The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-06-28

lThese incidents, taken from my re- vised sketch of the regiment. are given to the public in the hope that they may afford some pleasure to the survivors, re- freshing their memories of facts perhaps long since forgotten; that they may be of some interest and of some educational value to the younger generation; (0 that something may be done to perpetuate the deeds and sufferings of the Confederate soldier. The few incidents" given here do not constitute one-fifth the addenda II in the revised sketch.l
 The first time I ever heard the song or the Bonnie Blue Flag was under the TOT lowing circumstances: Lieut.. M. B. Locke of the Perote Guards, later Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment. came to me apout sundown one evening and asked me 10 attend the theatre with him that night in Warrenton. I gladly accepted the invita- tion for several reasons. In the first place. it gave me an outing beyond our lines for a few hours. In the second was fond of theatres anyway. In the tmrd l always loved Mike" and deem ms per sonal friendship one of my most valuable earthly possessions in the fourth l was satisfied the Lieutenant had ''shekels' enough to buy both tickets, while if tick cts had been retailing at the rate of 10 cents an hour it is doubtful whether l could have bought with the contents of my pocket book ticket for ten minutes. We went. The large building was dense- ly packed with soldiers. and a few ladies' l have no recollection of any special points in the play. but at the close was an incident never during life to be ef- faced from memory. A gentleman soloist and a fine singer he was advanced to the front of the stage bearing large blue silk flag with a golden star in the cen ter Slowly unfurling the banner he be- gan the song of the Bonnie Blue Flag. As he named each State in the order of its secession the soldiers from their re- spective States cheered with the greatest enthusiasm. But as he concluded the last stanza,
 For the lone star of the Bonnie Blue
 Flag
 Has grown to be eleven
 He at same time reversed the banner displaying on the opposite side galaxy of eleven stars representing the eleven States of our new born Confederacy. The sentiment, the occasion. the highly dra- matic rendition of the whole recitation electrified the great assembly. Every man at once seemed to lose his reason. They sprang to their feet. rushed forward fran tically waving their caps and wildly ges- ticulating. some out of joy beating. com rades with fists; others embracing and kissing; still others shouting and yelling like mad men. This reign of Bedlam last ed ten minutes. Though forty-two years has elapsed since fTlis incident the whole scene rises from the dead past as wildly as on the night of its occurrence. The Regiment Paid for First Two
 Months Service in Specie.
 In April or May the regiment was paid for it's first two months service in gold and silver by the State of Alabama. pri- yates receiving each $2o in gold and g in silver. and officers in proportion. That night the whole encampment looked like a gambling establishment. This writer dir his first gambling then and there at ''seven up,'' 10 cents game, and after playing until after midnight came om one dime winner. He is glad to add that this was his last gambling. But expert card players reaped a harvest that night from "succours" Jack Gibson next day had about $2O0, I believe. and my recol- lection is that he carried nearly all this sum through to the close of the war. Though fond of playing cards, Jack was a good fellow and a good soldier This was the last and only gold and silver pald the regiment for Its services during the war, and if aDy other Southern com mand was as fortunate even as we In this respect we are not aware of the fact
 As to Uniforms.
 On reaching Barancas no two compa- nies were uniformed alike. As a rule each company had two suits, full dress and fatigue. The former were made of high grade material. that of the Perote Guards costing $50 a suit. It was full dress style, heavy gray cassimere, trlm- med with blue, three rows of buttons Tn front of coat red plumes tipped with white. This suit the company. bought at its organization. The fatigue suit ot the same company presented by the ladies or Perote on our leaving home was of very dark casAmere, heavy weight. trimmed with light gray. single row of buttons and frock skirts
 About the first of July we were fur nished by the ladies of Alabama with regimentai uniform. This was made of blue jeans, frock skirt reaching down to our knees, and with a single row of but tons in front.