; being in the
ranks and mixing with the intelligent sol
diers, | draw my inspiration from them,
and don't pretend to speak for headquar-
tiers, even of the brigade. / have, how
ever, learned from history, since, that the
placing Of Sen. McClernand over Sher-
man was Gistasteful to Gen. Grant, but
of this at the time we privates knew moth
ing. AS before stated, we were ordered
to take our position in the line of battle.
INJO The FIGHT.
In our march we Travelled on the levee,
and passed the gunboats on the river; it
seemed TO me we were within about 40 rods
of the boat as we passed. eve were be-
low on the river when we started, and
our position was abOve)
The boat was firing 125-pound shots
at the fort above, from her bow, and was
headed up stream; and it was, to me, sur
prising to see the reaction of the gun, at
the time of discharge on the boat, shnv-
ing her down stream, it seemed to me, 10
or Is rods; then she would steam back,
and in about two minutes be ready for
another shot, with the same amount of re-
action and the same manuver.
A rebel officer afterward told me Che
was a West Pointer that it had always
been considered that As inches of oak and
a 16-foot bank Of earth would stop any
cannon ball; that they had, in addition,
covered this front with railroad bars set
at an angle of 40 degrees, and considered
it invulnerable, but that those shots went
through as if it was paper.
We went into the fight, and many
Of our boys, for the first time, heard the
peculiar music a bullet makes when it
passes your head. TO the old soldier this
will not be of interest, but to others, per-
haps, the query will arise, How did you
feelf' Well, sort of fush-an inward
dread-a glance along the line to see who
was killed-the discharge of your gun
the mechanical operation. of loading again