Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-11-28

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ner in sight. There was no prospect
of any, and the boys used to that
sort of thing were very blue. At that
stage of the war Uncle sam was oy-
erparticular as to the property OF the
people in the vicinity of camps. Strict
guard was kept over camp as wei
as over the houses and hen roosts III
the vicinityS If we could get out of
camp into the town or into the coun-
try, we felt confident that we would
have chickens, II not turkeys, for
Christmas dinner, but between us and
the chickens was a line of guards,
and not one of us had the counter
sign.
with the countersign the way was
open to n Christmas dinner, and as
chairman of the committee of ways
and means l suggested n plan TO get
It, | got hold of an old cavalry sword
the night before Christmas, and. ad-
iusting the belt so that the sword
made n good deal of noise when l
stepped. / formed a dozen or more of
ZIG IVY , dS VIC usually IOA AAANA q Ht~
troll guard, and when we heard the
real patrol coming / stepped out in
the thick darkness and shouted Halt
The officer in charge of the patrol an
swered my challenge in the usual way
saying that he was friend with the
countersign. He was directed to come
forward and give the countersign,
which he did l could not see his
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 n goodly num-
Der of chickens, and had a good Christ
mas dinner"
AT New Madrid in 1862 our boys
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 a very strict
disciplinarian Behind his headquar-
tiers was a pile Of lumber always I'M
der guard, and neither officers nor men
We're any the better for that pile of
lumber being there. One day, how
ever, l formed n squad of men,
marched over TO the lumber pile, sa-
luted the guard as l halted my men,
and, without a word of explanation,
directed them to take down GER
tain number of boards and to carry
them over to our ColoneFs headduar-
tiers. The guard made no objection,
and we took with us as many boards
as we could carry. This, of course,
was unadulterated cheek, but it work
ed in that case, as l 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, We're all good soldiers. never
saw chem finch, and ! saw them in
good many tight places. We were
in that snowstorm mp in East Ten
nessee. We had been to Knoxville and
were coming back to Chattanooga. and
had blvouackcd without shelter of any
kind. 1t was moderately warm, and
we rolled up in cur blankets and lay
down, looking up into a clear sky. In
the morning when the buGle sounded
there We're no men visible. Ten inches
Of snow had fallen 50 quietly as not
TO disturb the sleeping men. ana as
! looked down our company lines |
saw only line Of little snow hillocks.
just as you would see them in coun,
try graveyard.
when the buglc sounded sharp and
clear however, there was first a gem
IL stir among the men, u moying Of
arms and stretching in the first min.
ute Of wakefuIneas and then q chorus
OF whoops or yclIs The snow coming
down in the hastily uncovered faces
of the men startled them into an M
roar and IS they came up out Of the
snow / thought Of certain resurrection
pictures that ] had seen in my hoy
days. The scene was weird ana yet
was indcscribabiy funny because the
situation was so unheard Of and be-
cause the boys. after the first JOLT Of
their sensibilities. accepted the situa-
ton in good spirits
General Malone" said the Colonel,
.once sent me some Smithfcld hams
from Ills old home place and asked
me later If / had ever tasted anything
as good / admitted that / had tasted
ham just as good during the war lie
didn't think l had ana explained that
the best pork in the world was the
product Of the Dismal swamp ana the
lands thereabout, that the mast OF that
region gave 10 the flesh Of the hogs
the flavor peculiar TO game fattened
in the marshes and swamps Of V.r.
GINA and that to the cpicure thare
was no better pork in the world taau
that Of his home county or Of the dis.
trlct in the vicinity Of Suffolk and Nor.
folk.
II knew this almost as well as
General Malone, because in the early
Cos our regiment was serving a.
mounted infantry ia the country Of