The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1901-09-26
by the Confederate commissarIat.

~ ehS
The hungry pilferers gathered round
the festal blanket. but when about 10
begin the business of the occasion Il
shell from Federal battery came hiss
ing along. struck one of the party just
above the eyes and tore off the upper
half Of his skull. The body fell for
ward on the blanket. the remainder of
the party fell backward. stunned by the
conclusion and mOmentarily forgetful
Of the danger to which their edibles
were exposed. One of the number. how
ever. instantly apprehending the sig.
niticance of the incident and the i'm
pOrtance Of the imprOmptu feast, re-
covered himself. jerked the dead body
off the blanket. meantime swearing ut
his companions for falling down and
letting the man bleed so close to the
biscuits. They would have all been
spoiled il it had not been for me-" he
angrily remarked, and, after cOncedins
the truth of the statement. the body Of
the unfortunate was temporarily laid
aside and the feast began.
These half-famished soldiers furnish
ed an unconscious illustration of the
ease with which men can accustOm
ordinarily he considered in the last de
gree repulsive. Death at the feast is
grewsOme visitor, and in the peaceful
walks of life a sudden calling away by
the grizzly monarch of one of the par
Elephants in a festive occasion instantly
deprives the entire party Of appetite
and enjoyment, but to soldiers in n
state of siege, wounds. blood and death
are so often seen that sensibility is
dulled and the most frightful specta-
cles are beheld without emotion. almost
with Indifference, as the ordinary Incl
dents Of military life, the common
occurrences Of battle and campaign.
The death of soldier was to this little
party Of flour thieves no more than any
other daily occurrence. but biscuits
were unusual, entirely out of the line
of their everyday life. hence the sol.
dier's death from bursting shell as.
sumed an Importance quite subordinate,
to that of the prospective loss of the
dainties they had taken so much trou
bic to procure. In other words. the
siege, the shell firing. the sight of
wounded and dying men had all be-
come monOtOnOus, but the biscuits
were decided novelty. hence the
death was treated with comparative in
Louis Globe Democrat.
Comparativ. Erjoym>nt.
Il was in Chickamauga Park
short while ago." said an old veteran
who had been discussing the reunion
at Memphis with Times Democrat re-
porter, land was impressed with the
OF veterans who still hang
around the hills that have been made
in the country's history by
the fierce battle that was fought there
In the COS. There is something pa
thetic about it to me.
They are typical of the character of
the man who followed the fortunes of
the lost cause. But many Of them are
full Of good stories, and l recall one
story told me by an old Confederate
now running an old livery stable in
He is fond Of telling il
ON himself. 1t was during one of the
skirmishes at Chicka.
mauga.
The Federal troops had reached the
top Of the hill. and the Confederates
had been forced down on the other
side. They hid behind clumps of trees.
fell over behind logs and sought other
places Of concealment in their effort
to escape the Yankee bullets. 4 fell
over behind log, with my face down.
said the Chattanooga liveryman. and
could hear the Yankee bullets whist
ing over my head or burying them
selves in the log behind which l was
hiding.
"'In hugging up so close to the log
had showed my face into a hornets
lest. The hornets covered my face
md head. and lay there picking them
vi one at time until l found an op-
,ortunity to escape. Soon after that
met a ragged-loOking soldier, and he
aid: "Great goodness. Jim. what or
'arth is the matter with your face?r
told him l had showed it into hor |
lets' nest while dOdging Yankee bull
cts. "YOu must have suffered fear
ully," he said. NO" I replied, Il
lever experienced more delicious |
ceiling in my life.' and really never
njOyed anything as much as l did the
ting of those hornets The old livery.
nan chuckled over the story, and no
IOubt he really felt that the hornets
est was a pleasure resort under the