Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1902-11-08

tain, are Vet e bo TOLD % the army |
foragers. On one occasion on the
march from Savannah 10 GoldsbOrO,
the longest, by the way, ever made by
an army in modern times, the boys
who had pushed far 70 the front in
tercepted the correspondence between
Wade Hampton and General Beaure
gard Hampton haG been ordered 10
stop Sherman's army ~ all hazards,
and he returned the order With the
Endorsement. All ---- can't stop Shei-
mans bummers'
This showed suct appreciation on
Hampton's part mat the boys rather
liked him, but they gave him lots of
trouble and lived " 70 the reputation
he gave them. they pressed forward
every day into the eucmy's country and
became rcSourccful ~ organizing and
resisting attack If they came on a
company or regiment OF rebel cavalry
the bummers did not fan back on the
main force, or scatter before the reb-
els, but acting on q system Of their
own formed line and skirmished I'M
til REINFORCED. More often Than 9th
erwiSe the foragcrs % one division raj
lied 10 the support of those Of another
and beat or the rebels before the adj
vance guard Of .he army came up
Under such training men became
reckless and Veuturosome, but they
became also seli~poised aud resource
full. Most particularly was this true
of the bodies Of mounted mon whose
duty 1t was to keep open communica-
ton between Tie several columns ad-
vancing on different roads | have in
mind twenty @" thirty members Of the
Twentieth Illinois infantry. who were
mounted and served as a sort of body
guard to General bcggett They form
ed really an Independent company, en-
gagged IN all sorts o. expeditions and
duties. All of Them bad seen three
years service aud were particularly
well-htted for the duties assigned to
them by general and staff officers.
When we were near Bcntonville
squad from this twentieth Illinois
company was sent across the country
carrying important dispatches. They
met the enemy's cavalry and the few
men deployed at once as they would
have deployed had they been supported
by a sull regiment While they eli
gagged the enemy the officer in com
mand sat coolly on his horse striking
matches In every minute Of that
skirmish he held lighted match in
one hand and the dispatches in the
other. He was perfectly cool. He
knew just what M was going to do
and he was NOT ia danger Of making II
mistake If his men were surrounded
or captured he proposed 10 burn the
dispatches, and he tad a match ready
to burn them. tut il tic end the Tweh-
tieth boys drove tie enemy and the
dispatches were delivered This was
only one example Of the clf-c0ntained
observation-disclosures that grew upon the
men with their experience in an enc
my'S country il advance Of the army"
The thing that most interested me"
said the AdjutGnt was the unswcrN-
ing loyalty of even the most reckless
fOragers to their commanders and 10
the army rs Az army. In hundreds of
OH the longer march Of 425 miles from
there to GOldshoro men were absent
from company roll call for several days
in succession At first this absence
caused q great deal If irritation. but
as the march proceeded il was found
aOT or H.. a
taking care OF themselves and devot-
ing themselves zealously 10 the inter
estS of the army Sometimes they
were twenty or thirty miles from their
companies. They had forged ahead
under the soldierly impulse Of doing
the best they could and had be"n car
ried beyond their own plans Of the
morning Sometimes they were sur
rounded by the enemy aud had 10 Eight
their way ont. At other times they
were in hiding and could nor report IN
til the enemy was driven away
Again, having learned the location
os heavy supplies Of forage and pro
visions. they were keeping watch that
the supplies might not he carried off
by the rebels. In one case I remember
q party Of dozen men took posses
sion Of every vehicle in a neighhOrno0d
and met the advance regiment OF their
brigade with wagons, carts, and old
family coaches loaded with supplies
In another case when General Howard
was dcployipg q division - capture
au important railway FIVE miles away
hummer rode up to report that
squad of foragers mad already captured
the road. and wanted him to hurry up
Wherever the foragers were they
were. In their own language, 'wcrkin
for Uncle Sam
This meant that they were doing
whatever came 10 their hand in the
service of the Government II they
had cared to desert or to shirk duty,
opportunities were open to them in
every direction, but In not single
case I'm orr division did any fora 1pr