The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-01


 eleven pounds ammunition and accoutre- ments about six pounds. Then n haver- sack. canteen and blanket about the same so each had to bear a load of about twenty-three pounds, which on a long days march counted heavily as the straps bound one about the breast. There were some men who carried full knapsack with an axe or hatchet or skillet tied to it. and these men, even on long marches, were generally the life of the line. They could halloo sing, jest, relate anecdotes and play pranks. In camp if we started an unfortunate squir- rel or rabbit, the yells and shouts of the men could be heard long distance. and often would be heard the remark, There goes Jackson or a rabbit One must not think that these men suffering so many hardships, and winning so many desper- ate fights, were gloomy and sad all the tine, or even much of the time. There was merriment and fun, and one could hear jests as we charged the enemy.
 Discipline, as it goes in the regular army, was not enforced after the first year. Officers and men messed and slept together. l played whist in the cap- tain's quarters for lcng time. The first year we had candles, tallow dips, then we had confederate candles, made by dipping a long wick in wax until 1t was the size of a goose-quill. This wound on a stick was sent us, and by nnwinding about foot of it, we had a candle that lasted until more was wound off. But In the gloom of approaching defeat in t0e winter of 1S64-5, our people were too poor to furnish even this substitute. But the men built them theater of logs with blankets and tent flies for drop curtains, and with these poor accessories, but with trained actors who were our com rades, got up some excellent perform ances
 The worst trial besides hunger was want of-shoes. A near relative, six teen year-old boy, came with different regiment to Virginia in the fall of '62. l visited him and found him barefooted. Mark Powell of Lowndes was guard over a prisoner to be tried by a court mar.--- for desertion. Conveying his prisoner over the frosty ground to the house where he was to be tried, Colonel, after wards Governor O'Neil of Alabama. came in and returning the salute of the senti- mel. asked how the man came to be bare footed. The reply was that the govern ment had not supplied him, and he had no money. Colonel O'Neil said, Here, Sentinel, take this money and get this man a pair of shoes. I'll be d--d if l can try q bare-footed man for his life this cold morning and do him justice. It is needless to say, the man was &C., quilted
 My shoes gave out at Second Manassas. had long walk before me to the hos pital as 1 was wounded, and I took a pair off a dead foe He did not need them, and l did. On the march to Get tysburg 1 wore out three pairs in a month. The leather had been hurriedly tanned and the shoes came to pieces.
 On the East Tennessee campaign, we were cut off three months from railroads mails and supplies. I saw hundreds of bare-footed men marching over frozen snow near Dandrldge on the French Broad river, and saw the blood from their feet mark the snow. Sometimes an order would come for the barefooted to go to the butchers pen. A man would put his foot on the hairy side of a fresh COW hide. and piece heartshaped would be cut out Then holes were cut near the edges, and 1t was sewed with thongs of the same material over his feet. They were better than nothing for time. but when near the fire they shrank amazing ly, and when wet by the rains, they be- came too large. Yet men clad in thls fashion on empty stomachs, pdrove the enemy, and after dark we felt among the shucks where the enemy had camp ed and picked and ate raw the corn that had dropped from the horses mouths.
 Before coming to the Tennessee army l had fortunately procured pair of English army shoes, iron-heeled, with of iron hraq faCRq a scouting expedition I captured a lot of horses and saddles and from a saddle skirt a soldier cobbler half soled my shoes with maple pegs hardened in the camp fire. I paid him with the other skirt for the job
 That east Tennesse campaign was the hardest we ever had. Coarse corn meal was issued to us at Chattanooga. It would hardly stick together when bak- ed, and in haversack in rainy weather 1t crumbled. Then little filmy threads like spider webs appeared in the bread. On the march to Knoxville we pushed the enemy hard, finding abandoned Wa sons, ammunition, etc, along the road. but no food 1t was cold and quick pur suit for a whole evening made us hun gry, but we had not mouthful to eat. off before day the next morning, picked up in the road piece of cab page Stalk, Wnlcn constituted ny eHtTe susterance for thirty-six hours. l was so hungry that I felt like I had reverted to the original type of savage man. and would have stolen bread from a baby if there had been bread and baby to he found T he country had been har- ried by both armies and the secession element had been run off, leaving pop ulation, very forbiding in appearance. and the boys used to say that all east Tennessee lacked of being h-l was roof over 1t.
 Birmingham has some excellent citizens who lived ia that section, but owing to their participation in the war, were not permitted to return there.
 After the failure to take Knoxville we marched northea fought bitter lit- tie skirmish at Beans Station, where l pulled up a fence post and In the dark ness prized out of the frozen ground some Irish potatoes, my only food for that day. Crossing the Holston, we marched without food for whole day in the bitter cold. Jim DuBose of my company, nephew to General Toombs raided the corn which had been given to the headquarter horses. Another pro- cured some of fat hog, which had been killed for trying to bite some soldier volunteered to make the corn into hom- inv with the aid of hickory ashes from our camp fire, the only luxury we had It was an all night job. put in too much ashes, and the I've ate the skin off the corn. Before daylight I had fried the hominy with Inc fat pork, and woke up the company to a hearty meal enough for all, and it enabled us to make an- other days march.
 The winter of 63-4 at Morristown. Tenn. was neculiarly hard. We had no huts,