Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1901-05-30

during that remote affair known to Amer /
leans as the war" The looting was not
always of the enemy. Uncle Sam was
sometimes himself the victim. The Incl /
dent am about to relate took place in
the fall OF 1868, after the Gettysburg
campaign.
! remember the camp of the battery in
the angle Of wood the officers tents on
the high ground at the upper end of a
small field, and directly in front of them
the park of guns with hastily constructed
harness racks of poles alongside the can
vas, where the men oiled the harness
and polished the brasses, and the parallel
line Of dark colored horses at the picket
rope, with group of grays ut one end,
used for hauling the battery wagons and
forge. We were somewhere in Virginia,
and the month November.
1t was Il temporary camp, and the men
had been allowed to take the great can
vas paNins from the carriages, with
which, over a frame of fence rails, they
had made an irregular line of wigwams
just within the edge of the woods. | was
humble sergeant, in command of the
sixth gun at this time, and occupied the
wigwam at the end of the row with an
other sergeant and two corporals.
soldiers appetite is most vigorous. 1t
was not exactly hunger THAT prompted
the raid on the eommissary. but d crav-
ing for Injuries. Our idea Of luxury was
ham and an extra 30 pound box of
hard tack. We could pound the hard
bread into crumbs and fry in ham fat
which. we'll seasoned, made a dish fit for
a king. One of the eorporals, who is now
the editor of a western paper, and my
self left camp just after dark one even
ing armed with q Ratchet and bound for
the stores of the commissary of the ar
tillery brigade of cur corps. As we pass
ed around the park of guns we noted the
guard tramping silently between the lines
of carriages and his fellow marching back
and forth along the picket rope, calling
now and then to refractory horse. The
glitter of eampfres marked the ground OF
the different batteries and wagon trains,
and half a mile away on the crest of a
hill was the camp of the eommissary, to-
ward which we were tending.
The commissary had begun the cree
ton of a log house. the walls of which
were already breast high From their
shelter we were able to survey our field
of operations. Fifty feet in front of MS
was the collection OF stores ranged in two
compact rows of boxes and barrels, under
a roof of canvas. The stores formed the
sides of the tent, piled up to the caves,
and through the open center streamed the
| light from a fire of rails, where the in
| fantry guard was listening to the yarns
of a group of teamsters who were smok-
ing their pipes and drinking their quart
cups of coffee.
There was a box of hard bread on the
too - al.
| this Corporal f. made his way, keeping
the boxes and barrels between him and
! the group at the fire. The canvas paulin
was drawn over the top of the coveted
| box and corded out to a stake
Slowly and patiently the corporal work
| ed, gradually sliding out the box until an
unavoidable grating of the canvas stop
! ped the conversation about the fire. The
corporal sat down in the shadow until
the alarm was over
Its nothin but the wind" said one of
the transfers, upon which the stories
about the campfire We're resumed When
he had finally secured the prize, the cor
poral brought it back behind the log wall
After whispered consultation ! started
for camp with the so pound box of hard
! bread on my shoulder, leaving him the
| Ratchet and the more difficult task of Sc
curing the ham. | had been comfortably
in bed for some time lazily watching the
smodering logs and listening for the cor
poral's return. was just falling off into
doze.
Are you awake, sergeant? Stir out
the boys I've got a barrel of sugar open
over in the woods, and we must bring it
all into camp at once. Here is a haver-
sack full | tied up in my blouse"
After my departure the corporal had
transferred his field of operations to the
lower Wall OF stores, which he. had reach
ed By going back into the field beyond the
bright light from the guard fire. Here
the ground sloped rapidly down into a
meadow bottom. With a great deal of
patience he had finally succeeded in work
ing out a barrel which he felt sure con-
tanned hams. After rolling this down the
hill, always keeping in cover Of the other
stores from the group at the fire, and to
a distance where it was safe to spring the
head and examine the contents it was
found TO contain white beams
An ordinary workman would have left
the barrel in the field and probably aban-
doned the whole dangerous business. Cor
poral +. was not a man of ordinary meth
DDS. He was not the shabby fellow to
leave barrel of beans exposed to the
night air, so with painstaking care he re-
stored it to its place in the commissary's
stock befre trundling out the second bar
rel If he had found the desired hams in
this barrel, he would have restored the
head after taking out one ham and would
then have devoted another hazardous
half hour to returning the remainder of
the package to its original place. In
stead Of hams, however, the second bar
rel was found to contain sugar, and this
the corporal rolled joyfully across the
wide field into the edge of the timber,
where he opened it with the Ratchet and
came into camp with the sample | have
described
Besides oar own household we took the |