The National tribune., 1904-04-14
These are the personal memories of the
xar of the "Grpat Rebellion" Three


the Cumberland, half OF that time in the
division Of Gen. Sheridan, then with Sher.
man TO atlanta, the march to the sea. and
thence TO the grand review i'll Washington
and the white wings OF Peace once again
blessing our common country.
Memories of the campiires, the marches
the battles, but more than all this, mem
cries of the comrades with whom | touched
g.: elbows and from whose canteenS were
imbibed not only comrldeship, but loyalty
and love for the best country ever given
to man
ton of bareback and bacon with black
berries and green corn in season, with pigs
and chickens in all seasons. He who could
not find forage of some kind in addition
to that furnished by the Commissary was
q mighty poor soldier. With his musket
he could put up fight at any crossroads.
The country through which he tramped,
the base of supplies often many hundred
miles distant, developed new lines of war
fare before unknown to military students.
bringing to the surface the qualities of the
true American soldier.
To my own company l turn with most
vivid thoughts. From Captain down to
drummcr-boy they were all new to war.
and the story of one-half their number is
soon told The first Of these. German
lad. who at sight was given the cognomen,
Sigel.
We smart Alexis thought him a Junk
head. Then he was detailed on camp
guard one night, and when the Corporal
made the rounds with the relief. they
found 'Sigel's" musket, with bayonet fixed.
sticking butt up in the ground. The sol
der who had tramped the silent beat had
vanished in the night. with a suit of Uncle
Samuel's clothing. Thus We met our first
loss. The short acquaintance had not
ripened into the love that old soldiers of
~ hot Enl1 a,ah
other. But while lying in the mud and
snow in the cottonfeGs of Tennessee, the
the following December. our thoughts went
back in envy to 'Sigel.' whom we imagined
sleeping under a roof with dry blanket
"in Gods Country"
We remained in the State camp but n
few days, just long enough for the farmers
all about to rejoice when we We're gone.
Now there was Spilkins This father was
minister). model boy before the war :
he ran the guard, going three miles out
over the hills and coming back with a
shirt full of green apples. Unfortunately.
he was pulled before getting into camp,
and lay in the guard house three days.
That farmer had war claim that cost
the State several dollars.
To many the war had it's bright as
well as its dark sides, and l have always
been glad that some could see more of its
brightness than of its gloom Maybe that
is why few laughed when we got our
first ration of bareback. Seemed but bass
wood chips. but the hungry ones kept on
chewing. while Jim Nester who never had
much but suckers and sturgeon. kicked
like newly-branded mule at the "devilish
stuff"
And here he was again-wanting pie
while the rest of us were glad to get chips !;
and because we did not draw pie every
day Nester did not last long.
Some other fellows took the measles,
and dropped out one by one, and the COM
Dany never again numbered 100 men.
In the Summer of H2 the enemy seemed
to have the best of us all along the line.
The Confederates, by a flank movement
away from the Federal front south of the
eastern Kentucky. The Federals, under
Buell.. changed front, to the rear and hur-
ried north across Tennessee and Kentucky,
toward Cincinnati.
The citizens of the town, to save their
beer for home consumption, armed them
went across the Ohio River to meet the
enemy. Each one of these s4uirrel-hunters
had lot of household utensils and hired
man or two to cook and wash for him. and,
with. feather bed and keg of beer, they
enjoyed all the comforts of home.
. Day after day great truck loads of beer
went to the camps across the river. the
trucks coming back empty. The citizen
soldiers made forts out of the empty kegs.
1t was easier to pile them up than to dig
hard clay. The perfume of these forts filled
the air for miles around. 1t was Sunday
mornin. when our new regiment stepped
from the cars in Cincinnati and marched
Through the peaceful streets to the music
of the church bells.
Arriving at the front to relieve the
squirrel hunters, who gathered up their
feather beds and started for their homes.
the new soldiers set about to learn the art
of war. Breastworks of beer kegs piled
high lined the banks of Licking River up
and down 80 far as the eye could see, but
there was. not rebel soldier nearer than
20 miles The river bank was high above
the water and some Prohibitionist rolled
a keg out Of the works. 1t made an ele-
CANT splash as it struck the water far be-
low. The deed was contagious. Kegs be-
gan to roll all along the line, and count
less hundreds went rolling down the hills.
along with swarms of flies. Well, to make
the story short, when the rebel army
learned that the beer kegs were all float
ing down the river and that there was no
drink. but river water at Cincinnati, they
changed their route OF march and headed
for Louisville. And thus Cincinnati was
saved. The days We're hot. The springs,
Wells and small streams were dry. Then
the men, loaded down with useless clothing,
) full hayersacks and cartridge boxes, suf-
fered untold agonies. 1t seemed some one
in the State we had left had clothes to
sell, for every man had an overcoat. dress
Suit. blouse. blanket. and countless other
articles. The veterans of other campaigns
We're stripped of all membranes The
new men lined the roads with new goods,
the Vets shed their old clothes, put on the
new ones we had thrown away, and next
day it was hard to tell the old from the
new regiments so far as clothes went.
Hence the old byword: "Same old regi-
msnt, but we've got new clothes"
GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS
These old veterans of one year not only
changed clothes with the new men, but
everything else that did not grow on the
man. Everything loose about the recruit
vanished while he slept. until. in self-de-
Tense, even the resimental Chaplain be-
came a "jayhawker." He was a fine Judge
OF horse. and also a great Abolitionist
Kentucky being neutral ground in those
days, horse-thief and q nigger-stealer
were morally on the same footing. The
Chaplain had a way of getting both col
ored folks and animals that at once distin.
guished him as a gatherer Of things besides
sinners to the fold. In the meantime the
DAYS seemed to get hotter and the nights
colder and the roads ankle-deep with dust
Each day the cOmDany became smaller NOR