The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-11-03

Many were the arguments tie
Yanks and l had. but they were Al
ways g~ood-natured and no offense ia
ken on. either side. 1 was respected
and called pet rebel" while the de-
serter was treated with but little con-
sideratiOn and accorded no favorS. i
declined to hold any communication
with him. after trying to provoke HIM
into a fight and falling. l thought I
was able to lick him. and was anxious
to try.
When the time came to draw ratiOES
he was issued the army ration, no
more and no less, while to me the If
Vitation was, Come here. Johnny, Il
let me fill your bag. When you cat
that up come back and get some
more"
1 had left my blanket under my
saddle, and when night came on !
teamster asked me why 1 did not lie
down, to which 1 replied that 1 had
no blanket and would not sleep with
that "- deserter'' the word I used
wouldn't look well in print.) After
nearly forty years I can scarcely keep
back the tears when l remember his
reply. Johnny. damn him., yOu needn't
sleep with him if o don al 10
come here to my wagon and | Will
lend you a blanket" l returned tho
blanket in the morning, but he brought
it to me each night while I remained
near him. 1 would give much to meet
that big hearted teamster again this
side Of heaven, and If he has crossed
the great divide 1 trust that this little
act of indness to one who was nOmi-
nally an enemy was remembered to
him for righteousness.
Some of the acquaintance l made
while with Negley's boys were very
pleasant ones and men / met one
day would frequently call on me the
next. Among them vas a rather &C.
centric old surgeon who took great
pains to explain to me that when I
was captured 1 was not engaged in
legitimate warfare. and that a man
lodging along ahead of an army and
firing on it from ambush was BUSH
wacker, and should be courtmartia!ed
and shot. Failing to scare me by his
little joke, he and I became good
friends.
During the time I was with this
command a part Of it went into ac-
ton. and when 1 heard the familiar
noise Of musketry, punctuated with
the boom of cannon. | secretly prayed
that I might be carried into the thick
of it, so as to haV opportunity TO"
escape. But no such good luck hap
pened. and after a few s~tretchers
i NOulIuCo poSoSd ~ lllC lSols Wv
were sent back.
I am fond of dwelling on this part
Of my experience, as it is pleasant
as we'll as instructive in showing the
contrast between the treatment ac-
corded a prisoner by brave men who
had heard his bullets whistle, and by
towards who had never smelt gun
powder.
After this a considerable number Of
prisoners having accumulated, we
were sent to the rear, going in wagons
to Bridgeport, and crossing Tennessee
river there on pOntoOns. as the bridge
had been burned. At Stevenson we
were paroled n expected to be re-
leased, but were sadly mistaken.
No particular i~ndignities were Of
fered us till we reached Nashville,
where We spent the night in the peni-
tertiary. and our custodians We're
changed to home guards. At LOUIS
vile l got into an argument with one
of these. which he brought TO a sud-
den close by thrusting his bayonet at
my bosom. In passing through Gin
cinnati we were jeered at by the
spectators, and n of them became so
gested to him that the place for such
a patriot as him was at the front, and
not skulking in the rear.
From Cincinnati we were carried to
Columbus. Ohio. and landed in Camp
Chase. At this prison our rations were
usually sufficient and of fairly gooi
quality, but we were fearfully crowd
ed. Winter coming on it became
necessary to furnish us with some dd-
dltiOnal clothing to prevent us from
freezing. This was done by issuing Us
condemned or discarded army mi
forms. with the tails of the coats and
legs of the pants cut off. After the
issue, the prisoner who got a light blue
pair of pants had given to him a piece
cut from a dark blue pair to patch
with. The appearance Of the repaired
garment can be imagined.
Here we had a demonstration o.
how complaints were treated. A pro-
test was sem by members of our mess
addressed in respectful language to
the commandment of the post, calling
his attention to the indignitieS and
neglect Of duty of his subordinates.
We did not repeat the experiment Tor
the only reply received was a ball and
chain and handouts for those VINO
signed the petition. With one excep-
ton the boys made a laughing mat
ter of this, one Of them telling the
guard who handcuffed him that he
was used to them things as he had
worn out two or three pairs while
with Walker in Nicaragua" The eN-
ception vas my old friend and COM
rade S. F. Nunnelee. He had been
shot in the hip, and attaching the
shackles made HIM practically help
less. 1t is a pleasure to remembe'
that we younger ones waited OF MIN,
and tried to mitigate his discomfort
IN every way We could
| have often thought of this mess IS
Illustrating the varied avocations from
which our army was recruited. There
We're two ministers. the Red river
pilot. one French steamboat cook. one
tailor. one Baltimore dry goods sales
man. one steamboat deck hand, one
druggist. two farmers and two print
erS. besides myself and another boy
about my age with abu llet in his arm.
Before entering the army neither Of
US had don anything except go TO
school. and We were always at a less
what TO answer when called mon for