The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-15

W1eh the last number l tnoushe Ho0 naturally brought these reeollections to close, but so many people young and old, have expressed desire for more or the experiences that otherwise do not get into history that some other things are added.
 We did not often get good bread In camp. In winter quarters '6l-2 we took 1t by turns to cook a week at time and we often had light rolls obtaining yeast from some neighboring house and 'rais- ing" the bread by the fire in our stick and mud chimneys. Afterwards on occasions we cooked biscuits with the aid of soda and grease fried out of bacon. When ovens or skillets were scarce we often had to walt our turn. After a time We got only poor beef and flour, and our bread was poor indeed.
 In the spring the men would strip the bark off hickory or poplar and make beautiful tray in which to knead the flour into dough. But these luxuries were not always accessible. and have seen the commissary wagon drive up in the dark wet woods after a hard day s march, and the flour for a whole com pany would be dumped on an oil cloth or blanket Then with cold water we would mix the flour, often without salt on an oil cloth. and bake In ovens, skill lets or frying pans; or if these were not available, then string of dough would be wrapped around ramrod and held to the fire. turning often until 1t was baked, or partially baked. The only meal we had in the five days proceeding Appomattox was cooked in this manner from flour brought In by a haggard, weary man, | after severe slsirmsh on scouting ex- petition. But he does remember that couple of drinks of apple jack taken with Fitzhugh Lee. helped him to carry the load to his famished comrades. Gen era1 Scott said that the frying pan killed more soldiers than Mexican bullets, but we seemed to be proof against It's bad effects, or perhaps our rations were so scant that we could have devoured the food raw and been none the worse for 1t. Corn meal was harder to manage than four In a newly built fire on the damp earth, we could not bake an ash cake, nor could we cook corn bread on ram rods, so we had to take our turn waiting for the skillet. We preferred bacon to beef because we could eat the former raw and had little trouble in preparing 1t; 1t afforded more strength and forti- fled us against the cold. Sometimes the beef was wretchedly poor that 1t was hard for even a hungry man to eat It. We would chop 1t up bones and all and set it by the fire to simmer all night, and then parch some flour in the frying pan to make gravy and get a good meal out of very poor material. If the men got enough to eat there was always merri- ment. shouts and laughter, but if rations failed the men were sullen and gloomy.
 Hence young wives are always advised by wise mothers to see that the breadwin- ner is well fed, if he is expected to stay in a good humor.
 I feel positive that Hoods old division did not get one-half. and much of the time not one-thlrd, enough to eat for the last three months of the war, whilst we were within five miles of Richmond. Men can stand a hungry spell for a short while. but long starvation will sap the strength of any army. Our men grew gaunt lean and haggard Only now and then would a scouting trip result in any thing that could be converted into Con federate money and the writer would get off to Richmond for a day. If he visited the famous ''hole in the wall' and got a measured glass of applejack 1t cost $5. A dinner at the Powhatan, Exchange or American cost $10, with a $2 tip to the waiter for an extra dish or two. Then he had a nap on the grass in the noble capitol square free, and a ticket to the new theater BIO more. Supper was not to be counted In to a man who had a dinner that day. After the theater a five miles tramp to the lines, to creep between blankets that had seen long service, and this made a red letter day long to be remembered, and not one man in five hundred had this chance to enjoy one days surfeit in year.
 It was against military rules to sell liquor in camp or cities like Richmond under martial law.
 In the early days of the war men would bring liquor into camp in their gun barrels a convenient stopper being inserted In the muzzle. Then an innocent looking countryman would drive his little wagon in with vegetables and keg of butter, in which was concealed a keg of apple brandy. The sentries soon broke up this game, and then men would come in with canteens concealed under their coats, but the occasions when men could drink were few and far between. Early in 1S63 during hard snow, General Hood rode to each camp fire spoke a few words and told us we would get some whisky and sugar soon. It came, and such a glorious stew we had, that when l woke the next morning the piece of church carpet covering me was so laden with snow I could hardly turn over One morning we started for Richmond in 8 driving snow which got to be eighteen inches deep, and only four paths could be seen for the twenty-five miles as we made our way in ranks without a halt About 8 D. m. Sunday, with bands playing, we plowed our way through Franklin street the fashionable avenue of the city. Oui hats, boards. shoulders, blankets, every vantage of rest were piled with snow and the citizens, then at dinner, rushed to the doors and windows. some crying and exclaiming. Soon those dinner ta-