Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-11-21

OuSdu. L merit WAS no 0HEtStuiaS YIN
ner in sight. There was no prospect
of any, and the boys used 70 that
sort of thing were very blue. At that
stage of the war Uncle sam was ov-
erparticulaT as 10 the property of the
people in the vicinity Of camps, Strict
guard was kept over camp rs well
as over the houses and hen rooSts in
the vicinity. II we could get out of
camp into the town or into the coun-
try, We felt confident that we would
have chickens, IL not turkeys. for
Christmas dinner. but between us and
the chickens was line of guards,
and not one of us had the counter
sign.
with the eountersign the way was
open TO Christmas dinner. and as
chairman of the committee of ways
and means i suggested plan to get
it. got hold of an old cavalry sword
the night before Christmas. and. adj
justing the belt so that the sword
made good deal of noise when
stepped / formed dozen or more Of
the boys as we usually formed q pa
troll guard, and when we heard the
real patrol coming l stepped out in
the thick darkness and shouted 'Haltr
The officer in charge Of the patrol an
swered my challenge in the usual way
saying that he was friend with the
eountersign. He was directed TO come
forward and give the countersign.
trl inl, hn a = I L.
men. and he could not see mine. but
he supposed naturally that was on
patrol duty. The outcome was that,
with the countersign, we went through
the guard line, found a goodly num-
Der of chickens, and had good Christ
mas dinner"
AT New Madrid in 1862 our hoys
played a similar game to get boards
for their shanties. We were then in
Pope's division, or corps. and every
one knew that he was very strict
disciplinarian. Behind his headquar-
tiers was pile of lumber, always I'M
der guard, and neither officers nor men
were any the better for that pile of
lumber being there One day. how
ever, formed squad of men
marched over to the lumber pile. sa-
luted the guard as | halted my men,
and, without word of explanation.
directed them TO take down GER
tain number of boards and to carry
them over to our Colonels headquar-
tiers. The guard made no objection.
and we took with us as many boards
as we could carry. This. of course
was unauthorized cheek, but 1t work
ed in that case, as | suppose II work
ed in scores of others where the sol.
diers of the Union army were con
cerned.
"The boys of the Fifty First. mind
you, were all good soldiers. never
saw them finch, and / saw them in
a good many tight places We were
In that snowstorm up in East Ten
nessee. We had been TO Knoxville and
were coming back TO Chattanooga. and
had bivouacked without shelter Of any
kind. 1t was moderately warm. and
we rolled up in our blankets and Law
down, looking up into a clear sky. In
the morning when the buglo sounded
there were no men visible. Ten inches
of snow had fallen so quietly MS not
to disturb the sleeping men, and as
| looked down our company lines |
saw only a line Of little snow hill0cks
just as you would see them i'm coun
try graveyard.
n hn =
clear, however, there was first gen
tie stir among the men. a moving of
arms and stretching in the first min
ute Of wakefulness ana then "A chorus
of whoops or wells. The snow coming
down in the hastily uncovered faces
Of the men startled them into an I'M
roar and as they came up out Of the
snow / thought Of certain resurrection
pictures that / had seen in my boy
days. The scene was weird and yet
was indescribabiy funny because the
situation was 50 unheard Of and te.
cause the boys. after the first jolt of
their sensibiliues, accepted the situa
ton in good spirits
General Malone" said the Colonel
once sent me some Smithiield hams
from his old home place and asked
me later if I had ever tasted anything
as good / admitted that had tasted
ham just as good during tho war. lie
didn't think / had and explained that
the best pork In the world was the
product Of the Dismal swamp ana the
lands thercabout, that the mast of that
region gave to the flesh Of the hogs
the favor peculiar 10 game faitcncI
in the marshes and swamps Of y.r-
ginia. and that to the epicure there
was No better pork in the world than
that Of his home county or Of the dis.
trlct in the vicinity Of Suffolk and Nor
folk
II knew this almost as well an
General Malone, because IN the early
Cos our regiment was serving as
mounted infantry I'm the country Of
the Blackwater, and raiding into the
Dismal swamp. We often pushed our