The National tribune., 1903-03-12

rived at our camp ut p. m. very tired,
very sore and very hungry. We were out
2j hours. had marched 40 miles in Is
hours and been tramping around much OF
the balance. We got something to eat
and then off to sleep,
MUsTER-oUT.
Feb. 10-We rested until late in the
day. then broke camp and started toward
home. Blessed be nothing, it does not
take the Persimmon Brigade long to pack
up and start on journey. We marched
six miles. Although the journey ahead
of us is long and wearisOme and the boys
are in poor condition to make it, being
weak and emaciated from hard service
and want Of proper food, yet the bright
Spring weather and the joy that is in
every heart will give buoyancy of spirit
and limb that will make hard journey
easy.
We arrived at Nicholasville on the 10Th
and at Indianapolis on the 21st. The men
scatter to enjoy the city or go to their
homes, and the officers so to work on re-
ports, pay rolls, etc.
March 3-The necessary papers are all
prepared and the boys are gathering from
the four corners of the State preparatory
| 10 being mustered out of Uncle Sans
service tomorrow. This day is given up
to review of the past and n heart-to-
| heart talk Of the future. Before to-mOr-
| rows setting sun we who have been SO
closely drawn together by hardships, suf-
fering and mutual sacriiices-and there is
nothing else that knits so closely bond
of friendship-will have taken our sepa-
rate paths, most of us never to meet again
| in life.
March I've were mustered out and
paid off. its members became private citi-
zens, and the Persimmon Brigade existed
no more except in history.
HARDsHIPs ENDURED DURING SIX
MONTHS SERVICE.
| Some readers of the foregoing cursory
account of my connection with the Per-
| simmOn Brigade who were not members
of it may think that l have too highly
colOred it; but, instead, l have been very
conservative, and to prove this l wish TO
quote from the Indianapolis Journal of
1898:
Those who have talked with the Of
| ficers and men who served in the Persim-
mon Brigade, officers who saw previous
and subsequent service in Eastern and
| Western armies in the field, will come to
the conclusion that Washington's army in
Winter quarters at Valley Forge saw no
| seyerer hardships or keener sufferings
than did the six months men in Eastern
Tennessee during November and Deem
Der, 1868, and January and February,
1864. Indeed, if the account of sufferings
and privatiOns did not come from such
reliable citizens as Capt. Jas. T. Layman,
Adjt. s. Il. Fletcher, Hon. s. NJ. Cham
bers and ex-Lieut.-Gov. Hanna, they
might well be doubted. Capt. Layman
read from q stained and worn memOran-
dunn book which he carried in his pocket
the notes which he had made at the time.
From October to January the
brigade did not receive 30 days ratiOns.
1t was the severest Winter known in that
region for years-much zero weather, with
snow On the ground for several weeks.
Beyond a few pair of shoes, no clothing
was issued to US. The men bound up
their feet in pieces of blankets. The hides
of cattle slaughtered were made into
mOccasins. We were not in Winter
quarters, but were marching and counter
marching over the country continually.
. Several times l have seen Ton
Hanna, who was First Sergeant of oul
company, issue corn in the ear as the only
ration. On these marches men were Sc
exhausted that they fell and literally died
in their tracks. We found two men who
had crawled into a fence corner and were
there eaten by hogs. / have seen the snow
stained with blood from the feet of the
men. When l think of it now it seems
incredible that men could survive such
hardships. Men died literally from the
lack of food
with such a record of faithful and
timely service, full of hardship and suffer
ing, the men who served six months in the
Persimmon Brigade may be proud of the
name"
The story Of our hardships is best told
by our losses. The brigade, in its six
months Of service, lost 800 men, or almOs,
s per cent. The 18th lost 80 men, or !
per cent. But when we take into cOnsid
Grafton that this loss was all sustained
within the short period of four months
and that this loss was the result of hard
ship, exposure and starvation alone, we
see its significance. Had this same ratio
of loss been continued for three and two
third years, we would have all been mus
tered out by death.
Kilpatrick's Raid.