Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1902-09-05
HATS AND CAPS IN THE ARMY.
"Reminiscences of n Civil War vet-
Gran, In Which the Former Fig
ure the More Fnvornbly.


wore hat or a cap in the army. 1
wore both, but just when I wore the
one and when the other i couldn't re-
member at first. But / remembered
day on the long march from Tennes-
see to Louisville in 1862, when car
ried water in my hat to battle the face
of an exhausted comrade. / remem-
bered that at Stone river | slept with
my hat over my face one night, and
that when / came to lie down the next
night there were three holes in the
crown of the hat 1 wore and a piece
out of the rim, and thought some of
the boys had taken my hat and left a
ragged one in its place.
my memory was little hazy in
the matter of hats at Chickamauga,
but / remembered that while we were
tanooga two days later the rebel
sharpshooters put two bullets
through the upper part of the hat 1
wore. without my knowing it, and that
all the boys thereupon pushed the
crowns of their hats up to their full
height. / remember that when the
pontoon bridge at Bridgeport broke,
and | went into the water. my hat
foated and was not two feet from me
when / came up from my journey to
the bottom.
81 remember that in starvation
times at Chattanooga one of the boys
brought in about peck of shelled
corn in his hat. i remember that Just
before the battle of Stone river l rode
into Nashville and wore cap. But
remembered also that on the first
day of hard fighting at Stone river
/ clapped my hat down over a squirrel
which, crazed by fear, ran over me
two or three times trying to get into
my pockets. / remember that | lost
my hat going up Missionary ridge,
and that the colonel called me down a
week later for wearing an officers
cap. l remember that on the night of
the big snow in May, 1864, at Ooltewah,
slept in comfort with my hat over my
face. In fact, / must have worn a
hat good deal of the time"
"a hat" said a Fourteenth Ken
lucky man, "was serviceable in more
ways than a cap. 1t was better in
the rain, and more protection against
the sun. 1t could be iammed and
beaten into many shapes and could
be used in disguises to better advan-
tage than cap. y fellow could break
guard with high-peaked hat, and
change it in n minute to a low-crowned
fedora-like headpiece. A prisoner
could wear his hat jauntily flaring
over his face one hour, and make his
escape the next with hat slouched
like an old farmers, and when it was
necessary to deceive the enemy as to
reenforcements or as to the strength
of a defensive line a few deft pats
and bangs at the hats of a squad or q
company made great change in the ap,
pearance of men.
'In August, 1862, our brigade, com.
posed of the Thirty-third Indiana
Forty-second Ohio and Fourteenth
Kentucky, and commanded by Gen
John f. De Courcy, was stationed at
Tazewell courthouse, Tennessee
When Gen. f. Kirby Smith advanced
to Richmond. Ky., and moved toward
Frankfort with intent to inauguratt
Richard Hawes governor of the state
our brigade fought Gen. Stevenson's
division at Tazewell. The instructions
were to hold Stevenson as long a.
possible, and Gen. De Courcy proceed
ed to do it in his own way.
"The Forty-second Ohio and tn,
Fourteenth Kentucky formed the lin,
of battle to resist Stevenson's advance
and while we were skirmishing with
the enemy Gen. De Courcy would
march the Thirtythird Indiana quiet
ly around our flank and then noisily
in on the Bulls Gap, or Cumberland
Gap, road, with drums beating ant