The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-08-28

NJ E |IlI|I
10 bitter experience, this lcave..tnking Of
smcssmntcs n new animation Of the soldier,
ties. Before reaching this point. /. I'VE (. 7 had
met quito Il nut1iber Of our soldiers re-
turning oh parole. They had met the
2F'cdcrals somewhere. ana Ind been GU p
tnred and released. & company from
Hampton Sidney College, Va, were we're
were among them. Tlieir report o the
situation was ai,ythng but cneo,lfug,r ss
going OF, 10 retrieve their lost fortune.
but we reached CheaL. Mountain, or
Cheat Pass. and did not crohk at the Idea
Of being cheated out of theE came i'ecei'.-
ton possibly (but not sprobhhly) they nag
received. we wcroS n ct school boys, ana nc
did not want to- tlEht Us. bad MS aii g. olt
Veteran expressed himself TO tile writer
all through tho h onfederatc War? anu
never were in such a .fig'ftsus1 would Ike
TO be, hence 1 have enlisted again. !.
II tho reader. has ever been In any KIND
of an engag cinont he viii know what my
query marks mean. We continued our
onward march, crossing the Greenbrlcr
bridge, ut which point we filed right, and
on passing tile big spring, 1 remember
how cold this crystal water seemed to Ia a
thirsty soldier. In our c1rcuito,is noun.
tain route We sometimes ut was snid)
travelled five niiles to mako three. Aitc y,
leaving tho Grocnbrier bridge We saW
nothing else oflnote; finally after some
forced marching wc were hal ted at foot 81
quite d mountain. Tho TWEEN ty-flist lsegl-
!1lelit fl,t,st li:tve been lin vance oil the
way. !. slrcos writer hid seen tiothing q
other 8 rooI,s except cavalry u We filed
sleft and ,Ipi 1,pSwe were taken above the
clouds, and here bivoua ckcd on a tho fa-
nous and lofty peak, ley N olint tain.
Yes wu had reached our oasis? s. 4! ham
Morris, Ii mere boy (aftcrwnt'd oiled AZ
MinchesterJ but hum SO g 5 ,ea. 3
We had eilcalhped there two weeks 4 It
had already rainedl fly days and mig hts.
we cotd not s,lsi,iise why VIC mud been
brought all the way here Genera y Lee
was with US and I'VE could afford 70
ava event 4. ID Tho Eusua lies as to post
snnd ,,rkct wero oii-rothing bu 7 $cotntaiiS9
drill Thcro was not level space croug y
for battalion 81 exercises. When not s4 ~
duty, special Eof some kind. we found
limo to write a letter homo to some one,
perhaps d very deaf on a ca II ot ~ = I
this writing exactly recall the length Of
time we occupied this fertile spot. OF one
thing T. ain assured. we remained there
long enough forgit to rain forty days ana
nights, Our situatlon5lnd become monoto+
nous ana any old place Q her VAL q
$leY8M Fountain. Camp ruirnrs we're q tlo y,
They knew as much IN hat Ga " IS ne
same they. say do n ow "a IS {.
Military secrets were strictly observed,
nobody knowing .nnything;.i t WIS they
say, &C. Now and then n hint as 70
III forward movement. Finally al, order
comes around TO prepure three days,
rations and be ready I to march at q mo-
5merlt,s notice.. a Sigh of5l'eliof. We we're
10 leave alley8 Mountain Our first real
is ggrcssivc moccmcnt, Tom Pulling, tfla q
veteran Kettle drummer, beats he long
roll; We fell In lile quick. Forward.
march, in&tl,c $inild and sltsll We took L. g
somewhat familiar route. since the m OFT
tof us had done picket duty on that line.
II cannot recall just the day OIL Our d.
vance, when matters became realistic
with lis. Tho inevitable fact had ga WI,
ed upon lis that VIC AZ were playing SOL
oilers no longer II YS and tlleil as We W.
irudged along Company T. or Company
b would give lis y a e son 6, w lltlls ltlul!
Mtlskctery. In front. ~
We hurried on. passing OnlfA first dead
foe Consider firing tfurt her ons Our
advance guard had como upon,san sur
priscd the Headquarters Of tho Federal
reserve picket force. si1 tf,lnust hay been
mute ii surprise to8thenl,a since they let
in such confusion,sf leaving their camp
Kettles OF, the flrof sinS which We're porK
and beans Just read y for The hungry
soldiers, and which we confiscated with
out any analysis d as to contents being
poisoned &c. We made quite Il halt at
this point, and Ito satisfy our curiosity.
we had opportunity TO examine the
ground In the tents We found quite a
number OF feather beds, showing they
had quite n regard forsComfort and quite
a butcl, OF the usual appendix OF camp
enuippagc, rubber tent flys, etc, which
came inluuItc handy to such as were for
tunate to secure ono. Things were getting
activcgto the fuHsophistic ated soldier about
this time. ana assumed quite n serious
consideration With tile writer, when he
heard the following Interview. between Col.
Gillian, or the Twenty First REGIMENT
and General Loring: Your regiment is
army Is .n,nbuslied in the woods on tho
side Of mountain, to left OF TINT ravlne.
Send oft two#of your companies and
dislodge thamsr Company and u were
at once detailed, the former OF which ]
was ID member. u Gcc-wlliz 90 ZIP that
raylne after 4 had heard that interview;
I wished 0nentally) ! were at home. OF
! rs Governor Vance had said, Il rabbit, q
baby, and q girl baby at tl,nt.
we were ordered to load. shoulder
arms. rights ana march up into tho
woods on left OF ravinc. Woll nip into
the wood somebody said something to
our left. Everybody fired n5dirrction Of
the voice, thinking ia signal from am
bush. All unfortunate federal soldier had
itukcn refuge behind large tree and
only intended to surrender, exposing him
q kIl1nI sftsllit