Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-10-11

and did not hear Of a single untoward
incident between men Of different COM
mands; but I did hear Of many acts
Of kindness and consideration. During
the battles and just afterwards many
parties Of men hunting their camps
passed through our camp and we al
ways helped them on as best we could
Our boys reported that they had been
equally well treated in finding theil
way back home. Late one afternoon
four men Of the Massachusetts regi-
ment were brought to our camp and
spent the night there. I was much in
terested in hearing their experiences
on the firing line. They were bright
fellows and one Of them said the work
was 80 hard that when he went back
to Boston he never would say to man
"'go to h-p but go to Manassas
After getting breakfast we returned
to camp and continued the issuance OF
the quartermasters' supplies. There
was no time to lose that Monday as the
camp was to be gotten In shape, a
dress parade to be had in the after
noon, and all arrangements completed
for the regiment to start to the battle
line at o'clock Tuesday morning. It
kept everybody on the jump. One of
the companies had checked its private
baggage and not put it in the car in
which the men travelled, hence the rail-
road as was natural, had not put 1t of
with the troops. but had carried It to
one Of the nearby railroad stations.
was given the checks and instruct
ed to look up the baggage, and have 1t
brought to camp. This order was CIV
en- me about 10 o'clock a. m. I mount
ed my horse and started out, and thus
had an opportunity to look over the
country Maps of the maneuver zone
had been prepared by the government
showing every body Of woods, every
farm house and the name Of Its owner
or the person living there, every road,
branch or creek, however small, and
these maps were of great value to the
commanders in the battles; but at the
time left camp on my quest for bag
gage, these maps had not been issued
and I had to find my own way. This
was not difficult, however, as there
were plenty of soldiers along the roads.
went first to the station where we
had landed. There met our chaplain
looking for his trunk which he had had
checked in the usual way. I volun-
teered to look after his trunk also.
Finding no trace of the lost baggage at
the detrained station, I started for
Wellington. This was a small station
on the railroad about Ave miles from
where we got off the train. was well
mounted on a mare brought from home
and it did not take long to reach Well
ington. There I found the chaplains
trunk but none Of the other baggage.
The station agent examined the checks
I had and said the baggage would pro-
badly be found at Manassas Station.
This was about seven miles distant.
from Wellington and most Of the road
was the same I had just Travelled.
I passed more than one troop Of ca
valry getting ready for the coming bat
ties. I did not stop long enough to see
whether they were drilling or getting
with the country. Parties
of dismounted men were in the road
holding horses and squads Of four or
eight men were riding out into the
fields on each side of the road.
Occasionally I met a buggy contain
ing a civilian, but there were soldiers
in plenty. I was struck with the fact
that with so many troops on the roads
and in the camps near by, there were
no stragglers or "bummers." AS l
neared Wellington I was told that 1t
could be reached quicker by taking a
plantation road through the woods.
This road was over half mile, and In
going on 1t, I did not meet a single
soul.
Manassas Is quite town and seemed
a busy place that day. 1 had to walt
some time before the agent could at
tend to my business, and while stand
ing in the baggage room, I looked over
some Of the baggage to see II any OF 1t
corresponded with my checks. While
doing this I had another instance OF
how carefully the government had
provided for all probable wants OF the
troops. A sergeant came up and after
saluting, asked me very politely If l
was looking for baggage, because II
was he was specially detailed at that
station to assist in finding baggage and
to furnish wagons for hauling 1t TO
camp. This offer was most opportune
and was accepted gladly.
All the baggage for which l had
checks was found at Manassas station
and the sergeant had 1t put in a wagon
and instructed the driver "a white
mani to follow me and obey my orders.
Just before leaving the station l heard
the sergeant-his name was Dodd, i
the driver he vas put
ting in some other things. but l paid
no special attention to what he said.
Soon after leaving the town discov-
cred that the driver was quite drunk
He was the only drunken man l saw
during the whole period Of the man
euvers and came near to paying for
his condition with broken neck.
rode in front to show him the way to
camp. Sometimes he would drive fast
enough and at other times would al
low his team to go so slowly that
would have to stop and wait for him.
I decided that he was too drunk
to walk but could sit on the wa
gon seat and drive all right. AS he
took a drink several times on the way
I thought 1t would be best to hurry
and oct the wagon to camp as soon as