The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1901-09-20
BARE LEGS ON REVIEW.
The Time When ''Uncle Billy Sher-
man" Struck the Stream
EndViSe.

SIN March, 1865" said the sergeant,
in the Chicago Inter Ocean, 1--WE had
great experience with mud and water.
In our march from Savannah to Colds
boro we toiled through country of
broad rivers, bad roads, and almost
impossible swamps. 1t rained nearly
every day and the streams were high
and the swamps very wet. 1t was not
unusual to corduroy four or five miles
of road in a days march, and the boys
soon became experts in this sort; of
work.
''In some places the rising water
would float the corduroy structure
away. At other times it, would disap-
pear in the mud and quicksand under
the heavy trains, when another course
was laid, and this had to be done in
ceaseless and pitiless rain. But in all
that hong march of 500 miles we found
no mud deep enough, no hills steep
enough, and no quicksands treacAer-
Gus enough to destroy the cheerful
ness or dampen the high spirits of the
men. As the boys themselves said:
We were waterproof and mud
proof
''At the crossing of South river, as
many of the men of the Eighty-ffth
Illinois will remember, we had more
than usual difficulty. The water was
waist deep, and we had to wade long
distance. Naturally, we expected
there would be a good deal of swear
ing, but the only remark that stands
out in my memory is one that became
famous. After much patient wading
in the seemingly shoreless stream one
of the boys said to comrade: Il guess
Uncle Billy has struck this stream end
wise
"Wading streams, building corduroy
roads and bridges, and lifting wagons
out of the mire left us in bad condi-
ton as to wearing apparel. Shoes
and hats had been worn out or lost,
blouses and trousers were torn and
faded, and there were many stalwart
soldiers with bare feet or bare legs,
with torn coats and battered hats.
In this array the army passed in re-
view as we approached Goldsboro. The
bands played and the files closed up,
and the ragged men stepped true to
music and marched past Gems. Sher-
man, Schofield, Cox and Terry.
I'm November, 1863, when our
brigade was hurrying to East Tennes-
see we camped one cold night on a
farm from which all the fence rails
were taken and burned during the
night. AS we resumed the march
about sunrise the next morning we
saw the owner of the farm, an old
white-haired man, with maui and
wedge busy splitting rails to take the
place of those we had burned. There
was no resentment, no repining.
While the column passed he stood
with uncovered head, his face radiant
with loyal enthusiasm, cheering the
flag of the union.
"In all that march we were COM
PEELED to forage from the East Ten
nessee farmers, the majority of whom
were loyal, and every effort was made
to compensate them for all supplies
taken. This led to very stringent or
ders against individual foraging. But
one morning Col. McCook, riding some
distance in advance of the command,
came upon a soldier standing beside
a hog in it's death struggle, holding
in his hand a knife, from which the
blood was still dripping.
amazed at this fragrant violation
of orders the colonel thundered:
who killed that hog?' Whereupon
the soldier saluted and said: Colonel,
I am butcher by trade, and 1 offer
it as me professional opinion that
this hog died a natural DEATH
The colonel laughed at this and Pat