Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-08-07

clean camp was to make new one, so
he formally asked for ground for the
purpose, but the general said that all
the troops at the post would have TO
make new camps elsewhere very soon,
for since our trouble with LOngstreet
the war department had determined
that the post was not worth the cost
of holding it, Further General Hal
lcck. the presidents right hand mill
tarv adviser, declared that he could
not understand why the post was ever
occupied.
When this information reached US,
/ all of US were amazed and disgusted.
/ We had gone out almost year before
TO help save the Union. We had spent
/ all our time and suffered innumerable
discomfOrts, privations and fears. Now,
according to the highest authorities,
we might as well have remained at
home Cloync, Brainard and | held
an Indignation meeting over it, and
/ Cloyne moved formally that we join
the Mick McTwyny gang and assist
1 big Pat Callahan in cursing the govern
mCut, but Brainard objected, saying
! that governments, being human, had
| to learn some things by experience,
and as on general principles | always
sided with Brainard, Cloyne's resolu-
! ton was voted down by a two-thirds
majority.
! Meanwhile preparations for evacuat-
! ing the post had been made. The
! heavy artillery was removed, one regi-
ment after another followed it, and
/ finally there came an early July morn
| ing when we were Informed we were
! to pack our own effects at once and be
ready to abandon camp.
Up to that time we had supposed
| that our effects were only what could
! be carried on our horses, but some of
! us soon learned to our sorrow that we
! had accumulated enough stuff to load
half dozen horses. |, for one, had
! collected ut least ton of war relics,
sanging in weight from a Johnny's
| iron stirrup to unexploded shells and
| solid shot weighing n 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 bribe teamsters to provide
| transportation; | even labOred with the
sergeant of our howitZer battery, hop
! ing to coax him to carry them in unoc-
! tupicd corners of his gun caissons, but
| he too, was obdurate-he had luggage
of his own-so l had to content myself
! by selecting n 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 Orderlcs We're ordered on
! picket, the reserve station of which
| was the main street of the village. At
4 o'clock in the morning the pickets,
! instead of being relieved, were entirely
| withdrawn, and the relief was posted
within quarter of 4 mile of the main
| body of the regiment. The men on
| these new posts were relieved at . In
( the morning by members Of n single
troop, which happened to be our own.
| From the new outposts-I was the
corporal in charge of one and Brainard
of another-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
| flagstaff, at which 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 n mattress full of
| hay, straw or leaves that had been well
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, familiarly
! 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.
In a moment all the men were hurry
ing to the stables, where the horses
stood all saddled. Orders had already
been given to dash to the road as soon
rs 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 stable was
entirely cleared of horses the roof was
lighted and the fire quickly spread.
The spectacle that followed was as
good as fight, so some of our best
fighting men said. At least GO build
ings were ahame, 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 4 dctour 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
scrgcants called the rolls, the entire
command was present or accounted
for The column was formed quickly.
Then the buglcs sounded forward"
and the band once more did the ap-
propriatc thing, for 1t played "Ain't 1
Glad to Get out of the WildernessP
a popular air Of the period. But be-
fore half a dozen bars had been played
the music ceased and the column halted
instInctivcly, for we heard n shot like
that Of a field gun.
"FOurs ahoutw 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 carblnes to the po-
sItlon Of advance"
"LooL sharnm said the captain.