News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1902-07-30

half a dozen horses. |, for one, haj
collected at least a ton of war relics
ranging in weight from a Johnny'l
iron stirrup to uneXDlOded shells ant
solid shot weighing a hundred pounds
All of this old iron lay in a row on the
topmOst log of our room and directly
over the inner edge of my bunk.
tried to bride teamsters to provide
transportation; even labored with the
sergeant of our hOwitzer battery, hop
iLg to coax him to carry them in unOc,
Cupied corners of his gun caissOns, but
he, too, was Obdurate-he had luggage
of his own-so | had to content myself
by selecting single three inch shell
that could go in my box of extra cloth
ing without exciting suspicion by its
weight.
One day the entire regiment except
the stable orderles were ordered on
picket, the reserve station of which
was the main street of the village. At
o'clock in the morning the pickets,
instead of being relieved, were entirely
withdrawn, and the relief was posted
within quarter of mile of the main
body of the regiment. The men on
these new posts were relieved at in
the morning by members of a single
troop, which happened to be our own
From the new OutpOsts-l was the
corporal in charge Of one and Brainard
of auOther-we were soon drawn in to
camp.
On entering camp the order was
given to prepare to fire the houses,
stables, etc. The signal the officers
told us, would be the fall of the camp
flagstatf. at which a man with an ak
already stood, while the entire band,
mounted. stood near by, playing Aud
Lang Syne." TO prepare for firing
camp was simple enough. 1t was
merely to stand by" with matches
ready to light, for every bunk was of
pine and contained mattress full CT
hay, straw or leaves that had been we'll
summed and seasoned. The walls were
of pine, and so were the roofs. No
plaster or partitions could delay the
spread of flame, and everything was
as dry as a July sun could make it.
Down crashed the pole, hundreds of
matches cracked, and the band began
playing some solemn music, Familiarity
known as "Old Hundredth," and then
dashed into There's No Luck About
the House" for "A Hot Time In the
Old Town" had not yet been written.
III a moment all the men were hurry.
ing to the stables, where the horses
stood oil saddled Orders had already
been given to dash to the road as soon
as mounted; the guidon bearers were
already there as rallying points for
the men Of their respective troops. Al
ready flames poured from the windows
of all the houses and even from some
of the roofs. The remaining hay in
camp had been thrown by the stable
orderlies upon the pine brush roofs of
the stables. The instant a stable was
entirely cleared of horses the roof was
lighted and the fire quickly spread
The spect" Gle that followed was as
good as fight, so some of our best
fighting men SAID. At least 60 build. |,
ings were aGame, and 900 mounted |
men were dashing between and around
them in their effort to reach the road !
Some Of the slower men were obliged
to make a detour of half a mile, for
the heat Of that aggregation of burn
ing pine was intense, even to men al. !
ready in the road
Finally, however, when the orderly |
sergeants called the rolls, the entire
was present or accounted
for, The column was formed quickly. |
Then the bugles sounded forward"
and the band once more did the ap-
proprate thing, for it played "Ain't l
Glad to Get Out of the Wilderness"
a popular air of the period, But be-
fore half dozen bars had been played |
the music ceased and the column halted
for we heard a shot like
that of field gun.
"Fours aboutp shouted our captain.
AS we were the rear guard, the men
who had dropped behind in rear guard !
manner had already turned their horses
and brought their carbines to the po-
sition of advance"
Look sharpr' said the captain.
"Find the direction from which the
next shot comes"
The instant we heard another report
we saw mass of shingles go skyward
from the roof Of our troops house.
Strange about that" muttered the
captain. 81 heard only one report, that
of the shell l didn't suppose a field
gun could be fired without being
heard"
BY this time the colonel and the
major of our battalion were beside US
and scanning the surrounding country
with their glasses. Then came deaf. |
ening report, and blazing logs as well
as shingles few from the late abode of
our troop.
"That beats me-" said the colonel
bursting shells, but no gun reports.
don't see any balloon from which the
enemy could drop them"
/, too, was mystifed and looked IL
quiringly at Brainard, who in turn
looked pale and as If a heavy load of
guilt was on his conscience.